Sunday Early Roundup
News
The LA Times' Michael Hiltzik, who has written extensively throughout the Landis case about the science and procedures of WADA testing labs, writes that Alexandre Vinokourov is also contesting his recent blood doping positives on the basis of faulty lab work and that Vinokourov has retained Landis lawyers Howard Jacobs and Maurice Suh:Allegations that LNDD mishandled his urine samples and botched his tests are at the heart of Landis' defense case, which is awaiting a ruling by a three-member arbitration panel. Suh suggested that similar shortcomings may be found in LNDD's work on Vinokourov's blood samples.
The New York Daily News' Filip Bondy says that since we have lost faith and interest in Floyd Landis and his doping scandal that, among other things, have killed the Tour de France:By now, this sport at its most elite levels is something of a caricature, a bad joke. It is also a case study in how an entire sport can be destroyed by a combination of bad management and good intentions. Basically, the Tour de France is an inhumanly difficult course that inherently encourages cheating. Some might even argue that its macho climbs demand doping, for sheer survival.
The Montreal Gazette says the Tour de France would make a great reality show, I thought that's what it was.
CDA Press.com talks about the real "boys of summer" the cyclists who ride the Tour de France and dope. Well, let 'em all dope, or have a pub crawl during the race whatever.
Blogs
Scribbling writes about HIS history with watching and caring about the Tour
de France.
Rant writes that just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean that they are not out to get you, truer words and all that.
The 6:17 Talks doens't see the Tour de France as a reality show, but rather as a comedy.
Reno Wire says that FINALLY there is a bright spot to the darkness that has been the Tour de France, and it's Levi Leipheimer.
Shut up and Drink the Kool-Aid wants the Tour de France to just end. Last year's winner, Floyd Landis, is still waiting to see if he won, it's been enough already.
Ralph Speaks Sports wonders if the dopers think the fans are the real "dopes".
The Four Horsemen of the Sports Apocalypse feels that ALL sports, not just cycling, are in deep trouble.
The Dissociated Press writes of the Tour, and notes:
Even before its start, the 103 year-old Tour was under unusually close scrutiny, due mainly to the controversy of last year --- when it was discovered from carefully-administered post-race urine and blood tests that the winner, American Floyd Landis, had actually been riding a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for most of the three-week competition (Landis is currently fighting the charges in court; his attorneys claim the motorcycle was a Suzuki).
We will grant that would be a technicality.
Thought for the Day
The passage of time is simply an illusion created by our brains.-Julian Barbour-
4 comments:
I'm feeling kind of uneasy about being in the od situation of agreeing with Clerc:
http://eurosport.yahoo.com/28072007/58/tour-de-france-clerc-uci-officials-resign.html
The UCI is long overdue for a shake-up.
Well, now that the Tour is over, I expect a decision on Floyd any day now. They will probably give Contador a couple days to celebrate, then make the announcement. I actually don't think they are that knowingly timing it that carefully, but I would think this was the goal they set for themselves.
I think it is good thing that it has taken them this long. As long as they have actually been working on their decision (whatever the distractions may have been), they have hopefully really looked at the science and the ISL violations, which I continue to think would lead them to rule in Floyd's favor.
The scandals from this year's Tour are a mixed bag for Floyd's PR. If he is innocent, I think they will make it even harder for Floyd to be welcome at next year's Tour, but also I think he will get even more press time with an innocent ruling, because people will say "Wow, maybe they have made a mistake with Vino (and Rasmussen, although not a testing/science issue) too." If he is guilty, I think it won't get too much coverage, because people will say "Yeah, what else is new?"
We'll see. I think the decision will be announced on Wednesday.
syi
I think that UCI rather did drop the ball on the Rasmussen situation. Whether this was simply a bureaucratic fouled, or a Machiavellian plot to bring down the Tour I don't know, but if they had followed their own rules, Ras would have not started. There probably would have been some press re that, but not the extent of what we got during the Tour.
The "Thought for the Day," about time being an illusion reminds me of a note about Einstein in Isaacson's new bio. The man who knew about time and reality and relativity seemed to have known about other important things even in his earliest days...
Albert was 2 1/2 years old at the birth of his sister Maria. His parents had explained to him how wonderful it would be to have a baby sister, and how much he would enjoy playing with her. When he was shown his new sister for the first time, his response was to look at her and exclaim, "Yes, but where are the wheels?"
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