Oh, but wait, there's more.

[ysobelle]

Astana is out because their captain had someone else's blood in his veins.

Cofidis is out because one of their riders was led away from the finish line in handcuffs for doping.

And now race leader Michael Rasmussen and his Rabobank team are out because he lied about his whereabouts in the off-season.

Sweet Christ. I'm stunned. Just fucking stunned.


The worst part is that this stage, 15, was probably one of the most vicious, challenging, and punishing in the race. It was an amazing show. And now it'll be remembered more for the scandal and stupidity surrounding it than the amazing achievements of the men who competed fairly in it.

Rasmussen has never failed a drug test. I have few doubts that he's actually been racing clean, and deserves the Maillots Jaune he's won. But his unfortunate predilection for, it seems, thumbing his nose at the rules has caught up with him. He claimed to be in Mexico with his wife while he seems to have been seen training in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy. Why? Why? It's not like it mattered WHERE he was. He just needed to TELL people. Now's not the time to play fast and loose.

Now we have Discovery Team in both first and third place with Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer, respectively. That's great, if not quite the way anyone would have wanted it. What's not so good, here, is that I think it'll make Floyd Landis' case more difficult to win. And Lance Armstrong is considering coming to France to see the last few stages, and it's entirely possible he may not get the warm welcome he should. Fans are angry. Rasmussen was roundly booed when he signed in this morning because of his lies.

I'm sick at heart. This is a disaster.

Comments

[brattgirlz.livejournal.com]

Stunned ain't the word for it. I feel sorry for Rasmussen. Sure I hoped he'd flat or wreck in the time trial, but that was just stupid. The tour has needed cleaned up for years and now we're all paying for it. I just wish they'd to drug testing at the world series and the super bowl. I don't know if Floyd will get back to cycling but I hope he sues their asses off and wins it in the court of opinion.

If last year was the Tour de Chaos this year is the Tour de Pandemonium. Take away the doping and it's racing like we haven't seen since Pantani won it. I don't know how many of my favorites were dropped, injured left behind but every day I've had to make a new prediction until last week. That part has been interesting.

[ysobelle.livejournal.com]

I WAS sick about it, but you know what? The last few days have been all about the cycling, the tactics, the men, the teams, the speed, the endurance, and the power. Not about the drugs and blood-doping and lies. The time-trial today was exquisite, and it reminded me-- and all the folks cheering by the side of the road, it seems-- what this SHOULD be about: pure competition.

It's been a fabulous Tour. I'd forgotten what it was like to watch a Tour not knowing who'd win!

And yeah, I'm rooting even harder for Floyd now!