Saturday Late Roundup

For more news from earlier today check out the Saturday Early Roundup.

News
BBC has more on Suh and Jacobs defending Vino. It's the "flow cytometry test" at issue this time, and Vino is also trying out the "it wouldn't make sense" and "I've been tested more than 100 times" lines. Here's a clue: those don't go over. If it really is a botched test, the best thing to do is release the information ASAP.

The Boston Globe writes that a year after the Floyd Landis affair professional cycling is still ridden with scandal and sponsor pullouts. Dr Gary Wadler of WADA says cycling stands at the abyss, and Dick Pound is heard from as well:

If Tour officials "don't realize what they've been doing is well short of what is required, then the sport really is in trouble," said Richard W. Pound, the president of the Montreal-based anti-doping agency.

The Daily Mail reports that even before the yellow jersey has been awarded Dick Pound is already considering investigations into possible doping by potential Tour de France winner Alberto Contador:

The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Dick Pound, the chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency, is to pursue further investigations into evidence that appears to link Contador to doping and which could yet see the yellow jersey stained beyond redemption.
When last year's victor,Floyd Landis,rode into Paris in glory only to be disgraced days later by a positive testosterone test — a result the American is still contesting — it appeared the Tour had reached its nadir. But this year there has been no relief from the scandal of doping.

The NYT Juliet Macur writes of the "teflon peloton" in which cheating is seen by many cyclists as something whose detection is avoidable, and whose methods have evolved. One of her sources is Joe Papp, who testified on behalf on USADA at the Floyd Landis hearings in May. Papp claims to have gotten hate mail and threats since his testimony at the hearings, and has much to say about the doping culture in cycling:

The cycling culture is such that athletes are brainwashed into believing that doping is acceptable, and even necessary, Papp said. He likened it to “being in the mob” because the cyclists have the backing of their teams to use performance-enhancing drugs, the promise of secrecy from their teammates and the audacity to look the drug testers in the eyes, knowing full well that their doping will go undetected.

Lancaster Online.com pursues a story about "cheatin' hearts" and Farmersville native Floyd Landis' name inevitably comes up.

ABC News posts a story which simply put, says that for many pro cyclists it's dope or go home.

Bicycling Magazine writes that Vinokourov denies doping unequivocally and that, as in Floyd Landis' case, the LNDD is at fault. He has retained Maurice Suh and Howard Jacobs, Floyd Landis' lawyers, as his legal counsel.

Blogs
EveryManTri, sponsored by BMC, doesn't buy Landis' program for fixing pro cycling.

His solutions: 1) form a cyclist union to help better control the invasive and pesky random drug testing and 2) have the cycling union pull out of the Olympics so that riders would not have to conform to the Olympic drug testing rules.

I almost fell from my chair when he said this. Talk about some big testosterone balls. That would be like getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar and telling your mom that not only should she do away with the jar, but that you won’t do your homework until she gives you all of the cookies

Kashmir Bitches provides us with a bit of a laugh in the form of a cartoon.

Steroid Nation has the Tour de France nearing it's cycle end, or is that end cycle?

Rose Cantine writes about Vino and the fact that he , like Floyd Landis, is denying that he doped. She wants to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Joeschmo notes that Vino has retained the Landis dream team of lawyers, and that his team still believes in him.