A matter of hours ago, retired cyclist Lance Armstrong was picking Jan Ullrich to beat race favourite Ivan Basso in this year’s Tour de France. Now, both men will have about as much chance of winning as Armstrong himself.
Ullrich and Basso will join other riders such as Francisco Mancebo, Joseba Beloki, and Oscar Sevilla who have been removed from the race just a day before it begins. More riders are expected to be banned from competing as a huge drugs scandal hits the world’s biggest annual sporting event. The details to this point are in this story at CyclingNews.com but I’m sure that the story will continue to change.
Whole teams have been removed from the event so we’re likely to see far fewer cyclist competing for the Yellow Jersey. I can only hope that those still in the race are able to carry on without being tainted by the allegations that have been made against other competitors. Of course that’s not to say that all those who have been removed are guilty of doping, that will only be decided once investigations are completed.
I love cycling and I love the Tour de France so it annoys me that cycling remains, by far, the dirtiest sport of all in regards to drugs and doping. I do hope that there will come a day when organisers can guarantee that all those racing are clean.
UPDATE: It’s just got a little closer to home with Aussie rider Allan Davis now named among those being investigated on doping charges.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Tour de France – Jan Ullrich – Drugs
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You know, I’m not entirely sure that cycling is the dirtiest sport with regard to drug use. Think about this: the more testing a sport does, the more people it’s going to catch, and while this should clean the sport up, it also means that it’s reputation is always going to be tainted by the number of people it catches. If a sport did absolutely zero testing and caught nobody, it would earn a reputation as a “clean” sport, and in this day and age that would be a mile from the truth.
Very good point, Chris. I still think that a lot of riders are on the juice. There are even guys in local club racing around Perth that are very obviously using. I don’t know why you’d do that to your body for a short term gain.
You’re right of course. My point was that it’s a little naive to think it’s confined to just one sport.
As to why they do it — it’s esse shaped with a stroke through it.