Miguel Indurain

Alex Zulle

"Super" Mario Cippolini

Laurent Jalabert, a real gentleman on the bicycle

and the list goes on...

I agree. It does tarnish the image of the sport. IIRC I dont believe this is the first time Landis has been found guilty of this either.

I used to love watching Le Tour, I remember being on the edge of my seat when Lemmond beat Fignon by that tiny margin in the final time trial years ago.

Ditto.

And 8 seconds. :shock:

Is it Greg Lemmond who has shotgun pellets wedged in his spine from a hunting accident ?

I think it'll be along time before anyone beats Lance's number of tour wins record.

Mind you I said that about Big Mig as well.

It is hardly surprising that cycling is so blighted with drugs scandals - it is the most drug tested sport by miles. The drug testing gets in the way of the cyclists private life out of season.

Contrast this with football. How many disgraced footballers are there through drug taking? How many tests do the average premiership players face?

The more you test, the more you will find.

A pro-cyclist cannot take a large number of over the counter non-prescriptive flu remedies, as they contain banned substances, including codiene. The list of substances is truely phenomenal for cycling. The greatest tradegy I feel is the fact that each governing body of each sport defines it's own list of banned substances, hence cycling, for whom the UCI are VERY strict, gets a lot of failures and a bad reputation in teh press. Other, more relaxed, sports don't get the failures and don't get the media attention.

It is, unfortunately, also to do with the fact that cycling is absolutely rife with drug taking. Drugs are part of cycling. They are ingrained into teams. They are part of the deal.

Cyclists who do not take drugs are the exception. They are the ones that people talk about.

This is not new, "Only a fool would imagine it was possible to ride Bordeaux-Paris on just water." Jacques Anquetil, on TV debating with French minister of sport, 1967. (Anquetil won 5 tours.)

Tom Simpson died from basically an OD on the Ventoux a little while later.

Well the B test has also proven Landis guilty of drug taking. Which shows him to be a lying F+cker! He has immediately been sacked from his team. Accepting that drugs use is rife..I do not accept that ALL riders are guilty.

That ass hole Landis completely blew apart on Stage 16 of the Tour and then the next day took off in the 17th stage like a man possessed...obviously he truly was.

How could they hope to get away with this?

Well I truly hope that Pereiro is crowned champ in a fitting ceremony as he is a really lovely guy. 8)

I am taking a slightly differant tack than you peter.

Wrt Landis lying. I dont know. Yeah, he has broken the rules. Yeah he has done it before. And, yeah he knew it was wrong.
His problem was he got caught.
Most of them dont.

When I say doping is rife in the sport, its not something that makes me happy. But, I have talked to people, who are / were vital parts of major cycling teams, and I have been told this. Time and again, for years now. Finally, I am not ignoring what they are saying. Again, a non doping rider is the exception it seems.

I was also told that this years Tour was the cleanest that most poeple can remember. And, this is a step in the right direction.

But, what I really want to say was people should not be angry with Landis. His life is effectively ruined. He will probably never ride again. His tour was taken away from him. And the people that did this, that set up the events will have no punishment whatsoever. All of these riders, Pereiro included, are in a very bad place in this respect. Its not fair to heap blame on them, any more than it is to heap blame on Jenson Button for some computer trickery that illegally gives his car more downforce. You think everyone in the entire team doesnt know about this? You think that Button should be kicked out of F1, hated by all, while his Lucky Strike Honda turn up for the next race? Its not.

I am sure Pereiro is a nice guy. (I know is Landis is too.)

The sad thing is... I believe that the Testosterone probably had little or nothing to do with the 17th stage ride. I wasnt suprised at all to see him ride strongly that day. This is the usual way of things in cycling. After a really bad day, you are often strong, regardless of the dope in you.

Phil...So come on then...I only pay attention when following 3 or 4 tour events each year...but you are a big fan........how do they make this sport clean? Can it be done?

Personally with the current format of the cycling season. Probably not. The physcial demands on the body IMHO are to high for anybody no matter how fit to get through a season without some help. Especially if you've taken a knock or after injury.

I think probably the best way to deal with this is to tolerate it a little more and reduce the level of what they test for. If IIRC they UCI list of banned or controlled substances is huge. I've heard of people failing a test because they took an over the counter cough mixture which contained a banned substance.

One thing I do think though is that Landis isnt the first and he won't be the last either and all this really really does is just tarnish the image of the sport.