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Cyclingnews reports that “Bernhard Kohl of Gerolsteiner tested non-negative for CERA”. Even the quaint locution of “non-negative” didn’t distract me from the real news: another cheat found, this time a man who finished on the podium in this year’s Tour. Updated leaderboard:
I’m not going to try to predict who will be next, but I have no doubt there’ll be more. The 2008 edition of the Tour de France saw four riders busted for doping. When Riccardo Ricco’s team, Saunier Duval, pulled out of the race following his failed test, team-mate Leonard Piepoli probably escaped being the fifth rider caught cheating. Although the race is over, it is not yet done. Follow-up blood tests were requested for a number of urine tests where the initial analysis was inconclusive; the results of these blood tests are now being released. Stefan Schumacher (who won both the time trials and is a team-mate of the eventual tour winner) has tested positive, as has Piepoli (who should probably thank Ricco for sparing him the last days of riding). According to AFP, there are up to 30 riders “embroiled in the latest scandal”. I was desperately hoping the rumours were untrue, but it looks as though Armstrong is making a comeback. Maybe Astana will still be banned from the TDF next year…? As for this:
Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour de France champion, says he would welcome Lance Armstrong joining his Astana team in an attempt to win an eighth Tour. I doubt it. I won’t pretend to be enough of an expert on the Tour de France to speculate as to whether Cadel Evans wanted, in a strategic sense, to be in the yellow jersey after the Tourmalet/Hautacam stage. All I know is that I was really happy to see him ride so well after such a horrible previous stage, and he seemed thrilled to pull the jersey on at the end of it all. Whether Silence-Lotto is strong enough to defend the jersey is something I know nothing about, but I doubt that Cadel will give it up without a fight. The biggest question is: will Paul Sherwen now use his preferred honorific “certain” when referring to Cadel? Thanks to Rufus, we have to hide the toilet paper. I think he’s half puppy, quarter parrot, quarter kitten. At least he’s making sure to get enough fibre in his diet (although I was still reading the TDF guide, Rufus).  Rufus critiques The Age The “old man” of Le Tour is 38 years old today. Personally, I don’t like to hear the phrase “38th birthday” uttered alongside the word “old”, but then again I’m not trying to ride in the world’s most demanding cycling race. I’m still not used to looking for Erik in the Milram blue, but it’s easier now that T-Mobile no longer exists. Keep on going, Erik! At 12.37 AEST, Stage One, for the first time in the 2008 TDF, Paul Sherwen said “… and that is why you really shouldn’t ride at the back of the peleton.” Paul, there will always be somebody at the back of the peloton. I’m sure it’s not by choice (unless, of course, you are David Moncoutie). And thanks for the Arrested Development shout-out. Today’s Weekend Australian “Review” section has the managing director of SBS, Shaun Brown, talking about his “tumultuous tenure”. It is true that SBS has changed – perhaps for the worse – in the past few years. The Movie Show is rubbish; the actual “movie show” was, and will ever be, David and Margaret and it matters not what it is called now that it is on the ABC – it is the movie show. I don’t watch the news any more on SBS. I’m sure it continues to take a more global view than the other free-to-air news bulletins, but the shouldn’t-this-be-on-Foreign-Correspondent/Insight/insert-public-affairs-show-here interviews overwhelm me and the new format meant that I felt I was missing some key local news, so I opted to watch Ian Henderson exclusively instead (although, ABC, I still miss Angela Pippos and that buffoon Peter Wilkins was fine on The Fat all those years ago, but he is no Melbourne sports presenter). Other critics of the new SBS accuse it of betraying its mulicultural charter. Perhaps these criticisms are valid, although the broadcaster previously suffered from characterisation as a European free-soft-porn channel. I’ve never watched Inspector Rex but I have regularly watched Mythbusters, South Park, Big Love and Top Gear, which are not at all multicultural (Grant Imahara is probably the only non-Anglo-Saxon represented in these shows). All these criticisms aside, SBS wins my support just for the annual broadcast of the Tour de France. Every stage of the race is covered, live. Not just every stage, but more of each stage than most broadcasters show. Just one thing, SBS. The commercials. I have, unfortunately, reached the stage where I have accepted the reality of commercials on SBS. Just not the commercials shown repeatedly during the coverage of the Tour de France. Women watch cycling too! I don’t want to see “interrupted stream” and “erectile dysfunction” while I am enjoying a glass of Moet and the scenery of Brittany. I don’t want to watch Stage One, knowing that the next three weeks will be a constant stream (sorry, Mr Interrupted) of these ads. Show some more of those clever French car ads… Please. This really pisses me off: Former Tour winner Ullrich criticises raceWinner of the 1997 Tour de France, German Jan Ullrich, has criticised the Tour de France for lacking the grandeur of past. “I don’t think that the Tour can still be defined as the greatest race in the world,” said 34 year-old Ullrich according to Agr. “It is not how it was once before. Before there were the best riders starting as favourites, but there were always the possibilities of surprises.” Ullrich retired from racing at the end of 2007 in the heat of allegations that he was linked with Eufemiano Fuentes and Operación Puerto. From Cyclingnews Improve the web with Nofollow Reciprocity. |
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