I bike. I run. I actually like knowing that those that beat me are simply better than I. They are either gifted by nature, better trained, more disciplined or any combination. Similarly I enjoy watching Le Tour because I know just how hard it is to ride at those speeds for the amount of time they do. I am especially impressed by those climbs. I hate hills regardless of whether I am on foot or on my bike. Hat's off to those who actually race up those things.
I watched as "Vino" crashed. I was amazed and in awe of his iron determination to continue regardless of the 65 stitches in his knees and hip. Anyone who has run or biked with an injury knows full well that it takes a lot to block out that pain and keep going. I was amazed when he slaughtered the field in the time trial. I was amazed again when he killed the mountain stage on Monday.
Every time I was on the phone with someone I told them about "iron man" as I called him. I called him that in reference to the Rocky IV movie where the Russian boxer refers to Rocky as a piece of iron that could not be broken. I knew that regardless of who won the Tour, "Vino" was going to be a frickin legend.
Then came the news. While we are still awaiting the results of the B test, and any possible medical explanation such as the healing process resulting in elevating his red blood cell count; Vino had doped. I don't quite understand what the hell this man was thinking. Seriously. He was NOT going to win the tour. Why take that risk? Why shame his team and countrymen? We were already impressed that he was still going and up in the rankings. Let's just say I was highly annoyed.
Apparently I wasn't the only annoyed person as a few riders staged a small "sit in" at the start of today's stage. Not long after that it was reported that another rider had been caught. This one didn't even request a retest. He was arrested and the team ejected. But oh, it wasn't over.
Rasmussen, who has been leading the Tour, had missed numerous drug testing attempts prior to the Tour. The reason: he didn't inform his team where he was going to be. Is this serious? What part of a plane flight to Mexico is "forgettable" to report to your team? The reason he was allowed to start the tour was because the rules state that a rider has to miss three attempts at testing by the same testing body. Since "Rassy" missed different organization testings, he could not be barred. However; today he was removed from the race. So basically what we saw for the past couple of weeks was a fraud. We were cheering for cheaters and suspected cheaters. Not cool.
I've gotten out of bed for 7:30 AM starts. I've skipped days at work and quality time with friends to watch the Tour. I really feel that I have wasted my time. We don't even know who won last year's tour because of the issues surrounding Floyd Landis. Now it seems we are set for that whole thing all over again. In my opinion the rest of the tour ought to be cancelled. I know that people have spent lots of money to stand on the side of the road to cheer on the riders. I know there are lucrative broadcast contracts in play but enough is enough. When riders figure out that their cheating will cost everybody their year(s) of training and family neglect, I think they will think hard before taking that injection. Heck it may precipitate some death threats and scare some people straight.
Personally I'm done watching the race. As far as I'm concerned this has been a big fraud. Maybe it's an extreme reaction, but there it is. I simply am not interested in finding out that whomever I've been cheering for is a "Sporty crack head".
related:
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/sports/AP-CYC-Tour-de-France.html?hp
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/25/sports/sportsspecial1/25tour.html?ref=sportsspecial1
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