Tour de France- Doping Scandal Part Deux

06/30/2006 07:09:12 AM · #1

I'm a huge cycling fan, and a huge TdF fan. I wake up this morning to find that BOTH Jan Ulrich and Ivan Basso are out of the tour after being strongly implicated in a major, major doping scandal.

The last scandal this big was back in 98/99, the year Lance won his first Tour. Many argued then that the only reason he won was because the big names were out of the tour.

As of now, it looks like most of the US riders are in the clear. Just...man. This is big. First off, it blows the tour WIDE open. Second...just wow.

Like most cycling fans, I understand that there is doping throughout the sport. However, to see both Ulrich and Basso...man. Just wow. July is going to be an interesting month.

Anastasia

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

06/30/2006 07:10:31 AM · #2

I also heard that Oskar Sevilie is out too...or did I hear wrong?

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II

06/30/2006 07:15:00 AM · #3

Nope, he's gone. The list is just wild.

Wow.

missinseattle

Nikon D200

06/30/2006 07:17:10 AM · #4

That is a big WOW!

Will be interesting to see how it plays out this year.

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS

06/30/2006 07:20:33 AM · #5

Bernard Hinot is saying he expects another 15-20 riders to get the boot by end of day.

hyperfocal

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

06/30/2006 07:56:34 AM · #6

It is a shame to see the classiest sport on earth go the way of baseball or football. Still Iâ��ll be glued to OLN from the start to the finish, no matter who gets the yellows.

Kaizer

Canon EOS-350D Rebel XT

06/30/2006 08:00:43 AM · #7

Aaagh Man!! Was really looking to watch the Uli/Basso thing unfold. Personally I think these were the contenders.

ubique

Olympus PEN-F

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko

06/30/2006 08:10:11 AM · #8

Merde! First Italy dives its way into the last 8 of the World Cup, and now this.
Ulrich and Basso. And Mancebo. But Vinokourov is clear. He's got to be close to favourite now. Hincape can't win, can he?
Edit to say I've just looked at the full list ... Vino's whole first team seems to be out, so unless he rides a Ducati he probably can't win now anyway.

Message edited by author 2006-06-30 08:21:52.

06/30/2006 08:43:34 AM · #9

Actually, I think Georgie can take it. He's got the experience, and he's proven he can win in the mountains.

Bigger thing is who else is gone by end of day. Team Discovery is looking clean so far- but man oh man it is ANYONES guess.

06/30/2006 08:48:30 AM · #10

Originally posted by hyperfocal:

It is a shame to see the classiest sport on earth go the way of baseball or football. Still Iâ��ll be glued to OLN from the start to the finish, no matter who gets the yellows.

Actually, this has been an issue for years. Because of the grueling nature of endurance sports cycling has been agressively testing for YEARS. So they tend to have a rep as a "dope heavy" sport. It's more that they dope about the same as every other pro sport out there. They just get caught more often due to the agressive nature of the testing. :/

Still a fantastic event, and I'm counting down the minutes until the Prolouge. Vive la Tour!

Azrifel

Fujifilm X100VI

06/30/2006 08:56:27 AM · #11

Originally posted by ubique:

I expect that Vino's team cannot do anything but withdraw from the event like they were asked to a couple of days ago.

Mind that this is just a lab discovered in Spain, who knows where else labs like this are. Methinks it is not the only one and these are not all cyclists using this method.

Canon EF 17-40mm f/4.0L USM

06/30/2006 08:59:18 AM · #12

Bigger issue is that I'm sure this stuff is going on in Triathalon and marathon racing too. Not to mention soccer/football. :/

Azrifel

Fujifilm X100VI

06/30/2006 09:02:28 AM · #13

Originally posted by blemt:

Bigger issue is that I'm sure this stuff is going on in Triathalon and marathon racing too. Not to mention soccer/football. :/

They will get caught too. I believe there were like 220 sportsman on the total list. They are only talking about the cyclists now, but the Spanish police has stated that they will trace them (sportsmen) all.

Prof_Fate

06/30/2006 10:48:54 AM · #14

What rules do that have on 'doping'? What kind of testing?
I thought europe was more, umm, understanding of such enhancements? or is that just for east german women (they were women, right?) LOL

Rikki

Canon EOS-20D

06/30/2006 10:51:37 AM · #15

That sucks! The TdF this year will be marred by controversy and scandal :(

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/30/2006 10:57:14 AM · #16

I just saw that this morning, too. Interesting that Hamilton was mentioned again in this scandal, along with Heras and at least one other ex-Postie.

I think George stands a chance, or Salvodelli (sp) if George isn't up to speed. And don't write off Landis, either, though I've yet to look to see how his team fared in the revelations.

Should be interesting, and like others have pointed out, I'll watch every minute of it I can just the same. Though if I recall, they don't have the team trial this year, do they? That's a bummer - that's a gorgeous event to watch.

nards656

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

Tamron SP AF 24-135mm f/3.5-5.6 AD Aspherical IF for Canon

06/30/2006 10:59:30 AM · #17

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

What rules do that have on 'doping'? What kind of testing?
I thought europe was more, umm, understanding of such enhancements? or is that just for east german women (they were women, right?) LOL

No doping. That's the rule. No EPO, no HGH, no steroids, nothing, lotsa blood testing, regular blood testing, off-season blood testing, test test test. Blood samples kept for years and years. No doping. Nothing. Nada.

Europe has no tolerance for doping in cycling. They tried and tried and tried to bust Lance Armstrong and have never done it. Yet. He's retired and he's still constantly harassed by it.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

06/30/2006 11:02:41 AM · #18

Originally posted by Prof_Fate:

What rules do that have on 'doping'? What kind of testing?
I thought europe was more, umm, understanding of such enhancements? or is that just for east german women (they were women, right?) LOL

rofl

No, Europe and cycling in general is very, very NOT cool with doping. This looks to be blood doping related. Essentially cyclists are accused of using performance enhancers and also reciving transfusions of red blood cells. This allows them to recover faster, and perform better in very stressful endurence events.

Cycling has very agressive doping controls in place. It's one of the most tested sports out there, which is why you see an awful lot of headlines about cyclists. Usually 5-10 cyclists get hit in a YEAR for doping offences.

This is a lot.

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

06/30/2006 11:03:35 AM · #19

Wonder if Vino can switch to CSC before the weekend? :-)

06/30/2006 11:06:48 AM · #20

Originally posted by Melethia:

I just saw that this morning, too. Interesting that Hamilton was mentioned again in this scandal, along with Heras and at least one other ex-Postie.

Landis is in trouble. He's lost two of his climbers. If the team stays stable, he's a good chance. As it is it looks like Discovery is one of the few clean teams in the sweep. Given how hard France has been trying to nail Lance/USPS/Team Discovery for the last few years I do find that interesting.

Hamilton is off the radar since he's all ready in a 2 year suspension. I can't imagine he is actually stupid enough to have thought about associating with anyone doing doping while he's serving his suspension. I also still mantain that his tests were questionable at best.

Heras is another story. That one doesn't surprise me at all. He was a mess last tour. Same thing with Jan and Basso. When I realized Basso was doing both the Giro and the Tour (possibly the Vuelta) I actually wondered if he was on something. It's not impossible- but I think in modern cycling, it is very, very hard to train for all three grand tours in one year.

Who's the third former Postie?