by Sharon Norris
Sunday (23 July) saw the end to another Tour de France, with America's Floyd Landis being crowned winner. Landis' win came at the end of what was one of the most open Tours in recent years, following the retirement of 7-time winner, Lance Armstrong, and the withdrawal of 13 cyclists amidst yet another doping scandal.
This year, the problems began before cyclists had even lined up for the first stage. A six-month investigation by Spanish police resulted in the arrest in May of controversial Spanish doctor, Eufemiano Fuentes and a raid on several addresses where they found packs of frozen blood and supplies of anabolic steroids.
Following this, the two favourites for this year's Tour de France - former winner Jan Ullrich and his T-Mobile team mate Oscar Sevilla - were withdrawn from the race before it started, and the team's sporting director, Rudy Pevenage, was sacked.
In 1998 it was thought that cycling had finally called time on the doping scandals that had long beset the sport, after it was discovered that the Festina team had been taking doping products under medical supervision. Given the widespread condemnation that followed, and the fact that cycling has since become one of the most rigorously-tested of all international sports, the question arises as to why some cyclists are apparently still prepared to risk career, health and reputation to win at all costs.
However, Professor Brian Houlihan from Loughborough University's School of Sport and Exercise Sciences believes it is wrong to assume that the decision to take banned substances is a rational decision. He says: "As with many sports, the differences between the top competitors in cycling are fractional and the advantages you're trying to gain over your rivals are minute. I think there comes a certain psychology with that".
Professor Houlihan agrees that cyclists who take performance-enhancing drugs must realise there is more of a risk than ever after Festina, and says "the only conclusion I can come to is that they think it's a risk worth taking". He also believes that the widespread use of drugs in cycling in particular creates a climate where it is considered acceptable.
But do sports professionals who take drugs then see it as a legitimate way to succeed or as cheating? Professor Houlihan says: "I think most probably see it as legitimate, especially in sports like cycling where there is such a long history of doping".
"Taking steroids is a bit like smoking or heavy drinking, in that the associated health problems are ten or fifteen years in coming"
The prevalence of drugs in cycling has led some people to call for their being made legal, thus ensuring that everyone competes on equal terms. However, says Professor Houlihan, there are counter arguments to this.
"People argue that 'sport isn't like other activities' and that legalising the use of performance-enhancing drugs would detract from the 'spirit' of sport. A more persuasive argument, I think, is 'if you did make drug use legal, would you want your children to participate. Also, what sort of people would then be attracted to sport?"
As for the health risks involved, Professor Houlihan says: "Taking steroids is a bit like smoking or heavy drinking, in that the associated health problems are ten or fifteen years in coming". He points to a tracking study of Belgian cyclists done some years ago which showed an unusually high percentage had died in their forties, and many from kidney disease - which is frequently associated with prolonged use of steroids.
Another ESRC-funded researcher, Professor Robin Dunbar, from the University of Liverpool's Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioural Ecology Research Group, has a slightly different perspective on the motivation to take drugs in sport. Somewhat depressingly, he believes it is ultimately down to sex.
"From an evolutionary psychology point of view, much of these behaviours can be explained in terms of mating strategies. Men in particular - and it usually is men - will tend to behave more altruistically in some circumstances in order to impress the opposite sex, but on other occasions it will be more advantageous to be seen to win at all costs".
However he adds: "As humans, throughout our lives, we are all constantly caught between the short-term interests of selfishness and the longer-term interests of the community. Thus, sportsmen and women who cheat by taking drugs are simply veering the one way rather than the other".