Since this is a cycling blog, I suppose it is expected for me to comment on Nicklas Axelsson and his positive doping test. But to be fair we should really wait for the B sample before saying anymore. Still, no matter what happens cykelsverige will have to put up with negative press, bad public opinion and stupid comments from TV4 reporters. I am from Canada and we have had a few high-profile doping cases over the years. But none of them have made a comeback because once you cheat and get caught, you are done. So no articles in Kadens, in other words.

So what about doping in Sweden. Finns det? When I first came here in 1999, everyone was convinced that Swedes never use hard drugs. They only stick to alcohol and snus. But everyones knows that Stureplan brats/celebs are getting high on something and the facts clearly say that Sweden was a leader in amphetamine use. Looking at the stats now, many teenagers are using anabolic steroids to help them with their weightlifting...clearly a case of doping. So how do we know that Swedish cyclists are not guilty of doping too? I have only once seen a doping test at an MTB race in this country. I strongly believe that it is good to paint a picture of the clean Swedish cyclist but we will look pretty stupid if that isn't true.

Although I don't think that doping would be all that common in cykelsverige. First, winning races here will not get you that much prize money. If winning a race would give you 50000kr, I can bet that there would be more doping.

Unfortunately, I think many have considered doping at some time. Some people are naturally more vulnerable to get stuck in an addiction and this is due to many factors including life conditions, family history or personality type. I am sure that we all know someone who just can't stand losing. And I am happily not one of those since I lose all the time. But we all need to pay attention to 'bad losers' because they may be tempted to cheat to finally win and feel good. Qualities like risk taking and fearlessness can make someone great at MTB or other extreme sports but the same qualities are risk factors for alcoholism and drug dependence. And if you don't believe me, I can give you hundreds of medical papers for proof. Studying this is my job, afterall.

What do I suggest then? Even more education about the dangers of doping and addiction in general. If I could get any research money for this, I would kickstart this myself. But money is always a problem. In the mean time, cykelsverige can hope for a major doping case in some other sport so we can keep some kind of reputation.