Uh Oh
Operacion Puerto lurks behind every discussion of cycling right now, the explosive Spanish case about blood doping. The judge unsealed the evidence record yesterday, and the first names are being leaked to the press. A short list, all unconfirmed as to their guilt or innocence:
Ivan Basso
Jan Ullrich
Joseba Beloki
Roberto Heras
Tyler Hamilton
Santiago Botero
Jose Enrique Gutierrez
Oscar Sevilla
Denis Menchov
Francisco Mancebo
Some of these guys have been caught in doping scandals before (notably Hamilton and Heras), but Ivan Basso?! If this list is even halfway accurate, will the Tour organizers go after these guys with the same fervor they have hounded Armstrong and Vinokourov, two guys who aren't implicated. Will there even be a Tour left?
And how do the TdF organizers decide who they are going to hound relentlessly and who they are going to give a free pass to? Because all of a sudden the organizer aren't sure of what they are going to do? It's easy to talk tough when it's only one rider. It's a lot harder when it means kicking out virtually every contender. It took an arbitrator's ruling to let Vino in. And he's one of the guys NOT implicated.
This is shaping up to be a very ugly Tour.
Ivan Basso
Jan Ullrich
Joseba Beloki
Roberto Heras
Tyler Hamilton
Santiago Botero
Jose Enrique Gutierrez
Oscar Sevilla
Denis Menchov
Francisco Mancebo
Some of these guys have been caught in doping scandals before (notably Hamilton and Heras), but Ivan Basso?! If this list is even halfway accurate, will the Tour organizers go after these guys with the same fervor they have hounded Armstrong and Vinokourov, two guys who aren't implicated. Will there even be a Tour left?
And how do the TdF organizers decide who they are going to hound relentlessly and who they are going to give a free pass to? Because all of a sudden the organizer aren't sure of what they are going to do? It's easy to talk tough when it's only one rider. It's a lot harder when it means kicking out virtually every contender. It took an arbitrator's ruling to let Vino in. And he's one of the guys NOT implicated.
This is shaping up to be a very ugly Tour.
posted by Poseur at 12:45 AM
2 Comments:
Yeah, since the Giro I've been thinking that there is going to be a big doping scandal at this Tour. I don't mean three cyclists testing positive for EPO; I mean lots of drug raids and a team or two making an early exit. I'm sure that right now there are goons at the French Ministry of Athletic Harassment planning 3AM searches of team hotel rooms and equipment trailers.
I like cycling, although it's impossible to watch in Brazil (unless it's on some ppv channel or something). But I'm glad I don't love cycling. This sport looks like a real mess and I don't know how I would propose to fix it. The riders can't possibly rehydrate naturally between stages, so they spend hours hooked up to IVs, right? There seem to be so many more opportunities for doping (in this case, quite possibly without the actual athlete's knowledge) than in other sports.
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