bannanabike
07-01-06, 03:10 PM
A scandal to forget and a win to remember
By Viva La Cycle
June 30, 2006 was a day to remember in the world of cycling; a day that dreams fell in the eyes of cycling fans and through the hands of the International Cycling Union. Polices over in europe have been working around the clock for months at a time to crack down on doping scandals in the protour. Cases began coming in not as outsider victims become the criminal in this doping war of the cyclists but the criminals were the doctors whos jobs were to find the drugs to begin with.
"If, ultimately, these guys are proven guilty, and their careers are over and they get four years, I have no sympathy for them," said Pat McQuaid, head of the International Cycling Union, or UCI.
The victims behind the whole scandels scene were of course the riders and the two riders who were effected the most were Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich, who were both expected to annihilated the rest of the peloton in the Tour de France. The two riders were kicked off the team one day before the tour leaving them unable to plea there case.
And not only that the day of the Prologue came and many teams were forced to change there strategy because there team leader was involved in the doping scandel. The doping scandel, of course, started with a Spanish team who was kicked out of the race about a week before the start. But as police uncovered more truth about the doping scandel, the doctor who was behind the whole corupt incident, Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, was handing out performance enhancers to other riders as well Francisco Mancebo, Oscar Sevilla, Alexandre Vinokourov, Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, and another fifty-three riders connected with the case and all off the riders were banned fifty-eight hours within the race.
But this can give an edge to America. Riders like Levi Leipheimer, George Hincape, David Zabriskie, Bobby Julich, and Floyd Landis all stayed in the race. And of those riders, George Hincape is second place both in the prologue and in the tour and David Zabriskie is third in the prologue and in the tour. The other American riders like Floyd Landis are in ninth place trailing by only nine seconds and Levi Leipheimer in thirty sixth trailing by twenty-one seconds. But riders like Thor Hushovd, the Norwegian sprinter in first place, and Alejandre Valverde, a Spanish rider known for his ability to climb mountains and sprint on the flat roads in fifth, are also being considered to win this years tour.
In all and all, with Lance Armstrong gone the tour is truly up for grabs, especially after the scandel and its devastating effects. But can the Americans pull it off this year. Or will this be an international win. The bets are on for each rider and now we can only wait for tomorrow where Stage 1 will begin.
By Viva La Cycle
June 30, 2006 was a day to remember in the world of cycling; a day that dreams fell in the eyes of cycling fans and through the hands of the International Cycling Union. Polices over in europe have been working around the clock for months at a time to crack down on doping scandals in the protour. Cases began coming in not as outsider victims become the criminal in this doping war of the cyclists but the criminals were the doctors whos jobs were to find the drugs to begin with.
"If, ultimately, these guys are proven guilty, and their careers are over and they get four years, I have no sympathy for them," said Pat McQuaid, head of the International Cycling Union, or UCI.
The victims behind the whole scandels scene were of course the riders and the two riders who were effected the most were Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich, who were both expected to annihilated the rest of the peloton in the Tour de France. The two riders were kicked off the team one day before the tour leaving them unable to plea there case.
And not only that the day of the Prologue came and many teams were forced to change there strategy because there team leader was involved in the doping scandel. The doping scandel, of course, started with a Spanish team who was kicked out of the race about a week before the start. But as police uncovered more truth about the doping scandel, the doctor who was behind the whole corupt incident, Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, was handing out performance enhancers to other riders as well Francisco Mancebo, Oscar Sevilla, Alexandre Vinokourov, Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, and another fifty-three riders connected with the case and all off the riders were banned fifty-eight hours within the race.
But this can give an edge to America. Riders like Levi Leipheimer, George Hincape, David Zabriskie, Bobby Julich, and Floyd Landis all stayed in the race. And of those riders, George Hincape is second place both in the prologue and in the tour and David Zabriskie is third in the prologue and in the tour. The other American riders like Floyd Landis are in ninth place trailing by only nine seconds and Levi Leipheimer in thirty sixth trailing by twenty-one seconds. But riders like Thor Hushovd, the Norwegian sprinter in first place, and Alejandre Valverde, a Spanish rider known for his ability to climb mountains and sprint on the flat roads in fifth, are also being considered to win this years tour.
In all and all, with Lance Armstrong gone the tour is truly up for grabs, especially after the scandel and its devastating effects. But can the Americans pull it off this year. Or will this be an international win. The bets are on for each rider and now we can only wait for tomorrow where Stage 1 will begin.