Ullrich out of TdF!!!!

[SadieKate]

Macebo and Beloki on the list also? It will be curious to see how far this goes to finally get the powers that be to make some effective changes.

[slinkedog]

Macebo and Beloki on the list also? It will be curious to see how far this goes to finally get the powers that be to make some effective changes.

Agreed. I want to see cycling cleaned up. With all the Barry Bonds stuff, it's becoming apparent that ALL sports need to be overhauled when it comes to doping.

[KSH]

You know, I just wonder how ALL these guys make a conscious decision to go and get doped up... right before the race... when they know they are going to get tested.

Doesn't it just seem like a no-brainer to not dope up?

Which makes me think that maybe something that isn't dope is showing up as such in their blood (haven't they made mistakes like that before with blood testing?)... things just aren't adding up. ALL of these cyclists who worked for YEARS for the TdeF can't be THIS STUPID. Right?

Didn't they accuse Lance of doping... year after year? Gosh, they were still harping on that up until a few months ago.

Something isn't adding up ... and after they way they accused Lance on a regular basis, I don't really trust the agency who does this testing.

But, I am sure I don't have all the facts here.

[slinkedog]

You know, I just wonder how ALL these guys make a conscious decision to go and get doped up... right before the race... when they know they are going to get tested.

Doesn't it just seem like a no-brainer to not dope up?

This whole thing has been brewing since the end of May... these guys were implicated when a Spanish doctor was arrested and his files were raided (I think that's how it went down.) Apparently he has files on all the ousted riders. Tyler Hamilton has also been implicated.

[massbikebabe]

I just find it tremendously interesting that they wait until THE day before the start to implicate these guys. Are they cheating??? We will never know the whole truth, but if they are it sure does pi$$ me off because I am out there slugging away trying to be a rider with nothing more than asprin, vitamins, and anti-seizure meds. in my body.




karen

[Grog]

Cycling is a brutal sport. It wrecks out its riders, their health, mental and physical.

Cyclists would kill to be at the Tour de France.

They will also take performance-enhancing drugs and try the weirdest performance-enhancing techniques, like blood transfusion of their own oxygen-maxed blood.

How else would they survive this grueling race, and ride at the speed they ride?

It may actually be a good day for cycling. A serious wake-up call to riders and their coaches and supporting teams. The sport might become less spectacular but cleaner, and healthier for the athletes.

It might be a more exciting year for the TdF with lesser known cyclists taking the lead. Not as good for TV contracts though, but if it has to go through this to revive in a couple years, so be it.

[Eden]

I find it rather sad that there is a guilty until proven otherwise and then under suspicion for the rest of your career attitude about the whole thing.

The evidence that these guys were cheating seems pretty thin to me - how hard would it be to fabricate those documents? and the list of cheaters released seem tailored made for maxium sesationalism. They (the media) are doing more to convince me that the riders are exposed to a witch hunt at all times than they are convincing me that there is mass cheating going on. These guys are exposed to more drug testing than anyone else I can think of - especially if they win. Every time they finish in the top 10 (? I think it may be more than just the top 10) they get tested. Sometimes they wake them in the middle of the night and drag them out to get tested. They call their homes in the off season - come and get tested!! If all of the top guys were cheating they would catch more of them.

I guess I need to read up a bit more, but I'm not ready to condemn all of those guys just yet. I really wish the directors had the guts to stand up and say that they trust their men and they are not going to voluntarily pull them out without more concrete evidence.

[cusepack]

As I mentioned in another thread, one of my friends is in France for the Tour. He's been sending me updates, and says it's total chaos over there, and it's not over yet - as far as others being suspended. He's disappointed as he's a Jan fan, but he said, and I agree, that the race is wide open now.

I'll keep you posted

[Lenusik]

All this is rather bad for the sport and fans. The Tour will be weak this year because of this story. I am glad that they caught them but I am sad that we will not see any drama this year. I doubt it.

[velogirl]

Cheating is cheating.....that's the bottom line. And in the case of some riders, lying is lying.

If doping increases the performance of one rider 30-40%, other riders are forced to do the same just to compete at the same level.

Don't blame the media for doing their jobs. With the lack of top names at the Tour, they need to create news somehow and this is definitely news. Of course the timing is interesting. I'm sure there are insiders being paid for releasing this information at just the right moment to make an impact.

Cycling isn't a clean sport (at many levels, not just the pros). Even though doping is accepted in other mainstream American sports (like baseball), that doesn't mean it should be accepted in cycling.

We can put our heads in the sand and pretend that the top pros are clean, but the reality is that the sport is riddled with dopers.