Professional Cycling - So just how bad is it going to be?

Everytime a drug scandal happens, the Sport looses a little credibilty, and some fans, and some sponsors go away. Then there's an effort to clean thing up, and a new era is launched. (See Festina).

Over time as the cycle repeats itself, and the new era is just like the old, more people begin to say who cares.

My prediction is that this time it will be a deep hit to the sport, worse than Festina.

A number of sponsors will go, salaries will drop, viewership and interest, particularly outside core cycling countries will drop substantially, and a lot of coverage will dissappear.

But it won't be the end of the sport by any means. Fans on the side of the road will continue to show up in large numbers. No major races will fold.

And gradually interest will grow again, and TV, Sponsors, and Money will come back.

But I think its going to hurt this time.

But I think its going to hurt this time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1sS1TmXF38

I have never thought of any professional sport to be corruption free. Not sure why anyone expects a sport where people get paid to win will not have it share of people who cheated to get there.

I would much prefer to see an all BF race with people I know. I would probably pay good money to see RyanF and Dr. Pete race. ;)

GC Rider salaries will top out at $500K soon.

I have never thought of any professional sport to be corruption free. Not sure why anyone expects a sport where people get paid to win will not have it share of people who cheated to get there.

I would much prefer to see an all BF race with people I know. I would probably pay good money to see RyanF and Dr. Pete race. ;)

I would much prefer to see an all BF race with people I know. I would probably pay good money to see RyanF and Dr. Pete fight to the death. ;)

we need a BF fightclub.

This is seen in all sports...McLaren and Ferrari are in Paris thursday to hear how F1 secrets were stolen from one team to the other.

I'm not sure it's that bad yet. If Chicken goes down, it's done.

I would much prefer to see an all BF race with people I know. I would probably pay good money to see RyanF and Dr. Pete fight to the death. ;)

we need a BF fightclub.

This is seen in all sports...McLaren and Ferrari are in Paris thursday to hear how F1 secrets were stolen from one team to the other.

wait, RyanF is real! first Vino now this!! what a day :D! later.

I suspect that Bruyneel's efforts to find a new sponsor just got a lot harder.

Harder on that account, but perhaps the show they've been putting on in the Tour will help to counteract that. Presuming of course that the deal isn't already done and being kept under wraps until later in the season.

Hopefully he hasn't been counting on finding a new sponsor in Germany. :eek: Seems like German society is in need of a rabies vaccine to counter overreactions to all the news coming out of T-Mobile.

I would much prefer to see an all BF race with people I know. I would probably pay good money to see RyanF and Dr. Pete fight to the death. ;)

we need a BF fightclub.

This is seen in all sports...McLaren and Ferrari are in Paris thursday to hear how F1 secrets were stolen from one team to the other.

Wow - Ferrari is screwing up a huge chunk of the European sports scene. First cycling, and now F1. :p

I would much prefer to see an all BF race with people I know. I would probably pay good money to see RyanF and Dr. Pete race. ;)

Dr. Pete has access to drugs. A cloud of suspicion will hang over the outcome...

I share many of your sentiments, though. Cycling can be fun to watch, but honestly, I don't really care who wins -- no, not even the Chicken. I like to see good racing, which occurs when the riders are equally matched, with or without drugs.

The recent events will be far worse than Festina, which could be written off as one set of bad apples, by anyone who chose to rationalize it that way. Over the last year, we have seen pervasive accusations (and some 'convictions') of doping, to the point where no one can really hide their head in the sand anymore. You will see:

The teams will get serious about rider screening, as CSC has done (admittedly, I don't know if they are really trying, or just using smoke and mirrors). They will implement year-round screening, and once a critical mass is reached, it will become mandatory.

The rules will be tightened severely -- no more unannounced jaunts off to Mexico for 'training'.

This bums me out more than the Landis accusations. Vino was an exciting, Rocky-like figure. Always good for a crazy attack. If it weren't for Contador banging at Rasmussen, there'd be nothing left for me to watch. (And man, the Chicken is responding with a lot of poise.)

I suspect that Bruyneel's efforts to find a new sponsor just got a lot harder.

And that my friends is the true "cost" of doping.

I
we need a BF fightclub.


No one talks about the fight club!

Somehow this seems worse than Festina. That was supposed to be the wakeup call. And here we are 9 years later, and we have this.

This has still been one of the most exciting tours in recent years -- I have really enjoyed the last week or so. Last year, one day made the tour (at least before the positive test). This one has been great.

I agree with others, though, that the sport appears tainted, which infuriates me. While I think cycling sometimes gets an unfair shake compared to say football where a player suspended for steroids can make the pro bowl in the same year in which he is suspended or a baseball where guy who confesses to steroid use (giambi or sheffield) gets to keep playing with no punishment (I know the rules are different now). The problem is that here, cycling is such a fringe sport that any negative publicity hurts it. My impession in Europe (correct me if I'm wrong) is that both football and, to an extent, motorsports, exceed cycling in actual popularity.

I think it is also that the outfits in the sports are different. The Dallas Cowboys exist as an organization / business with or without sponsors, though the sponsors help. Cycling teams, while they may have an organization that goes from sponsor to sponsor, absolutely have to have the sponsor dollars to survive. Sponsors, therefor, have more power.

What does all this mean? It's gonna hurt. Whether cycling is worse than other sports or not is irrelevent. Cycling just can't afford the scandal the way others can.