Originally Posted by
reef58
I don't profess to be an expert here, but I don't think any of us know.
I hear time and time again how Discovery has this stranglehold on doping. This info is posted by someone who really doesn't know. I ask this; George Hincapie was a very talented young rider. He has been on this team for a long time. If his doping program is so great why oh why does he get dropped on every climb?
Richard
You're thinking in terms of a false dichotomy: Either doping is easy, or it's not. It's not that simple. In fact, I'm sure it's very complicated.
For example, a rider may know that X amount will help some and definitely can be masked, but 2X would help a lot more, however if he gets tested he's almost for sure going to test positive with 2X in his system. A dilemma. Does he play it safe and take X amount (note playing it safe is not taking zero), or does he risk that he won't get tested and go for 2X, or does he compromise and take some in between amount? What doctors like Ferrari bring to the table is helping them figure out all this stuff.
So, yes, desperation is a factor, but desperation is a better explanation for why someone would push the limits on the amount and type of doping he's willing to risk using rather than whether he would choose to dope at all or not.