Tour de France riders finished the last stage of the race on July 27, cycling through the streets of Paris and, finally, down the Champs-Élysées. That golden moment was tarnished this year by doping scandals that have shadowed the race. With four riders ousted from competition this year, new research by Brian Gilley, assistant professor of anthropology, offered a provocative perspective on the causes and the culture that drive many cyclists to use performance-enhancing drugs. His expertise was tapped in print and radio interviews by international and domestic media outlets, most notably in a widely distributed associated press story.

With a grant from the World Anti-Doping Agency, Gilley has spent the last year studying attitudes among under-23-year-old cyclists towards doping, a practice that now generally involves injecting EPO, a genetically engineered form of a naturally occurring hormone, to increase the body's red blood cells, carrying increased oxygen to muscles. Using American amateur collegiate cyclists as a control, Gilley interviewed elite junior and young adult Italian, Belgian, and American riders and found a surprising mix of responses about willingness to dope. The majority of those interviewed, however, believe intense pressure from team managers and sponsors explains the prevalence of cheating.

While in no way endorsing the practice, which comes with serious physiological risks, Gilley concurs, believing that the media and public unfairly focus on doping as an individual failure of morality rather than understanding riders, particularly Europeans, as the product of an entrenched institutional culture with politics and economics at its core. According to Gilley, use of these drugs is part of a secretive, intentional long-term training regimen encouraged by trainers for even very young cyclists.

The vast majority of collegiate riders in the study described doping as a moral failure, a stance which Gilley sees as part of the privilege of having near limitless life choices, a position that young European cyclists, largely from working class families, do not share. For them cycling becomes a lifelong career, first as a rider, then a team manager or trainer. Faced with pressure to meet increasingly high standards or be knocked off the team, the message to dope, for many, is loud and clear. Even among American collegians, 20 percent told Gilley they would dope if the incentives were high enough.

To appreciate the intense pressure — and find the ultimate responsibility — Gilley says look to sponsors who have enormous financial stakes in fostering a winner. And if a rider gets caught doping? The sponsor looks good either way. As Gilley told an AP reporter, speaking of Italian rider Riccardo Ricco, who tested positive for EPO during this year's Tour, "If (he) went uncaught, it would be, 'We saw this rider flower at the Tour de France. ... This is where heroes are made." If revealed, the sponsor can take the moral high ground — and the publicity — by expressing shock and disappointment while withdrawing support. "When he gets caught," Gilley said, "they get to say, 'we're doing all these things right.'"