Thursday Roundup

Oops Dept.A Freudian Slip from the folks at Bicycling
(sent by an emailer)

News
The VeloNews reports that Oscar Pereiro has finally donned the yellow jersey as 2006 Tour de France winner:

The Spanish rider donned the maillot jaune for a photo shoot with the Spanish daily AS and said it rightfully belongs to him following last month's ruling against Floyd Landis.


"A lot of time has passed but I feel good. And I'm not afraid to put it on," Pereiro said. "Since I received a fax from the UCI (on Sept. 21) informing the news about the 2006 Tour, I know that putting on the yellow jersey again isn't a provocation. I have nothing to hide."



"They've proven he cheated," Pereiro said of Landis. "It's not up to me to condemn Landis. I was only a secondary actor in all this circus. What really annoys me is that the UCI and the Tour organization have only said that the ‘second' who will be the Tour winner. They have never mentioned my name, as if it would cost them something to recognize that I should be the champion."
When asked what he would say to Landis, Pereiro replied, "That's a complicated question. I don't know.


"Landis believed that he wasn't guilty and he took his case until the end of the process. I don't understand him, but I respect him," he said. "I would act in a different manner. If the same thing happened to me tomorrow, I would admit it without hesitation."

Oscar may be premature in saying that this has reached the end of the process. There is still the possibility Landis may appeal the decision to the CAS.

The VeloNews also has a legally oriented piece about constitutionally protected freedom of speech and how it relates to group rides and "the bird". No Landis content, but interesting nonetheless.


The Washington Post's Amy Shipley reports that Marion Jones has admitted to "inadvertently" using steroids that she given by her coach who presented them to her as "supplements". The admission will formally take place tomorrow in New York City and may result in the loss of her Sydney Olympic medals:

Jones said her former coach, Trevor Graham, gave her the substance, telling her it was the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and saying she should take it by putting two drops under her tongue. Graham, contacted by telephone today, said he had no comment.
Jones's admissions could cost her the three gold and two bronze medals she won in Sydney.

The CyclingNews reports the most recent Armstrong comments on the Landis case as well as several other positive test results for Dynepo from this year before the Tour de France. Pierre Bordry of the AFLD stated that a test for the substance is being developed. There is also an interesting section on old traditions from the Tour de France and how much things have changed.

The Phoenix looks at cheating and states that 2007 may be the "year of the cheater." In a fascinating and thoughtfully written piece the evolution of cheating and how we may view cheaters in the future is explored. Perhaps the cheaters have given us all a much needed dose of reality:

This prospect gives pause even to W. Miller Brown, a philosopher and philosophy-of-sport specialist at Hartford’s Trinity College, who’s long contended that the fuss over steroids is excessive. Among other things, Brown argues that there’s no strong ontological distinction between socially accepted performance enhancers — from caffeine to the complex surgeries used to mend athletes’ broken bodies — and those that are verboten. But he also allows that the prospect of genetic manipulation lends new urgency to the question of what is and isn’t acceptable.


“Lurking behind the understandable anxiety and fear about performance-enhancing drugs in sports is the sense that they’re beginning to show us, in a very public, powerful way, a possibility of self-transformation which we’re not yet quite ready to embark on,” says Brown. “Are we scared? Yes. Should we be scared? Yes. Are we afraid what might happen? Yes. Do we know how to direct and control it? No, we don’t.”


Put differently, today’s edgier cheaters aren’t just conspiring to fix games — they’re re-engineering their bodies and, in the process, making us question the legitimacy of every single athletic feat we witness. And they’re just getting started.

The IHT picks up a Boston Globe piece on why people cheat.

The Boulder Report has no Landis content this week, but has lots of question about the proposed Tour of America.

Blogs
Acoralsea feels Floyd Landis is a victim of the system and that not only has he lost his yellow jersey, but cycling has lost a great deal as well.

Rant looks at Judge Hue's "deconstruction" of the Landis decision and agrees that the deck is stacked against the athlete in proceedings such as the Landis hearings. It is time to change the code under which WADA operates, and that time may be next month at the summit in Madrid. Rant tells interested parties what they can do to effect some change.

The Houston Sports Blog also notes the Armstrong comments on the Landis decision.