ARD makes huge mistake in blood-doping accusations

I?m a big cycling enthusiast. Not only do I enjoy cycling myself, but I also like watching and following it. I won?t deny the sport has some serious issues it needs to overcome: the struggles between the UCI and ASO and most importantly the doping issue. This week the latest of rumors appeared and this one really made me sick.

Earlier this week, German TV station ARD reported that there was a new doping scandal. This time they had found a blood bank in Vienna, Austria. Blood-doping is a very serious problem and it needs to be battled. But at least you have to do your research right. If the ARD had done that, they would have quickly found out that the facilities of the blood bank were unfit for blood-doping practices. And as a result, they had to withdraw their accusations later this week.

But, already the harm had been done. Being eager to publish another doping story, they named some high-profile riders. Including three (former) Rabobank riders: Menchov, Boogerd and Rasmussen. And while the majority of alleged clients of this blood bank where in other sports than cycling, only the names of the cyclist became public.

And that is what makes me really sick. Sure, cycling is a sport where blood-doping can be very efficient. But look at other sports, for instance cross-country or biathlon. They have the same physiology as cycling and those sports are becoming more professional every year. If you?re a good cross-country skier you can earn a very decent living in Norway, Germany, Austria and a number of other countries. And while their names were also on the list, those heroes were not named in the report.

Why? Because Germany actually has some good athletes in cross-country and biathlon. Those are also sports which are extremely popular there, as opposed to cycling which draws hardly any attention at all. So it wouldn?t make sense for the ARD to throw in their own glasses and kill two of the more popular sports in Germany. They?ve done that with cycling, at a time when their golden boy Jan Ullrich was done. As a result, they have become hypocrites. If they were really serious about their anti-doping policies (the ARD and ZDF refused to broadcast the Tour de France last year), they would stop broadcasting cross-country and biathlon as well.