Drug scandals are in the air over international cycling. Hmmm…must be about time for the 2009 Tour de France!
Bernhard Kohl, recently banned for two years, quitting the sport entirely, weighs in on rampant corruption among the peloton. Lots of riders involved. “What were the French authorities going to do? Delete the overall classification for the whole Tour?” Well, that’s the Hobson’s Choice right there in a nutshell, isn’t it?
Bernhard Kohl respeaks, saying he was misquoted. Really? That’s a lot of made-up quotation to misquote!
UCI warns of imminent disclosure of several prominent “suspected” cheats. Sheesh. C’mon, guys, in the pantheon of professional cycling, everyone‘s suspected. You either got the goods or you don’t!
And drug allegations still salt the wound between Greg Lemond and Lance Armstrong.
It’s sad, really, where the whole impetus of cycling seems to be: Avoid getting caught while pretending to be clean. The huge money involved creates no alternative for cyclists other than to beat the system…so long as the system has laughable effectiveness.
As we’ve said before and will say again: Cycling has no credibility in self-regulation. Only an independent body, backed by all parties and with absolute authority and oversight, can clean up the mess that has become professional cycling.
Having said that, I’m looking forward to the Tour as much as the next guy. There are self–avowed cheats wearing professional baseball uniforms every day with impunity, and nobody seems to care, so let the wheels roll and let’s have no more unpleasantness!