ultraman6970

darn.. im watching todays stage and i read the flash news??? WTF?? oh man this is ridiculous Evans should kick ass now... can u guys imagine if contador is positive for dopping also? wowowowowow....

Sad very sad... good stage today..

thanks...

ezoons

No, not (gasps) Contador!!!11

va_cyclist

F**k the TdF. I used to love this race. Now I hate it.

Cassadamius

Why would Rabobank even consider leaving unless there was more to this (doping)? If it's just what we see on the surface, there should be no pressure on them to leave. I think just the fact that they considered leaving, if even for a short period, means that there is something much deeper going on.

chipcom 

Wow, feel the love from all the fair-weathered fans of cycling and the TDF.

Walleye

Were any of us really that excited to have as an Ambassador for this sport a wiry-legged, half-*****ed face-beaver wearing dude from Denmark nicknamed "The Chicken?"

Apparently, he has a weakness for taco salad, and a predisposition for getting off on the wrong continent while travelling.

What really blows is that now you can't cheer when the racers cross the finish line- you'll have to wait until they test clean. Hmmph. Thrill of victory, indeed.

Helmet Head

What changed?

bac

Because they are catching the dopers? Huh?

... Brad

Hendley

After watching the stage yesterday, I'm glad he's gone. You know who he reminded me of going up the hills? Basso in the Giro last year. Everyone has huffing and puffing, the pace was blistering, the other riders were out of their seats--and he just sat there spinning his legs faster...

cbaronzzi

I think ALL the remaining riders should withdraw from this year's tour in protest. I think that some extreme action by the remaining riders is necessary to show that this sport will not tolerate such cheating. This sport is on the verge of losing its legitimacy unless the rest of the riders make some unified stand against doping. Today I am ashamed to ride my bike...

rollin

Personally I think that things are getting better. The less cover ups we see the cleaner the sport will become.

Rabobank made a good decision.

bac

Here's my consipiracy theory: Le Tour directors found out about Ras's "Mexican Holiday". They then told the folks at Rabobank that they knew, but would allow Rabobank the opportunity to sack Ras. The caveat being that the entire Rabobank would also have to leave le Tour.

Okay, perhaps it needs some work.

... Brad

Sci-Fi

If the reports are true, then it was Rabobank, the sponsor, that made the call. If Rabo pulls the cash, the team has to either leave or pay for it themselves and that may damage the relationship/sponsorship itself for the team. There might have been pressure on Rabobank at home, politically, or from the public, or from their shareholders to provide answers to the questions. May be simplistic and unfair but a competitor can try to make the connection between Rabo condoning cheating to win at TdF and doing the same to your bank accounts and investments to show more profits. A public relations nightmare in some countries. Doesn't matter if the rest of the team is clean or if MR is actually innocent, some things have hit the fan during the tour that "suggests" MR was hiding something and/or didn't want to be tested. Corporations are image conscious and expect the same for anybody or team that they sponsor. Leaving the tour is a quick way of damage control.

haimtoeg

Eurosport is claiming that it is still not certain whether Rabobank will quit the tour: https://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/250720...wield-axe.html

In any case, I think as fans of the sport we should applaud Rabobank and the tour for doing what they can to keep the sport clean. Yeah, it's bad that the Rabobank team will not have a payday in Paris, but it's good for the sport long term. This should be an example to all other pro sports that they do not have to tolerate wild behavior of their star athletes.

chipcom 

Holy over reaction, batman. Get a grip!

Laggard

Tons of fair weathered Tour fans. Sorta sad.

rollin

I don't think that would help - the sport needs to clean itself up from the inside. A zero tolerence policy is the best way forward and I think that's what the teams (sponsors) are trying to do.

The biggest challenge seems to be that the testing procedures are not 100% trusted. They need to get this right.

I'm not more ashamed about following the sport today, if anything I feel better!

reef58

Yea really. The tour is bigger than Rasmussen, or any other rider, and all of the riders combined. If they have to field Cat 3 teams it would be just as exciting only a little slower.

Richard

TomM

This is not unlike any other situation where a person is caught breaking the rules and they cry foul.

Miguelangel

I just heard in the news from Spain that the Olympic committee is talking about throwing out cycling as an olympic sport due to all these scandals.
I have mix feelings about all this, very frustrating...the other day I read that Petachi was cleared of all charges cause it truly was his asthma medicine he was taking....This was not smeared in all the papers cause its not interesting..... so they mop the floor with you and then they say I'm sorry....
What are we going to say everytime someone outshines the peloton??? Must probably he is a doper... and persecute him till he admits it.... thats also a good method...back home in Spain it use to be called the inquisition...
I'm not saying that these guys are not guilty of doping, I just wished that these decisions would have been done way back before starting the Tour. If the guy lied throw him out before the tour stars...The Danish committee knew this before the start of the Tour....There has to be something more than just this lie, if its just because of the lie, the Rabo Bank management needs some lessons of taking hard decisions at the right time... not waiting till the stuff hits the fan...
The way this thing is going my bet is now on Wim Vansevenant of Predictor-Lotto as of today he is the last rider of the tour... for sure the guy is not a doper ....
Whatever it happens I think the sport should be supported

Blue Order

The French lab has a history of procedural violations. if they want their test results to have any credibility, they have to follow procedure. Otherwise, people will cry foul, and rightly so.

shawnj73

I think that Rasmussen is getting a bit of bum rap, but the rules are the rules. The truth of the matter is that Rasmussen should not have been allowed to start the Tour. It is too bad that such a wonderful sporting event continues to be plagued with such negative publicity. It also brings up the question; is anyone that is pro racing clean? SAD SAD DAY!

Blue Order

Those particular rules are in place so that cyclists can't evade the random unannounced testing. When you break those rules, it looks like you're trying to evade the random unannounced testing. And the next question is: why would a rider want to evade the testing?

fixiechick

How can people give up on the Tour so easily over this? Yeah, at the moment it's a train wreck -- surreal, absurd, embarrasing. But I think I love the Tour more than ever. I <3 the Tour unconditionally. I don't feel betrayed, I don't think my favorite cyclists are *******s...I accept that they flawed, and I don't like it, but they are part of something bigger that facilitated such actions.

wabbit

what bugs me about this is that it had been going on for such a long time....if they were unhappy with ras' behavior, then they should have done something about it weeks ago. For sure he shouldn't have started the tour...now it's really tainted. It's not that i'm on a moral high ground about the evils of doping, but it really is getting to be demoralizing...it's like, why watch when everyone is being thrown out? And the other riders must also be getting depressed...how are they supposed to be motivated? it just sucks...i haven't given up but it's really hard to feel all WOW when everyone is being canned....