In the case of amateur racing, it seems to me the point is moot -- ethically -- in the case of Mr. LeDuc. As far as I'm aware he has been and is a U.S. Cycling licensed racer; a license-holder by definition subscribes to the WADA code (I believe it's a condition of the license). It would seem to me that a natural corollary of this that a U.S. Cycling license-holder can expect, especially at major events, to be tested for conformity to that code and accept the consequences if found in breach of that code. Further, the U.S. National Masters Road Championship is, if I'm not mistaken, a U.S. Cycling-sanctioned event. So however one cuts it, Mr. LeDuc knowingly (by his own admission) violated the WADA code by which he was bound. To his credit, he has accepted the consequences with a minimum of whinging.

All this is to say nothing about the sheer stupidity, pointlessness, and indeed ridiculousness of 'doping' in amateur sport -- cycling or anything else. One can understand and have a little more sympathy for Mr. LeDuc's motivation than for, say, that of the moron who was caught out at the GFNY a while back, but not much. The latter was simply risible; Mr. LeDuc was at least competing at a serious level in a real race.