[cyborg]

I don't think it's a liberal entitlement mentality at all. I think it's a pressure to perform to superhuman standards. I heard a sports commentaor say it's a question of who ISN'T doping in bike racing. People want to be amazed by the guys that are pedaling twenty and thirty miles an hour,etc. It's same with baseball since you bought up little league. People want to be wow'd! by the balls that get hit out of the park. No one wants to be a loser and no one wants to be thought of as a loser esp. after they've trained hard as heck. This is sad though if it's true.

[laconic]

Phonak was also prepared to pay a $2.5 million bonus if the team won the Tour.

[Steve_Seattle]

"I think it's a pressure to perform to superhuman standards."

What these cyclists accomplish is beyond the ability of the average person to comprehend. These guys can maintain a faster pace for 120 miles than the average person can maintain for 3 minutes. And I think the word "doping" to describe what they do is very misleading; these people aren't druggies. The banned substances are basically hormones which many non-cyclists also take for a variety of reasons - to restore vitality, to give an energy boost, to restore sexual vigor, etc.