Bernard Kohl Tests Positive

So Bernard Kohl got busted for CERA, huh? If you haven’t heard the news, you can read about it by clicking here and that should take you to the update on Velonews.com.

You know, at the end of the day, if you put a gun to my head, I really don’t give a shit if these guys are doping. Years ago, before taking up cycling, I had a brief conversation with a real estate broker (he was showing me a condo for sale in Jersey City) about athletes and steroids. Lance Armstrong’s name was raised and, at the time, I had no clue as to whether or not Lance was on the sauce, although I specifically remember telling the broker, “If these guys want to use drugs, then let them use drugs. Who gives a shit?”

“Yeah, but they’re role models,” the broker argued. “Kids look up to them.”

In hindsight, the “kids look up to them” comment was redundant as I fully understand what a role model is and how a role model is expected to act, but give me a break. It’s a weak argument all around. If a professional athlete--in other words, a person who makes a living from their athletic ability--has the opportunity to create a better living for him or herself via drug use and if they’re relatively sure they can get away with it, they’re going to do it. Ethics and integrity are words and their meanings can be bent, so let’s not get started on the ethical argument of cheating via performance-enhancing drugs.

FYI, there’s a movie out there called Bigger, Faster, Stronger. I caught it in the theaters while it was out for a single weekend before becoming a DVD and while it doesn’t necessarily focus on cycling at all, it is a decent take on drug use in the athletic arena.

So here’s where I’m going with this. Bernard Kohl finished third in the 2008 Tour de France and won the polka-dot jersey. Carlos Sastre and Cadel Evans (don’t even get me started on that frigging pansy) beat Bernard Kohl and, as we all know, the Tour is won in the mountains and in the time trials. If Sastre and Evans beat Kohl, does that mean they were taking CERA or some other performance-enhancing drug as well?

I’d make that assumption. Yep, I’d have no trouble making that assumption whatsoever.