Truly a 'must read'!

nothing new to me, sounds a lot like what we heard in 1998, looks like those new year resolutions people make never to be fulfilled,

Definitely took some of the lustre off my innocence. More than a little disappointing; disgusting really.
Suppose I should never be suprised at the level and severity of corruption amongst large, for-profit, corporations.
What does it say about our world society when corruption on this scale doesn't even garner enough attention from media types to make a front page, or headline a 6 o'clock news slot?

"A lot of the fatalism about doping that is floating around in the sports world infects people who then give up and use that as an excuse to stop thinking about how the doping system works. The whole point of CCN is to think hard about what can be done on behalf of clean athletes. By the way, there is no party line in CCN, so I will not hesitate to express my own view that scaling down the financial incentives (and thus the business opportunities) in cycling will be part of any solution that works. You can’t keep the old business model that pressures and scapegoats cyclists and transform cyclists’ attitudes toward doping at the same time."

This excerpted paragraph says it all (IMO) about the fight against doping. As long as the financial incentive exists, there will be doping. You can't turn back the financial clock - you aren't going to cut riders' salaries to 1970s levels. As such, there needs to be such a draconian penalty in place to serve as a deterrent. The 2yr ban (and more common - the reduced bans) has no such deterring value. The lifetime ban is the only answer on the penalty phase front against doping.

tonyzackery said:

This excerpted paragraph says it all (IMO) about the fight against doping.  As long as the financial incentive exists, there will be doping.  You can't turn back the financial clock - you aren't going to cut riders' salaries to 1970s levels.Â

in the worst case scenario pro cycling could die, iconic sponsors like rabobank are pulling off, german TV is not broadcasting, new sponsors like nissan are going away, and spectators are becoming increasingly skeptic to what they see, how could you trust your eyes if Armstrong for example got away with doping for nearly a decade...

I do not know why they just do not come clean. Everyone I know assume that the elite riders are doped anyway so why not just admit that it is a part of cycling and let those with the best chemistry battle it out

Lambretta said:

I do not know why they just do not come clean. Everyone I know assume that the elite riders are doped anyway so why not just admit that it is a part of cycling and let those with the best chemistry battle it out

First the assumption that every pro dopes is flat out wrong. Second, the reason there shouldn't be a "doping series" is because races shouldn't be won in the lab.

I'll go with this assumption: to get into the IOCs good graces and become a member their mob, you gotta have some dirt on you first. Appears that's the only way other members in the club will trust you won't rat them out later.