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Tour de France rocked by new doping scandal

Associated Press

Latest comment posted at 12:39 PM EST 24/07/07

Pre-race favourite Alexander Vinokourov tests positive for a banned blood transfusion; team quits race ...Read the full article

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  1. Bob McDonald from Canada writes: How accurate are these tests? Are they never wrong? You would think that with all the publicity and testing, no one would dare try anything now. This athlete was already a favourite to win so why risk being caught? It all seems less than believable.
  2. R. M. from Regina, Canada writes: Tour rider qualifications:

    1. State of the art equipment.
    2. Sophisticated support team.
    3. Complete vigorous training regime.
    4. Good veins.
    5. IQ 75 or less.
  3. Mr. Reilly from writes: LETS DO AWAY WITH ALL DRUG TESTING AND LET THESE ATHELETES TAKE WHATEVER THEY WANT. AFTER A FEW OF THEM HAVE BLOWOUTS DURING COMPETITION THE DOPING WILL SLOW DOWN. THERE IS SO MUCH CHEATING AND BAD REFFING ALONG WITH CROOKED OR BIASED JUDGES WHY SHOULD WE EVEN CARE IF THE 'FAVORITE' IS ALL HOPPED UP.
  4. g h from Canada writes: Like a crack addict on the streets with no support, these riders are completely incapable of stopping themselves. They're hopelessly addicted to cheating, and the sponsoring team corporations don't want them clean either. They just don't want the cyclists to get caught.
  5. D K from Canada writes: This is a shock because....? Let the best drugs win!
  6. Turning Tide from The Bay, Canada writes: After last year's tour debacle I said I would never watch another tour, and as much as all the teams said they had cleaned up and were testing their own athletes, blah, blah, this is one sport that has not learned it's lesson and will continue to die until it realizes this. Sure there is doping in all sports, but it's becoming a lot more obvious when someone is dirty, and much easier to catch them. Stay clean and stay true.
  7. Somewhere off in the big blue sky from Canada writes: At the start of this year's race, Floyd Landis, last year's winner, was still disputing that his title had been removed because of doping.

    This is a real shame because the level of athlete that one must be to participate in the TDF is incredible as is. I would love to be able to watch it without wondering how many were cheating. I too wonder how accurate the testing is.
  8. Jonnie BE GOOD from St Kitts, Canada writes: stereos win by a mile or two ----
  9. P Scott from Canada writes: I'm amazed they still only do 'random' testing. Test them all and keep the playing field level. The fear of a random test obviously doesn't scare them enough.
  10. D McAnn from Canada writes: Hey everybody: This wasn't a positive drug test....it was a transfusion.

    As ususal, the G&M article doesn't answer the biggest question that popped into my mind: How does a transfusion of blood help the rider, or give an unfair advantage?
  11. Carl C. from Canada writes: A reason why i no longer trust big sporting events; just think about it, each sporting event, new world records are always being broken... How is this possible in the span of 100 years? Has the human race evolved that much in that short of span? No, the answer, is meddling with the body via doping and oxygenation of blood cells.
  12. col debeers from Calgary, Canada writes: As a big fan of the Tour de France this is very disappointing. I was half-in denial but finally have to accept that the tour in itself is beyond human capabilities. I've long believed that a 21 day tour at record high speed is impossible without the assistance of drugs. The tour is like running 2-3 marathons a week for a month straight. I don't think the human body in its natural state is capable of doing that but fans demand it. We could see a field of clean riders but it would mean seeing a lot slower times and a lot of inconsistent performances where riders are hitting the wall left and right. The reality is that all tour cyclists and teams have become adept at remaining one step ahead of testing, they will continue to do so as long as we want to see a fast tour with cyclists performing at their best for 21 straight days. Either the sport is changed and the demands that go with it or perhaps testing should be rid of altogether.
  13. Mr Fijne from Calgary, Canada writes: And why is it that we can comment on this secondary news while the Bulgarian Nurses are back home after 8 years of suffering, thanks to Qatar, EU and France? Is The Globe and Mail so FLICKED up?
  14. Bière Freud from Vienna, ON, Canada writes: Except that he typed all in capitals, I agree 100% with Mr. Reilly's 11:46 post. Let the golfers, cyclists, runners and chess masters pump themselves with whatever they think might improve their performance. I don't pay money to go to a ball game and watch people hit singles all night -- I want to see home runs! If these people are over 18 and if they decide the risk is worth the trophies, cash prizes and endorsements, so be it. I'm getting world-class sick and tired of having urine testing elevated to the status of an Olympic event. Maybe Mr. Reilly is using “substance” to enhance his power-typing. That’s his business.
  15. Bill Smith from Ottawa, Canada writes: D McAnn from Canada wrote: How does a transfusion of blood help the rider, or give an unfair advantage?

    Only the red blood cells are transfused, raising the athlete's haematocrit level. The higher the haematocrit level, the greater the body's ability to transport oxygen to the working muscles. More oxygen = more fuel can be burned = more power (watts). Works just like an internal combustion engine.
  16. W G from Canada writes: D McAnn,

    Transfusions are used to cover up doping. This is what the Fuentes case in Spain is all about. Transfusions can also be used to reinject your body with 'fresh' blood since during a three week grand tour, your blood starts losing its ability to carry oxygen. Doping in the tour is all about trying to be as fresh on the 14th day as you were on the first.
  17. Jim Summers from Waterloo, Canada writes: I am really curious about whether cycling is special. Do more cyclist take drugs, or do they just get tested and caught more often? That being said, these guys risk their lives descending on narrow mountain roads at 80 km/h, and every day there are crashes that can end a cyclist's race or career. When you risk your life riding at the limits of your bike, maybe the additional risks of doping don't seem so bad. I'd also observe that cyclist cheat all the time. Cyclists aren't allowed to draft cars, but they do it (a little) all the time. Cyclists aren't allowed to get pushes, but it is hard to control fans. Cyclists aren't allowed to grab onto cars and get pulled along; but Vinokourov spent lots of time holding onto the doctor's car, getting his wounds dressed. I don't think all doping is equal; I wouldn't be surprised if blood transfusions are much less effective than taking steroids. Why do we get so upset about cheating with drugs, when you can observe the riders cheat on every rule?
  18. Remy Martin from Nova Scotia, Canada writes: D McAnn from Canada writes: Hey everybody: This wasn't a positive drug test....it was a transfusion. Google 'blood doping' and you'll see that it's still cheating , on top of that he didn't even use his own blood and that's why this cheater was caught ! Look at the comparison between Moreau and Vinokourov , both riders cracked on the same day , Moreau kept sliding , Vinokourov was on an up and down ,lost ,won , lost ,won on consecutive days , suspicious isn't it ?Last year landis did the same thing in the Alps ,everybody wrote him off one day and next he won the toughest stage , following that stage I was wondering what was he on ? There are many honest cyclists in the tour , look for them in the second half of the classement general at least an hour behind the leaders .
  19. Greg Calgary from Canada writes: Mr. Big from Toronto, Canada writes: Lance Armstrong started all this.

    What ?

    On another point, there is so much money in sports today that these guys are willing to take a chance at not being caught. Sad but true.
  20. Scott Feddery from Canada writes: D McAnn - the transfusion helps them because it increases the number of red blood cells in the body which increases its oxygen carrying capacity. There is a limit however, at which point too many red blood cells can clog the passageways. Athletes typically have higher red blood cell counts than an average person, since their body adapts to its demand for more oxygen by producing more. A transfusion simply adds to this. I have 2 questions about this whole thing though: did they really think they wouldn't get caught? Every stage winner is tested, and the yellow jersey holder is tested every day. They've been testing for blood doping for a long time. Did they want to pass it off as him having a naturally high RBC count? And secondly, why not use his own blood, frozen in advance? I mean, if he gets tested they have no hope at all. It would stand out to a tester as putting a honda part in a ford would to a mechanic. Mind-boggling to me - it just seems too stupid to be true...
  21. Henry Allen from Toronto, Canada writes: If I offered five dollars to any commenter here who won a 5 km run, how many would use some kind of performance enhancing substance to give themselves an edge?

    Probably not one.

    However, if I increased the prize to $5 million, what would you do then?
  22. Gord Addison from Squamish, Canada writes: The Tour facilitates cheating - just not too much. The maximum red blood cell counts that the riders are allowed to have are set way higher than anyone, even a good athlete would attain naturally. Floyd Landis was the only athlete last year tested for Synthetic testosterone, and that was because pre-set ratios were out of whack. If the Tour were serious about doping, they would test everyone for synthetic testosterone and other drugs.

    And yes, if Vino had used his own blood, he would never have been caught. Silly boy.
  23. globefan EH from Canada writes: The Tour de France has become the Tour de Farce. It really is time to cancel it (I hear you, I hear you) until such time as the participants can win honestly.

    What's the point of winning if you cheat? As any golfer knows, there is none, because you only fool yourself into believing something completely false.
  24. WOHOO figure it out! from Canada writes: well this is sick! I mean it is kind of clear that someone dopes to be honest. Whenever you see a performance that just makes no sense then you know something is off. If you look at rasm. or cont. they are both tiny guys so obviously they can climb but man vino was flying that day and he is seriosuly not the lightest guy out there. Anyway this is beyond sad he took away the win from a bask rider from spain and now he is gone. maakes me sick!
  25. Mr. Big from Toronto, Canada writes: If Lance Armstrong hadn't set the standard for cheating cyclist we wouldn't have this problem.
  26. Bob . from Canada writes: Remy Martin...I'd say it will be increasingly difficult to prove that there are any 'honest' cyclists on the tour. The Tour is becoming more and more like Nascar each year...fans watch to see the crashes (both on the bike and with the anti-doping police).

    If all riders are doping then does the playing field not level itself?
  27. Joe InOntario from Canada writes: I think we're close to the point where we can assume that almost all athletic achievements are powered by dope of some kind. Be it Barry Bonds or cyclists or football players or swimmers, cheating appears to be the norm rather than the exception and the money involved forces the vast majority to turn a blind eye. I don't think you can even compete without being on something and all the tearful press conferences and denials just show what a bunch of liars all of these "athletes" are. How people are actually cheering for Barry Bonds is completely beyond me - he is a joke and has made the record a joke. Where to look for pure athletics? High school? Grade school?
  28. Bière Freud from Vienna, ON, Canada writes: globefan EH from Canada writes: 'What's the point of winning if you cheat?' Pro sports or big business, I can think of 3 reasons; $$$, $$$ and $$$. Lard Conrad Black's problem wasn't cheating, it was getting caught. Like another poster suggested nobody would cheat at a race if the prize was $5, but dangle $5M in front of people and their principles get pliable.
  29. J Ross from Canada writes: Cheating in advance of the Tour may not be preventable, but cheating during the Tour certainly is. All of the athletes should be put up in the same hotel every night, the hotel should be surrounded by security, and athletes only given access to team doctors under supervision of a Tour official.
  30. Ryanne Malloy from Montague PEI, Canada writes:
    So what is the problem?

    As I see it, the Tour is really a test of ingenuity and technology. If people find ways to make the body more effective drugs and blood products, that's great.

    I think they should go even farther - allow artificial body parts, bionic legs, artificial hearts. This should be about what a body can endure - how much can it be tempered with before it implodes.

    I think the line should be drawn motorized bikes - they should not be allowed. But if someone wants to be shot through a leg of the tour via a giant canon, bike and all - it would make the whole thing much more interesting.

    It should be about endurance, pure and simple. Whatever a body can take, use it. And boast about. Stop hiding it as if it is unethical or sinful.
  31. R. Carriere from Maritimes, Canada writes:

    I am starting to wonder if I really care about "sport" anymore. Many are looking for an "edge" in any sport as the riches dreamed about trump any care for the long term effects. So if these folk don't care about their health, why should we? Why don't we all just treat "sports"like WWe wrestling "entertainment?"

    Who wouldn't want to see an 800 ft. homerun? Or a 5 second 100 meter dash? Or a quarterback completing a touchdown pass from his own endzone to the other? A 140 MPH slap shot? A swimmer doing the 100m in 30 seconds? A 400 lb NFL lineman doing the 40 in 4.8 seconds?

    Let them do what they want. There is almost no integrity or honour or love of the game. It's all about money and business and if so, why don't we all just treat it like entertainment. There are so many other things in life!
  32. steve allan from Welland, Ontario, Canada writes: The three men who destroyed the Tour - Hein Verbruggen, the former head of the UCI who collaborated with Jean-Marie Leblanc, the former head of the Tour de France, to protect the greatest doper of all time, Lance Armstrong. All three of them should be tossed in jail for the rest of their lives!
  33. Carl C. from Canada writes: I am astonished to read comments from those who think that they should allow doping since everyone does it! Sporting events should be the result of human achievements, not technological or medical advances in science...

    I am sad to see that some people feel that the human being is nothing more than a machine that can be enhanced...
  34. Kim Feraday from Vancouver, Canada writes: So globefan wants to cancel the TdF until there is no more cheating. Well being a golf fan you must want to see all golfing competitions canceled after Gary Player's revelations of steroid use in golf. After all what's the point of having another doping infested golf match or whatever they're called. For that matter you might as well cancel baseball, football and basketball where use of performance enhancing and recreational drugs is epidemic. The only problem is in those sports the sponsors, managers, fans and league officials don't want the gravy train to end. Cycling has a doping problem but at least it's trying to fix itself. You can't say that much for golf -- Mr. Player has been ostracized after his comments from what I've read.
  35. M D from Canada writes: If othe pro sports were tested like cycling, this story wouldn't even be on the radar.

    Cycling is beautiful, and it is hard. A hard sport does not need doping, you just go slower. It is very agressive, there is only one winner an 179 losers. A 3 week stage race is a great thing, if you get injured or get tired you have to slow down.

    Cigar-smoking, tobacco-chewing activities are not even sports.
  36. R. Carriere from Maritimes, Canada writes:

    For those who may believe this stuff is recent, I remember being present at the swimming events at the Montreal Olympics in 1976. The East German women cleaned up and broke just about every record by seconds-unheard of.

    The only problem was their 5 o'clock beard and mustache shadows......
  37. Ranald Walton from Hamilton, Canada writes: Not to mention the bulge in their shorts, R Carriere.
  38. R. Carriere from Maritimes, Canada writes:

    Ranald Walton from Hamilton,-Great one-still laughing! Tks!
  39. Stevie Dee from Toronto, Canada writes: To you guys proposing to get rid of testing so that we, as fans can be better entertained, I throw this scenario at you:

    You've got a highly talented little son or daughter that has the potential to become a world class athlete (do something they love and make a lot of money doing it), but doping has become accepted and is no longer tested for. So, in order to compete at the highest levels, he/she has to take the drugs too, and possibly not be able to have kids, be prone to the acne, mood swings, delusions, etc. etc. that are all known side effects of prolonged steroid use. Sound like a fair situation? Still endorse it for your kid?

    2 minute penalty for silly posting, guys!
  40. Mr. Big from Toronto, Canada writes: I say let them take all the drugs they want yahoo!!

    My son won't be some meathead athlete, these dicks are usually pushed through school and can't sign their own name.

    My boy will be a corporate executive profiting off of losers taking steroids.
  41. al goguen from Victoria, B.C, Canada writes: Winning is an addiction, and an addict will do anthing to get a fix; he wants it, he needs it. What can be done? Not much as an addict person has first admit to himself or herself of the addiction and atart councelling.
    It's very sad. We enjoy watching the athletes fighting to reach to the top, but we end up discovering that drugs help him to achieve and arrive first.
    It's not fair to the guys who do it clean. But how many clean athletes do we know. Look at Barry Bond - a sicko and still playing - how many more.
    Until their teamates come up and tell the world what they know abut those who are cheaters, it will continue. Very say
  42. al goguen from Victoria, B.C, Canada writes: Could it be possible that some of maybe half of the Chilean team had received blood transfusion but it didn't work as it was supposed to?
    Just a thought!
  43. R L from Canada writes: Lance Armstrong bailed at just the right time before the drug testing techniques improved significantly.

    From here on out, the winner each year will be the doping cyclist who circumvents the drug testing most effectively (thanks to a well-paid team of doping experts at his side).
  44. Old Glory from New York, United States writes: Armstrong is the best ever - once again the USA dominates......
    all these others have to cheat to try and be competitive, unlike Armstrong
  45. Roland Neissinger from Latteville, Canada writes: If these test are accurate, the racers are basically fakes.
    Why not declare the Tour de France another entertainment spetacle or let upright walking robots from every nation partake.
    This is getting as ridiculous as the Olympic Games, a better name would we Olympic Circus, sad anyway to see sports going down by everyone being 'pumped' with drugs, one way or another.
  46. Jay D from Canada writes: I want to love cyling, really I do. However, every time I see a rider put in an amazing performance like Vino did on Stage 15 I wonder if he is on something. Doping has sadly wrecked the tour for yet another year. No matter who wins now this tour will be remembered for Vino's doping, similar to last year's Landis scandal. Le Tour is an amazing sporting event and the courage and tenacity of the riders would be impressive without the doping. The rewards of winning are so large that top riders are compelled to dope to stay at the front. Maybe they need to do something as heavy handed as testing every rider that finishes a stage in the top 10, every stage, plus another 10 random from the pack.

    >>Armstrong is the best ever - once again the USA dominates......
    Hmm, last I checked a Danish rider is leading. Lance was superb, no doubt, but he only raced le Tour and spent all his time training specifically for this race. Other riders race other tours INCLUDING le Tour. It's very difficult to peak for more than one tour in a season. Even Lance has said Ulrich was probably the best rider of his time.
  47. J R from Vancouver, Canada writes: Who is surprised? Personally, I do not care if they get blood transfusions. It has been a very exciting Tour so far. Astana (formerly Liberty Seguros-Wurth) was especially fun to watch. Maybe someone is clean in professional sports. Maybe they can put on a good show also. Regardless, riding my bike is a million times more fun than watching other people ride theirs.
  48. M Brown from Canada writes: P Scott from Canada - they do more than random sampling. Every stage winner's blood is sampled. I do agree it should be everybody but at least this way they are ensuring the winners are steroid free.
  49. R. Carriere from Maritimes, Canada writes:

    Stevie Dee from Toronto, Canada writes: To you guys proposing to get rid of testing so that we, as fans can be better entertained, I throw this scenario at you:

    You've got a highly talented little son or daughter that has the potential to become a world class athlete (do something they love and make a lot of money doing it),

    You had me until you stated "MONEY!" Is that what it is all about for you concerning your children? Are there no other options instead of "money?" from sports?

    Does a young person have to be "pushed' into pro sports for money? Or so that his Mom/dad can live through them?

    stevie-take a step back for a moment!
  50. Robert Bott from Calgary, Canada writes: I know it's un-PC, but I have no use for Dick Pound and his sanctimonious anti-doping vultures taking over the sports world. Anyone who can ride flat-out every day for three weeks deserves respect, and so what if they try for a little edge. Use education (like the recent mad wrestler case) to discourage the really harmful drugs like steroids, but why can't we just lighten up on this other stuff. I want to admire Landis' breakaway, or Vinokurov's performance Sunday (or Bonds' homers), without some twit in a lab coat snatching the glory away a few days afterwards. I say this as a pipe-smoking, beer-swilling long-distance touring cyclist. Yeah, very unPC. Oh well, I'll crawl back in my cave now. And I'll still be glued to the tube when the Tour resumes tomorrow.
  51. westcoastgroovin victoria from Canada writes: Have two sets of medals: One for the athletes and one for the best pharmacologist.
  52. Joe D'Agostino from St. Catharines, Canada writes: It's sad that a great sport like cycling is full of cheating. I remember watching the 1984 Summer Olympics where U.S. cyclist Greg LeMond edged Niagara native Steve Bauer by half a wheel. It was revealed later that LeMond had used blood doping but there was no testing for this procedure back then. From what I remember, LeMond kept the gold, Bauer the silver. I haven't watched the Olympics since.
  53. Hugh Geiger from Canada writes: Here's a link to some scientific info on the type of testing likely used, as relates to the Tyler Hamilton case:

    http://www.usantidoping.org/files/active/arbitrationrulings/AAACAS%20Decision%20-%20Hamilton%5B1%5D.pdf
  54. K. Little from Canada writes: test everyone, a life time ban for all who are caught, in two years maybe 3 at most and you'll have a clean sport with 5 or 6 competitors all under the age of 10
  55. Peter Lefaivre from Edmonton, Canada writes: This is typical of most pro sports these days and probably goes back at least 20 years. The 'do anything to win' mentality of jocks and their coaches is a disgrace, and it all boils down to money.
    We can easily take the 'professional' out of the equation unless you want to 'profess' the wide-spread use of 'performance enhancing' drugs as a legitimate athletic tool.
    All sport should have 'drug testing squads' to keep the cheaters in line. With records in all sports being smasher by bulked up, super-strong or duration busting athletes claiming these questionable new 'records' in cycling, football, soccer, golf, hockey, skiing, boxing, and baseball you would think fans would be screaming bloody murder. Instead, they carry on with their mindless adoration of these cheats who without these 'aides' wouldn't stand up to the original 'record setters'.
    Anyone who commits fraud or robbery in the real world goes to jail. Everyone supports that premise. In sports, these same athletes commit fraud and rob their fans, all the while collecting exorbitant salaries and glory. The fans, they cheer them on. How stupid!
  56. Stan L from Canada writes: The sports have changed over tha past 20 years....i would definitely agree that big buisness has ruined the pure achivement of sport in general.

    I love cycling and for as many years as I have follwed racing, I do believe that Lance Armstrong won fair and square....albeit the Tour de France was the only race he rode in all year (he would ride in enough to qualify and then that was it) No Paris Nice for him no Giro d'italia....not like most professional cyclists.

    I think Greg Lemond was the beginning of the end for the sport......give me the days of Eddy Merxx, that was a treat to watch him and he busted a gut all year for his sport.....watch his past races and you will see the difference between then and now.
  57. Pearls before Swine from Canada writes: westcoastgroovin writes: "Have two sets of medals: One for the athletes and one for the best pharmacologist." After the Ben Johnson fiasco in 1988 some wag proposed that there be two classes in all sports: stock, and super-modified.
  58. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: Maybe the participants should be allowed to consume whatever drugs they want...just to make it fair for all.
  59. Hugh Geiger from Canada writes: Here's a link to an LA Times article by Michael Hiltzik that reviews the Floyd Landis arbitration hearing in May 2007. The LNDD lab in Paris, whose procedures and accuracy were called into question in the Landis hearing, is the same lab that analysed the Vinokourov blood sample. http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-landisfinal31may31,1,3039158.story?page=1&cset=true&ctrack=1&coll=la-headlines-pe-sports all the following are excerpts: One of the arbitrators bluntly questioned World Anti-Doping Agency rules, suggesting that WADA's labs shared a code of omerta rather than a code of ethics. ... One clause notably forbade officials at all 34 WADA labs around the world from giving testimony to assist accused athletes or dispute the work of any other WADA lab. "You've got a code of ethics that essentially states [the labs] can't point out mistakes," said Christopher L. Campbell, the arbitrator who had been selected for the panel by Landis. "I think it's a real problem." ... Defense exhibits and testimony established that an enormous amount of the lab's analysis involved subjective judgments by technicians — so much so that when asked to rerun their tests, the technicians were unable to duplicate their original results. ... Among the flaws Landis identified in the lab's procedures was that it failed to calibrate its instruments properly, reducing its results to mere guesswork — possibly skewed by a desire to find the results it was looking for. Christiane Ayotte, the director of WADA's Montreal lab, who had characterized the lab's errors as mere "boo-boos" that shouldn't invalidate its findings, acknowledged under cross-examination that in one analysis of a Landis sample, the lab actually had identified a compound that wasn't there. "What is it?" Landis attorney Howard Jacobs asked as the witness frowned at an errant analysis page. "No clue," she replied.
  60. Raymond P from Canada writes: Tour d'Amsterdam? You get a bike, buy some drugs and visit the Red Light District. This might be worth watching.
  61. Gerry Vee from Canada writes: The riders should enter into the competition with no doctors or team supports. The doctors should all be provided by the tour as well as support teams and assigned randomly on a daily basis. The riders should be sequestered until the race is over. That would pretty much end the cheating. Will the tour and sponsors do something like this? Not a chance.
  62. Alberto Bayo from Canada writes: Raymond P......that's a great idea. Last one to Rotterdam buys the beer.
  63. M Brown from Toronto, Canada writes: How do we know that people in history have not take steroids? There has never been such sophisticated equipment as there is today. Who is to say that some of the greatest players took steroids but we just couldn't test for those steroids.
  64. x t from austin, United States writes: Old Glory from New York, United States writes: Armstrong is the best ever - once again the USA dominates......
    all these others have to cheat to try and be competitive, unlike Armstrong

    dream on...Can you actually believe that Armstrong raced (and won) "clean" while his teammates, and virtually all of his competitors have either been caught or admitted to doping? Armstrong was a promising, but mediocre stage-race rider before he got cancer...and then, by "magic" he became the best tour rider in history.

    talk about being in la-la-land. But it's true, audiences like to believe fairly tales.
  65. x t from austin, United States writes: Joe D'Agostino from St. Catharines, Canada writes: It's sad that a great sport like cycling is full of cheating. I remember watching the 1984 Summer Olympics where U.S. cyclist Greg LeMond edged Niagara native Steve Bauer by half a wheel. It was revealed later that LeMond had used blood doping but there was no testing for this procedure back then. From what I remember, LeMond kept the gold, Bauer the silver. I haven't watched the Olympics since.

    you misremember slightly. The cyclist who beat steve bauer wasn't greg lemond, it was alexi grewal.

    Grewal eventually joined the 7-11 team, while Bauer became a strong domestique for Lemond's team La Vie Claire. the 1986 LVC teams was one of the most dominant I've ever seen: Lemond, HInault, J-F Bernard, Andy Hampsten were all, I think, in the top 10.
  66. Hugh Geiger from Canada writes: Joe D'Agostino 6:34 PM EDT - The winner of the 1984 Olympics road race was Alexis Grewal, who edged out Steve Bauer in a sprint. I think that Greg Lemond would take issue with your somewhat slanderous but incorrect recollection. And yes, the United States Cycling Federation (USCF) admitted that some cyclists underwent blood doping only hours before their events at the 1984 LA Olympics, apologized to the American public, other Olympic cyclists, and the USOC, and sanctioned some officials. However, David Prouty, the executive director of the cycling federation, said that "nothing should be considered to have tained any medal" won by American athletes at the Games (blood doping was not illegal at the time). "There is no indication whatsoever that, based on past performance, any US cycling athlete performed at a level differenct than what had been anticipated," Prouty said. In their best Olympic showing ever, US cyclists won nine medals. I'm not sure if Grewal ever admitted to being part of the blood doping. Again - it was legal at the time although unethical, probably not uniformly effective as practised at the time and highly dangerous, as per the following account from Les Earnest (Senior Research Scientist Emeritus, Stanford University - 1984 Director of the Road, Olympic Games, Los Angeles, 1980-85 delagate to US Olympic Committee from USCF, and 1979-99 director and sometimes officer of the USCF: http://www.stanford.edu/~learnest/cyclops/dopes.htm Still, I think Steve Bauer should be retroactively awarded the Gold Medal!
  67. Mitch Sprague from Ottawa, Canada writes: It's not the Tour's credibility that is ruined, I think they're doing a pretty good job this year catching the cheats (or it seems that way), but rather the so called pros. Vino's pathetic excuse about blood anomolies is no less ridiculous than the crap de jour that Landis spewed last year when he was caught. There are still lots of good young riders just happy to win a stage and that still makes the Tour fun to watch.
  68. Hugh Geiger from Canada writes: Further to Alexis Grewal and the USCF 1984 Olympic games blood doping incident, Outside Magazine did publish an article that implicated Grewal (in an aside comment), but later published a retraction. A copy of the article and retraction can be found at:

    http://www.iaaf.org/news/newsId=23876,printer.html

    An interesting article by an amateur cyclist and his self-experience investigating the use of drugs in sport.
  69. Hugh Geiger from Canada writes: The pedalmag forum where Alexi Grewal (apparently) claims to have been clean for the 1984 Olympics, but admits to some other "not all good" things: http://forum.pedalmag.com/viewtopic.php?t=74&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=grewal&start=0 And a nice blog by racejunkie, who lambasts Vinokorouv for his selfishness in taking down Kloden (and the rest of his team) with him - Kloden, who gave up GC time to drag Vinokourov's sorry *** back into the peleton in the Alps: http://racejunkie.blogspot.com/2007/07/burn-in-hell-vinokorouv.html However, racejunkie's 'about me' sums up nicely some of the reasons why I like cycling and will continue to watch the Tour! As racejunkie says "the last broken man in the peloton makes the best athlete from every other sport look like a 98-pound weakling." Besides, they ride the Col de Marie Blanque tomorrow, 715 m in the last 8.5 km with the last 4 km about 11%. Only a category 1 climb but considered by some as one of the most punishing on the tour. I've ridden it twice (because the first time I only just survived). I'm looking forward to a great race. Still, some question remain. Why the leaks from the lab after the A sample test? I thought the whole process was supposed to be confidential until after the B sample test. Why do the tour, WADA, and UCI get to break their own rules? And there's still something fishy going on at the LNDD lab ...
  70. the rose from t.o., Canada writes: Can you maybe just re-print my comment from last year... please? I can't be the only sap that continues to enjoy watching the tour, the story-lines, the challenge vs. overwhelming odds, the underdogs, comebacks, races within a race, the fantastic finishes... even just the scenery. These cheaters are ripping off the competition and worse, stealing from the millions of fans the right to enjoy what should be sport at its purest form.
  71. Vern MCPherson from Toronto, Canada writes: Dope ?

    What trouble has the Defence Minister gotten into this time ?
  72. David Simon from Canada writes: Perhaps we should just have vials of chemicals compete against each other. Might be boring but at least you take out the middleman (or woman)
  73. Draracle * from Canada writes: No B sample and every freaks out! If he doped it didn't help too much, he gained ~3 minutes on the time trial and then lost over half an hour the next day.
  74. James Mallinson from Toronto, Canada writes: What's more entertaining:

    1 - Clean athletes competing to the best of their abilities.

    2 - Juiced-up athletes competing to the best of their abilities.

    3 - A scandalous doping drama mixed evenly with 1 and 2.

    I agree that the extent of the doping is distressing, but this soap opera drew 75 posts to G
  75. Iain's Opinion from Canada writes: Come on folks, anybody keeping up is cheating too.
  76. C Web from Kingston, Canada writes: Agreed, doping makes the Tour a way more exciting event.

    Legalize everything!! Or... keep everything illegal, but keep the testing random and let the drama unfold.....
  77. Jack Box from Canada writes: It's just lazy to get caught doping nowadays. Lazy or you can't afford designer drugs. Can they even test for growth hormone now?
  78. Chris Hale from Ottawa, Canada writes: Mr. Big from Toronto, Canada writes: If Lance Armstrong hadn't set the standard for cheating cyclist we wouldn't have this problem.

    It is unrealistic to lay the blame for drugs in the Tour at the feet of one rider, especially a one who was riding in the early part of this decade. Earlier riders and teams had been involved in drug use for years in an attempt, sometimes successfully, to win the TDF.
  79. Rob Aldred from Vancouver, Canada writes: It's sickening, bloody sickening, when for whatever reason supposed "professional" atheletes see that the only way to succeed at their sport is to cheat! When did the need to win at all costs become more important or superceed the need to play a game/sport fairly?

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