Here we go again... another scandal on TDF

[Eden]

2nd. That shouldn't have been the only day he was tested. He had held the mellow johnny before, so shouldn't the prior tests have been steroid positive? I can't believe he would have taken steroids just for 17.

I'm afraid even if this is the only day of the tour that is positive the results will still stand, if the B sample is positive as well, until and unless he sucessfully fights it. Roberto Heras lost his Veulta title last year for one positive EPO test from a sample taken on a day when he already had the race won - so logic would say why dope when the race is essentially over.

The riders do and should fight some of this testing. Its not like a pregnancy test - either you are are you aren't (even pregnancy tests aren't 100%). Many of them are quite subjective, requiring being "read" by a technician and are also subject to natural fluctuations in the persons own body chemistry. While I don't know much about how they test for testosterone, the EPO test has proven to be far from reliable and there are several atheletes who have fought and cleared themselves from false positives.

[mimitabby]

oh, the pain of it! Today I attended a bike safety class that the Cascade bike club teaches (they brought it to our company) and the first thing the guy says is;
"well, I guess Floyd's out"


seems to me, a guy who can ride like that ought to have inordinate amounts of testosterone in the first place!

[Bike Goddess]

Right now it's all speculation so I'm just going to wait and see. I have a hard time believing this as well. Hopefully things will turn out for the best.

IF indeed he did do something he shouldn't have done, then I too will give up my interest in procycling.

[Geonz]

Yup... let 'em do their stuff on their own. Let us RIDE, RIDE, RIDE and know we're doing it under our own steam (or hot air, or whatever!), with a little caffeinated GU now and then...

[SalsaMTB]

Maybe we should have two associations: "hopped up" and "ridin' natural." Kind of like supermarket foods -- regular and organic?

lol, great idea!! It would be really interesting to see the different results.

[li10up]

I have heard many interviews, bios on Greg Lemond. I think he had a hugh amount of talent and did so much for American cycling, but I think he's just bitter. All he can talk about is how if he hadn't been shot that he could have won 6 or 7 or MORE TdFs. He wants Lance so badly to be found guilty of doping so he can be the the Alpha Male Cyclist. It's almost like he wants every winner to be found guilty of doping so he can put himself on a pedestal - to be the only pure champion. I'm getting sick of him.

As far as the labs go...seems to me they're determined to attack every rider until they get a French champion...they seem desperate to have one of their own win the Tour.

I hope Floyd is cleared, but only if he truly is clean. But even then his win will always be tainted. Seems to me a good ol' fashioned witch-hunt is goin' on.

PS: Any real athlete knows you can have a terrible day one day and be at your best the next.

[Kalidurga]

Apparently Floyd did a press conference this afternoon on the issue.

He's also going to talk about it on Larry King tonight at 9 pm ET: CNN: Larry King Live

[mimitabby]

I'll say one thing about him, he's not hiding or holding back.!!

[chickwhorips]

if floyd was tested at other parts of the stage while in yellow, and didn't test positive, why did this one pop positive? were the other tests they were doing trying to test for something else or the same thing?

[spokewench]

Greg Lemond is way too fast to accuse others of doping. Don't forget there has been doping in pro cycling for many years even when Lemond was racing. Also, remember that he probably shouldn't have been able to win the tour since his body is full of shotgun pellets due to being shot I think it was maybe a year or two before he won the Tour!

I don't condone doping but the tour has gotten so competitive, no one who is not doping can have a chance in heck to win! Back in the day, they used to have what you would call a rest day where they would go slower and take it easy - these days, the tours are always "the fastest ever" etc. Something has to give and it is the rider's bodies if they don't dope!

[maillotpois]

Well, this is sort of good news on other riders:

Five Astaná riders who were forced out of the 2006 Tour de France because of alleged links to a blood doping investigation have been formally cleared by Spanish courts.

Joseba Beloki, Isidro Nozal, Sergio Paulinho, Allan Davis and Alberto Contador have all received a written document officially clearing them of any links to the ongoing "Operación Puerto," the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco reported Wednesday.

Bummer for those guys that they had to miss the Tour, though.

[pooks]

I heard somebody on the radio say that Major League Baseball and the Cycling community needed to get together. One is way too loose and the other is way too tight, and the middle ground should be about right between them.

[maillotpois]

I heard somebody on the radio say that Major League Baseball and the Cycling community needed to get together. One is way too loose and the other is way too tight, and the middle ground should be about right between them.

I agree. I went to a SF Giants game this weekend, and the level of Barry Bonds worship made me sick.

[Eden]

Well, this is sort of good news on other riders:

Five Astaná riders who were forced out of the 2006 Tour de France because of alleged links to a blood doping investigation have been formally cleared by Spanish courts.

Joseba Beloki, Isidro Nozal, Sergio Paulinho, Allan Davis and Alberto Contador have all received a written document officially clearing them of any links to the ongoing "Operación Puerto," the Spanish newspaper El Diario Vasco reported Wednesday.

Bummer for those guys that they had to miss the Tour, though.

Bigger bummer for Vino who had a real chance at a podium place in this years TDF - but was excluded because too many of his teammates (now cleared - just several days after the tour is over) were implicated.

[Aggie_Ama]

As my July Secret Sister knows, there is a popular bumper sticker here that says "Texas is Bigger than France". Hehe, I guess the anomosity is on both sides of the ocean.....


I hope Floyd is cleared. I too wonder if there is some correlation with the cortizone? Just say it isn't so!!