Ian ConstantineBloody Dopes! The Tour crashes down to earth
July 27th 2007 05:59
Who’d have known that this massive crash would come to symbolise the dramatic scandals that have rocked the cycling world. The huge pile-up on only the 2nd stage of the tour bares remanence to the predicament cycling’s premier competition now finds itself in. There has always been heavy criticism and speculation about the integrity of the sport, with doping always a point of conjecture. Tour administrators were hoping that the demons of last year could be put to rest; this however has quite publicly blown up in their faces.
It started with Vinakourov (who went into the tour as favourite) testing positive for doping and his team promptly withdrawing from the event, now the yellow jersey leader Michael Rasumussen has been disgraced and dumped from the tour. The tour is reeling in a week that has seen two of its highest profile athletes dumped from the most prestigious competition in all of bike racing. There has always been a cloud of uncertainty that loomed over the event, however these two positive tests have rocked cycling to its very foundations. Fans and commentators alike are at a loss, how can we trust the tour? Are Rasmussen and Vinakourov the only two guilty of doping, or were they just unlucky enough to get caught?
The tour is one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar, perhaps not quite so big in Australia, but in Europe it is as big as it gets. The highly revered yellow jersey is a symbol of strength, determination and athleticism. It was obviously very symbolic on the back of
Pure Champion!
However, since his retirement in 2005, cycling has not been same. We still have no official winner of the 2006 Tour with Floyd Landis embroiled in a legal battle to prove his innocence of doping. Thus, this year’s Tour started with no carry-over-champion, there was no yellow jersey worn in the prologue – a reminder of the controversial finish a year previous. We have now had the yellow jersey leader spectacularly thrown out of the tour, how can it get any worse for cycling fans? How can we have any faith left in an already tainted sport?
The one positive to come out of all this chaos is the stance cycling is taking against dopers. They are not afraid to publicly vilify anyone that tests positive to banned substances. Whilst other sports have softer penalties and try to sweep the problem under the rug, cycling remains firm against the dilemma. There is no quarter given, nor should there be, it is the only way to deter cheats and the only way to stamp drugs out of sport. If you test positive for drugs; it’s on your bike mate!
Where does the Tour go from here?
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Comment by Anonymous
Comment by David
I guess they can only continue to do what they're doing.
Stopping the Tour de France because of drugs is about as likely to happen as the Olympics finishing.
So the German network aren't covering it? Big deal. The subtitles on Inspector Rex are hard enough to deal with, without watching weeks of them.
I'm not the biggest cycling fan but I do watch a bit of the Tour. It hasn't lessed my interest in it one iota. It's probably made me a bit more interested in what's going on.
David ...
Comment by Stanley
and you're right that both the blessing and bane of the tour is the fact that those in control are tough on dopers, whilst not being afraid of exposing them for the public to see. this should be applauded.
Comment by sportsbar
Fret X
There is a quite cresendo growing that believe drugs should be open slather to the athletes, thus negating the uneven playing field.
I am strongly against the prospect of this, and so too are the sponsors of such events who use sport to showcase their products. They do not want them tarnished with drug allegations...
The Tour is reeling, however this may just be the tip of the Iceberg, we'll wait to see how things develop,
andy