dude nothing suprises me with cycling anymore

A bit presumptuous I think :p

Best in the world at cycling...oh please! Disco is a team owned by a US Company, but how many of it's members are from the US?
In the Lance years most of the Postal squad then Discovery were nationalities other than US.

the french make really tasty bread and butter ... thats about it.

"In an old joke, a man awakens and says: “I dreamed I was in heaven, where the Italians wrote the poetry, the Swiss ran the trains, the French did the cooking, and the English controlled the government. But then suddenly my dream changed, and I plunged down, down into hell. And in hell the Swiss wrote the poetry, the French ran the trains, the English did the cooking, and the Italians controlled the government!”

C'est la vie.

Mayo? Merde.

PoC

You can't really be that naive to believe that!!!:eek: :eek:

Thats a pretty silly thing to say...so there was one American rider who managed to win one big race (Le Tour) alot of times on an American team recently. . Hardly makes America the greatest cycling nation on earth...I don't think anyone with any cycling knowledge can confidently claim that. Still the greatest rider of all time is Eddie Mercx...all the big ones, not just Le Tour. This years winner wasn't even an American!!!!!!! You can't claim that, I'm sure when he stood up they didn't play the American anthem!

I agree.
You want to eliminate the problem?
Make the punishment so severe that they won't even think about it.

Lifetime ban on the first offense.

They should do that for all sports.

I could care less if race times got slower and results were less than before in any sport if it is done clean.

Whether they like it or not sports figures are role models, and always have been.

If they can't keep it clean they should be hung out to dry. They will have to get a real job like most of us.

I want my kids to grow up and have a healthy lifestyle and not do drugs. If they saw that even very popular people who are caught have a severe punishment then all the better.

I might be slow, and I might not be on the podium but I am healthy and clean.
(drug wise anyway):D

Of course there are problems with enforcement, and testing, but that doesn't mean that we don't make a stand. There is no 100% solution. But harsh penalties will deter some - and go after those that "advise" the athletes or those who make the substances available should also be punished. Money needs to go into developing reasonably reliable testing protocol.
It is just so out of control - they are having to test H.S. kids where my kids go to school. That is really frightening. But kids see the athletes do it to get an edge and they follow suit. That is where my concern really lies.

Good points, guys.
I'd like to do two more things:
1) Make the teaching of ethics to young athletes a greater priority at the primary level - to both coaches and players
2)It's the money and prestige at the elite level that induces people to take the chance of cheating. When tens of millions of Euros are on the line to get television time for the sponsor's name the whole spectacle takes on the air of a circus, or a farce and the organizers profit hugely too. In the case of the TdF it was originated to sell newspapers. If the team jerseys were logo-free there would be no money for being out front and on camera - or for winning for that matter. This means that you only get the best, the elite riders, managers, team organizations if it is professional. That puts it squarely in the realm of entertainment as far as I can see,
and takes it out of the realm of us recreational riders, who might idolize or seek to emulate these guys.
What that means is that they should be regulated like Pro Wrestling not like X-country running or Biathlon or some sport where there is no pro category and no money.

Pro Wrestling as we all realize is not regulated, steroid use is required, all kinds of drugs to produce freaky, "unnaturally cut" physiques and so on. and of course some of them die young - but rich!
It is a choice that they make.
I guess I am saying, there is too much money in the TdF ever to think that it will be 100% clean - somebody will always be trying to cheat - so regulate it like the WWE and deal with the bodies.

And while we're at it let's put names on the back of the jerseys, like Basketball and make helmets optional again so we can see their faces.

Blood and crashes attract crowds - look at NASCAR and the WWE.

PoC
just exploring the options

In that case, would there even be a tour next year?

this doesn't look good:
http://www.velonews.com/news/fea/13062.0.html

No more - I can't take it...
Sure doesn't have a happy feel to it...:mad:

If this is about a positive test, wouldn't the lab have leaked it to the press days ago?

http://www.velonews.com/race/int/articles/13554.0.html

frigging crazy! can't even trust the testing:eek:

his lawyers will have a field day. they get to keep testing till you get the results they like? what does that say about the "B" lab? will results from there be no longer valid?

Easy solution - every rider gets a oil change right before the ride every day. New Blood = no dope.

I think whereever there is big $ there will be cheats. can't trust anybody. :(

Of course I'm kidding! :p

Doping isn't exactly receiving new blood. It involves removing your own red blood cells, storing them, and then putting them back in at a later date.