Sir, - The start of the 1999 Tour de France this weekend in Le Puy du Fou brings to mind the fervent expectation of Irish cycling fans this time last year. With that reminiscence comes the anger and sense of betrayal felt by at least some of us who worked for the sport of cycling in this country and prepared for the tour's visit. The feelings that some riders may have used performance-enhancing drugs gave way to the realisation that doping was an institutionalised practice that survived through the complicity of nearly all parties involved.
I am forced to wonder who will watch this year's race with any real interest. What is it that armchair spectators expect to see? A colourful spectacle, perhaps; but a sport in the true meaning of the word? I no longer think so.
The revelations of the past 12 months should make us turn away from an enterprise so corrupted by its vision of its own glory that it cannot force a change in attitudes among its own participants. These revelations also cast doubts on past achievements on which many young cyclists based their own goals and dreams. Thus the sport has betrayed its own future as well as its current fans.
But what of cycling in Ireland? As a former national director of coaching for the Federation of Irish Cyclists (now renamed the Irish Cycling Federation), I know the extent of the voluntary effort put into developing newcomers to the sport, and I know the sincerity with which these efforts are made. But here an ethical dilemma now seems to arise - for how can youthful enthusiasm, talent, and perhaps innocence be channelled towards goals that may introduce these same young athletes to a more sordid and corrupt environment? Critically, the question must be asked whether the Sports Council should continue to fund at grassroots level a "sport" that at international level seems antithetical to the true meaning of the word.
Had I not resigned from my role in Irish cycling before last year's visit of the Tour de France, I like to think my love of the ideals of sport would have lead me to do so anyway. Or, perhaps, like the powers that govern world cycling, I would have persuaded myself that the problem was a small one and that things could continue more or less unchanged. - Yours, etc., Brendan O'Donoghue,
Llewellyn Lawn, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.