What the ?????

[SadieKate]

http://www.cyclingpost.com/tour/article_005202.shtml
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/ticker...l?item=1259979

[Tri Girl]

Another one? I so wish news like that was surprising... sadly it's not.

As much as the doping drives me insane (and yes, to drink)- I just can't turn away from the Tour.

I'm really, really hoping beyond all hope that all of this will demoralize the sport to the point that it HAS to become clean. Then maybe other sports will follow (ahem... baseball, football- you know who you are).

[SadieKate]

There's really something to be said for amateur sports.

UCDavis recently changed to Div 1 which means they can now provide scholarships to athletes. It makes me sad. I liked going to a school that did very well in sports but the athletes had to get into the school and stay in based on their academic merit.

[salsabike]

Ugh. Who would believe it? The Tour de Drugs.

[Tri Girl]

There's really something to be said for amateur sports.

UCDavis recently changed to Div 1 which means they can now provide scholarships to athletes. It makes me sad. I liked going to a school that did very well in sports but the athletes had to get into the school and stay in based on their academic merit.

That is sad. Good and bad I suppose... when money and sponsorship is on the line- everything changes. Not that amateurs don't do bad things- but when nothing's hanging over your head as a carrot- you tend to do it for the right reasons.

[Trekhawk]

Bl**dy Hell!!!! The list of bad boys just keeps growing.

[yellow]

Sooooo much drama. I checked out a while ago. I may get slammed for this, but it's not life or death and no one is dying...it's only cycling. I love cycling, and understand the desire to maintain the "integrity" of the sport...but the drama is really not worth my energy. I'll let others maintain anxiety about it all.

[Eden]

the sheer numbers seem almost impossible in themselves..... what has changed so drastically since last year that they are catching so many more.... different tests? more doping? (I find this to be unlikely..), more testing (but its mostly the top riders who are always tested being booted anyway....), more sensitive tests? more false positives/shoddy testing? what gives?

[SadieKate]

I was so enjoying watching Soler in the mountains. He brought a youthful exuberance and naivete that was fresh and fun to watch. He's the same age as Contador but they seem world's apart in demeanor. Not that Contador doesn't pull some less than veteran-moves, but he seems to be all business all the time while Soler was having the time of his life. None of that has anything to do with doping.

[maillotpois]

Yeah, I saw that this afternoon. What-ever.

Frankly, Soler bugs me. He somehow reminds me of the alien in Alien:

[Pedal Wench]

Yeah, I saw that this afternoon. What-ever.

Frankly, Soler bugs me. He somehow reminds me of the alien in Alien

Oh my -- I thought so too!!!! Too funny!

[Zen]

It doesn't say positive for what.

I find it hard to believe why anyone would be doping at this stage in the race especially given what's already gone down.
Makes me doubt the lab work a bit.

The similarity of those photos is remarkable

[PinkBike]

i agree with eden, what's changed in the testing processes? how do we find out?

it's sad but now you gotta wonder about everybody who has a good day.

[pll]

This morning one of the source cited above reported that the Tour organizers stated that Soler did not test positive after stage 14:

http://www.cyclingpost.com/tour/article_005202.shtml

At this stage, had this been true, I would have been angry. The tour is already too close to a bad soap opera...

[Aggie_Ama]

Did everyone hear the day Phil said "This man can not look good riding a bike." Or something of that nature. I almost spit my drink all over the living room!!