Cheaters suck
18 07 2008If you’ve been paying any attention at all to the unfolding of the Tour de France, you’ll know by now that one of the riders, who won two stages, has been kicked out for doping. Ricardo Ricci, an Italian rider, who idolizes Marco “the pirate” Pantani who was a great cyclist in his time but was plagued with drug use charges and died in 2004 of a cocaine overdose. Not that you should be judged by the company you keep but it may be an indication of the path you choose. Back to the Tour. I’ve been watching the stages (including the Pau-Hautacam that includes the Col de Tourmelet) on Versus on TiVo each day and in the past, a group of friends who are also cycling addicts used to do exactly what is pictured below, try to pick each day’s stage winner. Its a great way to stay engaged in the tour, analyze the stage, figure out who’s birthday it is, whether its a sprint or a mt. stage and finally, who’s still in the game (I think once I picked a rider who’d abandoned). I enjoy watching the Tour but finally I’m disillusioned enough to stop caring so much. I still love the color commentary and the scenery that is just amazing but have finally lost faith that the riders themselves are all that they seem to be. I don’t like watching baseball or football nearly as much as hockey and cycling or even soccer because the first two are so obviously rife with drug users while the latter tend not to be so artifical. But here I am sitting on the couch, with Paul and Phil telling me all about the break away and how Mark Cavendish won’t finish the tour so he can be fresh for the Beijing Olympics. The crowds are thick and it seems that despite the continuing scandal that spectators aren’t turning their backs on the riders who remain in the Tour. The recent report of 17 teams not renewing their Pro licenses which means that they won’t be able to participate in any Pro races organized by ICU so we’ll wait to see what happens for the 2009 pro series.
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Tags : Tour de France, Marco Pantani, Pau-Hautacam, stage winners, Cavandish, Beijing Olympics, Paul Sherwin, Phil Ligget
Categories : cycling
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