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Sir Chris Hoy: we should "break the chain" with dopers

Doesn't want tarnished riders back in the sport...

Dopers should not be allowed to play a part in cycling's future, Olympic cycling hero Chris Hoy has said.

In the wake of Armstrong's confessions and speculation that he is trying to engineer a return to the sport, the Edinburgh six-time Olympic track cycling gold medallist said.

"We must break the chain of the past to the future and not include people who have been involved with that," Hoy told BBC Radio 5 live.

"It is a tough thing but the sport is trying all it can to reform and change - and to make the future better.

"It's all about how we can work to stop this sort of thing happening again in the future," said Hoy.

"The way we stop that is show that you can do it clean - you look at Bradley Wiggins in the Tour - and increase the testing as they are doing now: the whereabouts scheme, where you have to be available every day for testing, and tell the testers where you are.

"You could be tested on Christmas Day, you could be tested anywhere at all, they could come randomly - these blood and urine tests weren't around to the extent that they are now in the early 2000s when Lance was winning the Tour.

"The Tour de France is a different kettle of fish to what I do, but it doesn't matter what you do - if you're on two wheels you do the best you can and do it clean."

Hoy said that he felt he had been let down by the dopers, whose confessions had led to his own successes coming under scrutiny.

"It is frustrating when you're a cyclist and your sport is brought into disrepute and people ask questions of you and your branch of the sport," he said.

"But you have to accept that and you realise all we can do as cyclists is go out there and compete clean, try to win and try to show the next generation of cyclists you can do it clean," said Hoy.

 

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5 comments

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fiftyacorn | 11 years ago
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I think its safe to assume Sir Chris wasnt pleased about the return of David Millar to Team Scotland and Team GB

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JayDawg | 11 years ago
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I couldn't disagree more with him. The thinking is just too simplistic. He is assuming that if you don't let any proven cheats keep racing that other riders won't decide it is necessary for them to cheat, but that just isn't realistic. If you are a lower rung rider and are about to lose your contract anyway, you may still try to cheat, and being banned won't make a huge difference if you aren't likely to get a new contract anyway.

Also, there are plenty of people in the world that would do whatever they need to do in order to win, and some of those people will consider doping.

Every person that dopes starts out as a first time doper who probably never thought they would dope, yet they still do. Just banning people for life after their fist offense won't change that, so it is worth using them as an example. You will be banned for 2 years on the first offense, then you have to redeem yourself. If you don't then you are banned for life. It sends the message that society acknowledges that people make mistakes, and it is how you respond afterword that really tells people about your character.

Not all dopers are bad people. The ones who are caught and continue not to learn from their actions and continue to thumb their noses at everyone else are the bad apples that need to be banned for life.

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The Rumpo Kid | 11 years ago
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Great idea. Let's have zero tolerance. Just like US Postal claimed to have in the 1990's.

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Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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I quite agree, but this would wipe out half of the pro peleton at the moment....

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celeb replied to Gkam84 | 11 years ago
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Gkam84 wrote:

I quite agree, but this would wipe out half of the pro peleton at the moment....

Actually there would still be a pro peleton, just lots of new faces and in time new heroes in a new era, racing would be just as exciting but cleaner.

Hit them where it hurts most, ban for life and remove all previous results from the history books.

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