Originally Posted by gsteinb

Just because guys did stuff doesn't mean it actually had a performance advantage. Cyclists used to smoke before climbs because they believed it opened up their lungs? Ever taken an upper? I have. It just made me jittery and ill. Crap, they killed Tom Simpson. One simply can't compare it to EPO simply for the fact that even if the doping methodologies had some effect they did not nullify ones ability to race clean against those riders. That changed with pervasive epo and blood manipulation.

That isn't to say that it isn't cheating or bad. Simply that the sport went to a place where it was impossible to be involved and clean.