National TT champ Alex Dowsett calls for drugs cheats to be banned for life

The ban should be a punishment, not a deterrent to others, to punish a person is a about justice to overly punish a person is not just to that person. And to punish a person for reasons other than justice is immoral.

I hate doping and it thoroughly lessens my interest in racing when there is doubt as to whether the winner won on merit, but we all make mistakes and I also believe in giving people a second chance... 2 years is rather short though.

To those who want life bans I have two words - Diane Modahl. She was wrongly accused of cheating and it practically ruined her career. It took her years to prove her innocence.

A life ban is not the solution anyway because all sports (not just cycling) have a problem with illegal drugs and it would only push the problem further underground.

1961BikiE, most football fans (every one that I know anyway) actually despise the way that footballers carry on these days. Professional fouls, diving in the box and all the playacting that the likes of Drogba, Ronaldo & Ashley Young get up to are regularly criticised by fans & commentators alike. I'd love footballers to be banned for cheating, it would help to stop a sport that I love from embarrassing itself so much

Like cycling, all others sports have competitors willing to cheat, management/authorities willing to let them and fans that want it wiped out of their sport.

And for the record I'm with Dowsett on this one.

Some interesting views on here.

What has annoyed me about the Contador case is the back dating of the ban. He should of been banned for 2 years earlier this year when the verdict came out.

The whole "ban em for life" argument is based on the presumption that it would reduce the number of people cheating.

There is a long standing debate between whether the certainty of being punished or the severity of the punishment is more likely to deter offenders.

I've read plenty that argue, and I tend to agree, that where the likelihood of being caught is increased, offences are more likely to decrease than if the severity of the punishment received is increased.

An example of this in reality might be seen as the negative correlation between the use of the death penalty and decline in murder rates across US states. Murder rates are higher, on average, in those states that choose the death penalty than those that do not.

So maybe cyclists would be less likely to cheat, if they are more likely to be caught, rather than facing an extreme punishment. After all, in the pro peloton, your career could be over at the end of the season anyway.

Now this boy has got the right idea!

But I do disagree with his not including Millar, who should have been banned for life after cheating by doping, rule change or no rule change.

I would include Millar in the ban - at the time he was banned he was of the new generation who were leading cycling out of the Festina affair, and EPO scandals. For him to dope to win the World Time Trial Championships was a massive blow to the sport

I will find it very hard to support the Team GB road team should he be included in it - although im sure they wont lose any sleep over this

A little OT but related. While cycling last week I was having a think about the whole "drugs cheat" thing. Now I have and I still am totally opposed to this practise. I was thinking though about how there is so little fuss made of this in other sports, which was not a new avenue obviously. But then I got to think about "cheating" as an issue on it's own.

Does anyone call for a footballer to be banned for committing a professional foul? Why not, it's cheating? This sort of thing is even encouraged and I for one feel that they must almost practise their various methods. Suppose a player does the classic fall in the box, gets awarded a penalty and his team win the European Champions League. How does that differ from a rider taking drugs to win the Tour?

I am not condoning taking drugs for performance advantage and I know that (in theory) it is to protect riders health. Again, and I know it doesn't happen often, but what about tackles that seriously injure other people ruining seasons and very occasionally careers.

Having had these thoughts I can no longer call for life bans, not until other sports begin to punish their competitors for cheating in whatever form is applicable to that sport.

It will never happen, meanwhile cycling continues to be the media whipping boy and at the same time washes it's dirty laundry in public.

Come on all you footy fans explain why a "professional" foul is an acceptable form of cheating, I'm sure you will be queuing up, footy can do no wrong can it. (Other sports with cheats are available).

Couldn't agree more with Alex Dowsett. Riders who get caught at the moment just deny everything and then return to the sport a couple years later.

Quote:

Lifetime bans, however, are widely viewed as being open to challenge under human rights law since they would in effect prevent an athlete from carrying out their chosen profession

This is complete and utter guff and whoever is falling for that is pathetic. I am a solicitor. If I get caught stealing clients' money I would quite rightly get struck off so that I could not practice again. My human rights do not allow me to practice as a solicitor after I have demonstrated myself unfit to do so according to the standards imposed by my regulatory authority.

(Or at least, I think that's right. If it isn't I'm missing out on a gold-plated opportunity to steal huge amounts of money...)