BIG TOUR DRUGS SCANDALS - 2007

[huw williams]

TDF is close so expect the scandals to begin any time now


Beginning with...


Remember that breakaway win by Iban Mayo in the Giro last week?

Well guess what...

[huw williams]

This is only the beginning...

[Elliot M]

de luca to join landis in winner/non-winner purgatory?

[Elliot M]

hmm, am i making 2+2=5 or is there a hint in a headline on this page?

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id= ... jun14news2

[Andrew G]

Well I suppose it could help explain Petacchi's rather sudden return to full speed in the sprints after struggling to get in the top 6 up until the Giro.

DiLuca's always seemed to have gone - bad year, good year, bad year, good year etc etc. Hope this isn't due to anything iffy. I've always found it more normal that rider's forms fluctuate with bad spells, and days in Tours. Riding without a grimace or a bad spell for 3 weeks solid is not normal, no one can do that.

There's always been the odd rumour knocking about on Valverde because he was with Kelme for so long and obviously treated by Fuentes at the time as he was the team doctor.

Vino's done well to avoid getting caught if he is on anything (hope he isn't) as he's missed being named in either the Telekom, Fuentes, Liberty stories.

[Andrew G]

Oh yeah forgot about that over eagerness to get to the start line meaning that he and Kasheskin (sp?) missed the men from the ministry.

[Graham O]

This is getting worse. Can anyone name a top tour rider who isn't implicated in or suspected or being part of a drugs scandal..

Right now, its getting to the stage where the sport is finished as a credible international sport...

The Uk press will have a field day at the TDF grand depart...and rightly so !!

v depressing

[Graham O]

Sean,

Don't think that other sports are nearly as bad as cycling. You have to be honest.

If we can't name a top rider who is clean, then where are we ?

Graham..

[Graham O]

I was thinking and yes...Bradley's name comes up first. But he is a short time trial / track specialist, and not a grand tour rider.

Basically I don't think its credible anymore. If the top 10 riders are all on drugs, then to break into the top 10, you either need to be 10-15% fitter, or you go on drugs.

And the funny thing is, that if they all came off drugs, the current best riders would still be the best riders more or less...

[Graham O]

If they are all on drugs, then they are 10% better over a stage. So if they all came off, they relatively speaking they would be in a similar relative position.

At the moment, no one top rider can come off the drugs, because if he does, then its the end of his career. Funnily enough, this is same punishment as being caught, so why the hell not carry on using the drugs..

[Big Mike]

In my humble opinion if a rider feals that he/she needs to take drugs then mabye they should be looking for another line of work.
As far as I can see the only way to stop drug taking is to make every rider submit a sample after every days ride and if they test positive ban them from the sport for life

[Grahame]

[quote="marco"]everyone cashes in on the tour, even us with our publicity drive!

[David Lombari]

Regarding football, I believe Chelsea were given the green light by UEFA to store players blood for the purpose of using when recovering from injury (it speeds up the recovery process). So, what's legal in one sport is illegal in another.

Agree that without drugs, you'd still have the same faces on top as they are the most naturally gifted riders, ergo the ones you'd want to boost to make them even stronger.

A depressing situation all round.

A top rider who is having a great season, winning stuff and who you know is clean? Nicole Cook!

[the other Steve Dennis]

Women's cycling on the whole is becoming much more exciting and interesting than the men's sport.

It would be foolish to say none of the women are doping- Nicole isn't though.
But there are consistent battles between the top 6 women at each event and the world cup will certain become more nail biting seeing that Vos is back up to speed.

If only they could get the coverage they deserve, some tv or web casting or something.

[Will]

[quote]Spanish climber Iban Mayo, one of three riders whose urine samples were reported to have shown traces of drugs during the recent Giro d'Italia, was cleared of doping by the UCI on Thursday.