PHILCYCLING President and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham Tolentino warned Filipino cyclists on the dangers of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) in the light of Lance Armstrong?s admission of doping.
?So far, the rules against banned substances are always being followed by our national cyclists and we didn?t encounter any doping issue in the past,? said Tolentino, a board member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body on cycling.
?Everybody can take performance enhancing drugs except chess players, so I?m encouraging all sports leaders and athletes to become aware of this. It will cost an athlete his or her career. Never try to take banned substances,? Tolentino added, referring to the fall from grace of Armstrong, who was stripped of seven Tour De France titles because of his use of PEDs.
Tolentino said that the UCI now becomes stricter in enforcing the rules and regulations set by the World Anti-Doping Agency, ?There is some health setbacks for those who use performance enhancing drugs that?s why they banned it,? he said. ?Some athletes used it as a shortcut to success but they don?t know the effect.?
