Wtf? Tdf!

[Tedroy]

Rico busted, Sonier Duval out. Why would a young rider ruin a growing reputation with a move like this? Truly disappointing and sad for the tour. Each year I get all excited to watch the tour, and each year I get more angry with myself for thinking they're clean.

[SheDevil]

"It's not who's doping...it's who gets caught"

** I was reading an article in Orange Coast Mag yesterday and they had an interview with Landis. Try to find this magazine if you can it has Howie Mandel on the cover(early 2008 maybe March?). Anyway....the question was....did he do it??? At one point Landis turned to the interviewer and said casually...."Lance doped too you know".

Ouch is all I can say.

[emfc]

Is pro cycling that difficult that they have to cheat or are pro cyclist that stupid to think they are not going to get caught anymore? So much for all those taking the tour back commercials they have been running on VS.

[JoeTruth]

My post from a couple of days ago. Idiots, I tell ya'!

I think I have ESPN...

"Today's Stage 9 through the Pyrenees was the kind of racing I've been itching to see and haven't yet, until today. The attack on the last cat-2 climb by the Cobra (R.R.) was HUGE and very impressive. Wow, he's a force to reckon with in future on Le Tour, baring juicing and injuries, of course. People are taking notice of this kid and for good reason. Good stuff!
(Damn, I hope he's clean and pure. We don't need any more Schumacher stories this year or ever.)"

[thistrailisntlegal?]

Originally Posted by emfc

Is pro cycling that difficult that they have to cheat or are pro cyclist that stupid to think they are not going to get caught anymore? So much for all those taking the tour back commercials they have been running on VS.

Makes you wonder why there's never any doping issues with the other grand tours, the Giro and the Vuelta, and all the other, smaller stage races. Do these guys only dope in the Tour? I doubt it, but at least the Tour is trying to squash the dopers...

[sdyeti]

I don't know if it's a matter of "I don't care if I get caught" or "I don't think I'll be tested so I'm just going to dope anyway."

Not that it matters, they still doped, but I'd still like to know.

[JoeTruth]

Apparently, he got caught for "Cera", which is a 3rd generation EPO and a lighter form of one. I'm sure he thought he (and maybe his team) could fly under the radar with it, since it is a lighter dose. When he blew by people on the Pyrenees climbs the other day, it reminded me so much of Shumacher's attack last year. It's was so explosive and no one could match his level. Well, in both cases, we all know why now.

Originally Posted by sdyeti

I don't know if it's a matter of "I don't care if I get caught" or "I don't think I'll be tested so I'm just going to dope anyway."

Not that it matters, they still doped, but I'd still like to know.

[ericfoltz]

Ricco was pretty obvious. Last year he was a complete nobody, this year he wins two stages.

Does anyone honestly think you can have that big of a performance boost naturally?

[Lone ranger]

Maybe all of them should be forced to dope ,so it would'nt be unfair.
Lone ranger

[sdyeti]

I guess it's "take the chance of getting caught and dope anyway" from the attitudes of the riders who've been caught.

For me, watching the Tour is more about the spectacle, the drama of it all...the athleticism part, well, I'd like to believe it's au natural, but that doesn't seem realistic.

[Pickettt]

Originally Posted by JoeTruth

Apparently, he got caught for "Cera", which is a 3rd generation EPO and a lighter form of one. I'm sure he thought he (and maybe his team) could fly under the radar with it, since it is a lighter dose. When he blew by people on the Pyrenees climbs the other day, it reminded me so much of Shumacher's attack last year. It's was so explosive and no one could match his level. Well, in both cases, we all know why now.

To me, his attack was a la Basso in the Giro. Oh no, that's right, he didn't dope, but he was planning to. Or something stupid like that. Actually CERA's been around for some time, it's just been in court over who developed it. It's called epogen here in the US. Purportedly developed by...yes AMGEN, title sponsor of our very own Tour of California.

[NO GO]

What are the current repercussions / penalties for doping? It seems the punishment for being caught isn’t tough enough. Maybe being banned from professional sports / Olympic Games for life would discourage doping. Who knows just my .02 cents.

Tour is still interesting to watch, curious to see how much trash “The Cobra” talks now. Plus wasn’t his idol a known doper?

[katonk]

Kids, I think the moral of the story is pretty obvious: Don't get caught!

[Pho'dUp]

It's an arms race. There's so much money involved that it's hard to imagine USADA, or WADA having the resources to be able to keep up with the doping schemes. They'll catch as many as they can, but they'll always be athletes ahead of the curve so to speak.

Maybe a no tolerance policy. Caught once and then lifetime ban? However, I think lots of athletes will just gamble that they can win and make lots of $$$ before being caught then just retire.

[allison]

Athlete's dope in every sport!!! It's not just cycling. They just get caught in cycling.

The majority of riders dope (or did 2+ years ago). Tour riders have always doped. They used to take all kinds of crap to keep them going during the race. It's just about the most difficult athletic event you can take part in, and it's the highlight of the cycling year. More riders care about the Tour than the World Champs or the Olympics. No wonder they all try to get an edge.

I think many cyclists (and soccer players, football players, baseball players, etc. to every sport that has MONEY involved) dope and work really hard to stay under the radar. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. They know they might be tested; they just assume their regime is good enough that it will keep them under the legal limits.

I doubt this is the last positive that will show up.

But, as P&P have been saying... at least they are getting caught.

IMO, though, even if people aren't getting caught - it doesn't mean they're clean.

Try to imagine RACING for 21 days doing about 100 miles a day, climbing up alpine passes on about 6 of those days, and riding around 25-30 MPH every day. Seriously. Even with a lot of training that is a difficult prospect. Feel kinda crappy and slow? Here, try some of this and you'll be good to go tomorrow...

[Edog]

I like dope, lets roll a fatty

[Sprockethead]

I haven't been watching the Tour cause we don't get it at my house. Although, I did watch an interview with some dude who got busted for doping in the TDF a few years ago. He's now on Team Slipstream which HBO featured as a drug free team. How are their guys doing compared to the dopers?

You know the saying in sports, "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't trying". Sad but true, might as well let them all dope so they're all on the same playing field.

[emfc]

Allison I agree, so is the tour just too difficult to do clean?

[ArrrKelly]

Good call Joe Truth.

"The Cobra" (snicker) never impressed me THAT much. He has been a cherry picker so far in the tour. He was 115th in the time trial. I'm sure several guys in the peloton could save their strength and then completely sell out to win on a non important day. Contrast Rico to the real leaders of the tour. The real leaders are strong every day.

The Alps are going to be Gnarly. Check out stages 16 and 17. Holy crap. Rico probably failed his drug test on purpose so he wouldn't have to be humiliated on those days.

[stjunkie]

There's got to be a venom joke in this, I just can't figure it out.