Tuesday Roundup

News
ESPN's Page Two says Oscar Pereiro made Monday more fun with the unorthodox Tour de France award ceremony that was held for him in the office of the Spanish Sports Ministry. Let's hope there really was cake afterward.

Swimming World reports Lamour has resigned from WADA and is no longer a candidate to replace Pound. He says WADA isn't doing enough to combat doping. Maybe he counted votes and thought he was going to lose and decided to leave a grenade in the room as he went out the door.

"I don't want to be the president of a body that does not have the strength and the dynamism to fight against doping," Lamour said at his press conference. "WADA has been put under pressure by lobbies. The number of those who want to foist doping on sport, those who favor the setting up of cheating is increasing and it is not how I see things."

AFP report on Lamour is longer.


icWales reports today that even though he has some sympathy for Floyd Landis , Oscar Pereiro is not going to let any appeal talk ruin his enjoyment of the 2006 yellow jersey.

Expatica quotes Oscar Pereiro as saying that for a while he thought the Tour de France had something against him with the delay in being presented with the maillot jaune.

VeloNews carries more Oscar. He's trying to enjoy the day without thinking about CAS:

Pereiro, however, doesn't want to hear anything about CAS or the possibility of having the decision overturned.

"Nothing is going to take away the dream right now, not Landis nor his appeal to CAS," Pereiro said Monday. "It's a demonstration of good faith on part of the Tour de France to have given me this winner's jersey without waiting to see what CAS decides. No one is going to ruin a day as joyful as this one."

The Record asks why Canadian sprinter and steroid user Ben Johnson has been so vilified and left desperate by the people of his country when we now see the length of the list of those who have been "caught" doping.

Typically Spanish writes briefly of the Pereiro ceremony yesterday which went on despite the Landis appeal to the CAS.

The CyclingNews covers the yellow jersey ceremony held yesterday in which Oscar Pereiro finally got his maillot. Pereiro is quoted as basically saying he was diminished as a rider because he was so distracted:

I have the feeling of arriving at the end of a thriller, after having spent 14 months thinking about it and not being able to concentrate as I should have on my job," responded Pereiro. "It is essentially a kind of release.

In a later edition of The CyclingNews it was revealed that the UCI had performed far fewer doping controls that were expected which many in cycling find unacceptable. Also Jorge Jackshe, who admitted to doping, says only the stupid or poor riders get caught.

ESPN reports that WADA could increase some doping bans to four years, BUT that suspensions could be reduced if the athlete admits doping, or assists in the apprehension of others who may have used PEDs:

The new code also includes incentives to alert authorities to doping violations or to admit doping. A ban could be reduced by 75 percent for any athlete who assists officials in finding other drug cheats, and admitting to drug use before testing positive would cut a potential ban up to 50 percent.

It boggles the mind to consider some of the possibilities that could arise from the creation of such an atmosphere of suspicion and self preservation.


Bicycling's La Scene bemoans the long wait Oscar Pereiro had to endure before he finally received the maillot jaune in a discreet and essentially emotionless ceremony yesterday.

The Reading Eagle posts an editorial commentary on the consequences of steroid use and states that Floyd Landis tested positive for high levels of a synthetic testosterone.

Best Headline of the Day
WTHR gets the prize for "Pereiro Takes Yellow Jersey From Landis". Mental pictures of a maillot ripping tug-o-war between the two abound.


Blogs
T-Shirt Guy wonders how the heck they can give Pereiro the 2006 yellow jersey when Floyd Landis is still involved in the judicial system and the case is not settled completely yet? Good question, Mr. Guy.

BikeWorldNews thinks the ASO has turned on an RDF (reality distortion field) in presenting anything to Oscar at this time.

So Quoted picks up our Seven Paragraphs below as a reflection of his own unease about the ruling and process.


Triple Crankset seems pleased that Oscar Pereiro has been crowned 2006 Tour de France champ.

Bikenews.CZ seems to be in-lining our headline feed as part of general cycling news. It's given us some hits, so thanks.

The Boulder Report's Joe Lindsey wonders why so many people came down from the trees to write him defending Floyd Landis, when they should be out there protesting something really important, their right to ride a bike safely.


Fatty posts his own unique "spin" on the Pereiro story.