Chase Bailkin
Speaking of Bicycles
Jonathan Hunt
March 6, 2017
Second Speech Outline
- Open with question: how many of you know who Lance Armstrong is?
- He is a former road racing cyclist who won Tour De France a record seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005
- Tour De France is the oldest and most prestigious bike racing event in the world
- Armstrong beat testicular cancer in 1996, and went on to become the most recognized cyclist in the world
- His image was defiled when, after years of allegations, he admitted to using performance enhancing drugs during all seven years of victories
- His close friends and teammates tried to turn him in, which made him very angry and ruined many relationships between him and his friends and his fans – he is banned from cycling forever
- This is an example of a big problem that many professional cyclists in this generation commit
- Many professional cyclists use performance enhancing drugs such as testosterone, blood transfusions, and Erythropoietin which give these riders unfair advantages
- Riders are banned from professional competition for life if they are caught, like Lance Armstrong
- It is an epidemic and ruins the integrity of the sport and ruins the true competitiveness for riders who don’t dope
- From 1998 to 2013, 12 Tour De France winners have been linked to doping and 65% of the top ten riders in this time period were also linked to doping
- Random drug tests are administered to prevent the use of these drugs, but infusions and blood transfusions cannot be tested
- Hopefully more measures are taken so that we can enjoy the sport in its purest form and people who work the hardest can be rewarded