Oscar Pereiro has declared himself the 2006 Tour de France winner after Floyd Landis failed a second drug test.
Yet surely we should all forget the 2006 tour. Any event in which the champion is declared a drug cheat is utterly tainted. Especially in cycling, where drug use has long been shown to be rife amongst the star performers.
I had hoped that Landis would prove his first drugs test was a freak, faulty result. Sadly, my hopes have been dashed.
Hi Rob
I am a great cycling fan and will admit that unless you accept that the sport is (and pretty much always has been) affected by doping episodes like this.
When Landis made his 'amazing comeback' clawing back 8 minutes on Pereiro in the alps I was thinking to myself "they must have got the dosages right today". Meanwhile the commentators were saying "what an amazing feat of endurance and determination".
Who were they trying to kid? we have been here before, remember Hamilton's "amazing effort" to win that stage with a broken collarbone???
Posted by: Simon Collister | August 10, 2006 at 03:48 PM
Yes, we have indeed been here before, all too often. That's why I lost interest in this year's Tour before it started when Ullrich, Basso et al were ejected.
Posted by: Rob Skinner | August 10, 2006 at 09:52 PM