Hobbes wins the Tour De France?

Stretching 23 days and 2,000 miles, the Tour de France is arguably the most physiologically demanding of all athletic events. Efforts exerted by its’ participants have been equated to "running a marathon several days a week for nearly three weeks", while the total elevation of the climbs was compared to "climbing three Eversts." An undeniably spectacular feat, the race’s legacy seems to have been permanently tainted by the recent and very public exposition of the secret doping culture supporting it. I find the compounding accusations against Lance Armstrong, the race’s most famous and decorated participant, to be an fascinating manifestation of Hobbes’ understanding of human nature. 
    It became the subject of headline news when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a report detailing allegations of widespread doping by Armstrong and his fellow cyclists on the U.S. Postal Service cycling time. The affidavits from 11 of his teammates outline the elaborate doping ring that they participated in. Involved cyclists reportedly underwent blood transfusions during races and injections of Erythropoietin and testosterone while training.  As they all benefited from the subsequent performance enhancement, the cyclists and their coaches adhered to a strict  but mutual “code of silence” that prevented them from whistle blowing. Such an agreement is what Hobbes’ describes as “covenant.” In his piece “Leviathan,” he claims such as agreement must “secure them in such sort, as that by their own industry... they may nourish themselves and live contentedly...[can be achieved] by covenant only, which is artificial: and therefore able to defend them from the invasion of foreigners.” Armstrong’s doping in particular, allowed him to reach a level of athletic superiority that garnered him earnings in the millions, a inarguably “content” and “nourishing” living. The USADA was the foreign body looking in from the outside, submitting Armstrong and his teammates to thousands of drug tests. But their methods allowed them to cheat the drug tests, the team mates remained silence, and thus all the available evidence was exculpatory.
     Hobbes goes on to say “the agreement of these creatures is natural” but qualifies it claiming a “common power.... [is] required to make their agreement constant and lasting, to keep them in awe, and to direct their actions to the common benefit.” These dopers were driven into silence by the illegality of their practices, knowing that its disclosure would not only disqualify them from the race, but was severely punishable by law. It was not for the safety their fellow teammates, but for their own self-preservation that bound them into this silence.

 If only Lance had paid a little more attention to his 17th century English philosophy, he should have known what was coming... 

    Winning the a consecutive 7 times, Lance Armstrong proved himself to be the strongest cyclist in Tour De France history.  Hobbes articulation that “the weakest has strength enough to kill the strongest... by confederacy with others that are in the same danger as himself” therefore seems all the more profound.  While many in the past had brought forth isolated accusations of Armstrong’s doping, it was the simultaneous and cohesive testimonies of over 10 of his teammates that presented allegations so strong, that Armstrong himself announced he would no longer fight them.  Whether an act of jealousy or sudden moral righteousness,  Armstrong’s former team mates banded together to destroy his once unique athletic legacy.
     I think we can agree that in Hobbes’ mind, though, it was his former teammates competitive jealousy that brought forth their testimonies against him.  Eerily, his declaration that “if any two men desire the same thing, which nevertheless they cannot both enjoy, they become enemies... and endeavor to destroy, or subdue one another” rings as true as ever.  No one escaped this race victorious.