Originally Posted by
Strange
The thing you have to remember about doping is that the drugs don't ride the race for you. They may enhance your performance and give you a competitive edge, but they don't push the pedals for you. Very few people have the physical assets to average 25mph over varied terrain for 6+ hrs at a shot, day after day for three weeks. All the EPO in the world isn't going to turn an average rider into a TdF winner -- no amount of chemical enhancement will make up for the lack of a world class physique. The point being, even though doping is cheating, even the worst dopers still had to ride the race at an extraordinarily high level to win.
This is why I still think Armstrong's 7 TdF wins are worthy of respect. There is no question that the guy is a rapacious, egomaniacal, arrogant butt weasel, and that he did some truly unconscionable things to others. Nevertheless, EPO be damned, he did have the physical and mental assets to cross the line first. Would some random domestique, given the same drugs, have been able to win those races? Not a chance.
My own experiences with dopers started when I was in college in the late 70's. For a variety of reasons, the best guys did it first (me not being one of them). I think it was because coaches and their proxies were targeting the best guys to spend their time and money on. Back then, no one had the money or wherewithal to find and buy this stuff on their own. Only the best guys were approached and the fact that high school standouts were experiencing real competition for the first time made them more susceptible to temptation. So yeah, I think that guys who win and are found to be doping are still superior athletes.