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Tour de France by George on 5 August 2006 9:50pm

It's so sad now that Floyd Landis will be stripped of his yellow jersey. Unless something really unknown comes out in the next few days, the only question left to wonder is why? My guess is Landis was probably subject to some kind of unbearable personal pressures. I really pity him.

Re: Tour de France by intrepid on 6 August 2006 4:05pm

I've been sort of half following this, if only because my ears perk up whenever I hear the name "Floyd". I listened to the press conference he gave last week, and the really interesting thing was that they had an expert from a cycling magazine giving his impressions. In this magazine guy's opinion, Landis sounded as genuinely shocked as anyone he'd ever heard, and DIDN'T have the air of somebody who had something to hide. The fellow said that it appeared if Landis had done something wrong, it was news to Landis.
To be honest, I don't get the testing aspect of it. I keep reading that Landis "failed a drugs test", but do drugs come into play in this case? And how are they refuting that his high testosterone levels weren't natural? Did they decide that he had unnatural testosterone in him?

Re: Tour de France by Blasi on 6 August 2006 8:32pm

The Tour will only survive, imo, if the gates are thrown open and the use of doping is legalised. Prevention seems impossible and it's a nonsense having the primary riders being disqualified en masse day upon day. Where's the future in such a corrupted sport?

I recall seeing undercover footage a couple of years ago with riders undergoing furtive blood transfusions in their hotel rooms the evening before races. The lengths to which they'll go *sighs*.

Re: Tour de France by tucsonmike on 6 August 2006 8:39pm

Blasi, you are right. I am not a big cycling fan, but the level of corruption is there. I think baseball is next. There are too many questions there as well.

Re: Tour de France by arty_farty on 6 August 2006 8:43pm

cyclists on drugs? scary. next thing you know bowls teams'll get speeding tickets. :)

Re: Tour de France by George on 6 August 2006 10:30pm

In the case of Floyd Landis, from all indications, he did use a synthetic form of the hormone, testosterone. It is specifically banned, but he used it anyway, even knowing he was going to be tested. Using the drug in such a way is irrational.

Yes, the Tour will survive, and so will baseball.

There was a great article about baseball and steroids recently in Sports Illustrated. Since that great summer when Mark Magwire and Sammy Sosa had their home run duel, neither has been heard from since. Now, Barry Bonds gets booed everywhere he goes. All of their records will stand, but their public reputations and their abilities to make money from their achievements will be gone.

I'm reminded of Gaylord Perry. After he retired, he confessed he used spitballs and other kind of illegal measure to enhance he pitching. He might have thought it was funny, but no one else laughed.

Re: Tour de France by perfectbitch on 6 August 2006 11:20pm

Some time ago, watching the tour where it was raining the proverbial, the thought struck me it would have been so apt if Indurain's first name had been Singing. : ).

Linz

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