Originally Posted by indygreg
Comparing the physical feats of the TdF to the popular sports is silly. Not even close. What these riders do is nearly unhuman.
+1
But it's funny how the people who mock cycling for the proliferation of performance enhancers often are the same people who love football despite the suspicious size and speed of NFL players. When several Carolina Panthers from Super Bowl XXXVII were implicated in a steroid scandal, no one stopped watching the Super Bowl. When Shawne Merriman was busted for steroids, the media didn't scream that the Chargers' season was a joke. So why the double standard?
+1
what these athletes do is nothing short of remarkable. Baseball players sit in the dugout half the game chewing sunflower seeds. Basketball and football players get halftime to rest, in addition to their bench time. Golfers walk and still have someone carry their clubs. Cyclists, meanwhile, race up to 130 miles an afternoon, fighting the wind and climbing up steep Alpine mountains in the heat of summer.
+10
Pro riders don't seem to get enough credit (at least here in the US) for being such hardcore athletes. Maybe it's because they're skinny and there's so much emphasis on brute force here, I dunno, but they definitely don't seem to get their due. I'd put any of these pro riders up against all the baseball, basketball, and football players when it comes to mental toughness, focus, and persevering through pain.
Anyway, great article, thanks for posting. It pretty much sums up how I feel about the sport, which I've just recently discovered. In spite of all the controversy going on, I think it's still an awe inspiring sport.