ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the relationships between cycling and the use of performance-enhancement techniques and substances (PETS), better known with the semantically problematic word ‘doping’. It deals with the intensity of the relationship between doping and cycling. The chapter demonstrates that cycling is the sport most often and most closely linked to PETS, both in the dominant popular and academic discourses, and that this strong link can be traced back to the origins of cycle sport in the late nineteenth century. It examines the discourses on doping and cycling and their evolution, and outlines a literature review of both scholarly and non-academic texts dealing with this relationship. It shows that cycling is the sport most often linked with ‘doping’ in popular and scholarly discourses alike, and that this can be traced back to the origins of cycling in the late nineteenth century.