The Tour de France is underway, despite the fact that four of last year's top five finishers have been banned from the competition for being dirty, dirty, dopers. Meanwhile, the other one of the five is currently cruising through Iowa. I'm not sure if it's possible to dope on corn.
As for the actual doping contest—excuse me, the Tour de France—Americans are in 2nd and 3rd place after the prologue. George Hincapie and David Zabriskie finished behind Norwegian Thor Hushovd. I don't know if he's any kind of a favorite to win the race, but he should win some kind of an award for being named Thor Hushovd.
I'm glad there's still one sport that Americans can dominate, but I don't know why it has to cycling. Maybe it's not even that we're great at cycling, maybe we're just great at not getting caught doping. And of course, I'd sincerely appreciate any and all comments and/or e-mails about The Tour, since I know not a thing about it.
Four of top five '05 finishers won't start Tour this year [ESPN.com]
Lance skips France to bike in Iowa [Des Moines Register]












Comments
Lance is just as a big doper as the rest. It sickens me to watch him claim that he works harder than everyone else and that's the reason he kept winning. Bonds has more of a case that he's clean than him.
Henry Porter, are you French by chance?
actually alexander vinokourov was not caught doping but dropped out of the tour because 5 out of his 9 teammates were in this scandal (you can't ride with only 4 teammates due to the team time trials), just keeping it real
actually alexander vinokourov was not caught doping but 5 out of his 9 teammates are in this scandal, so he dropped out (you cant ride with 4 teammates due to the team time trial), just keeping it real
So, Sam...anyone who questions Greatest American Hero Lance Armstrong must be anti-American, right? You're with me, logical fallacy!
Pete- Relax. That was said in jest. Like MJD, I know nothing about cycling.
Lance had one ball and beat cancer, so there's no way he could be a doper! Lord knows all Americans are righteous and right and never do anything wrong! People seem to forget that Lance only raced in the Tours, and didn't race other events like his competitors did. If Jordan just played the finals and not regular season games, do you think people would still call him the greatest ever?
Honestly, aren't pretty much all the cyclist doping?
Nope, I'm not French. 100% American but I don't like liars like Lance. It's great that he raises money for cancer and I truly appreciate that but facts like this almost force me to believe that he's a great doper as well as a great cyclist. royalfan5 (were royalfan, royalfan1, royalfan2, royalfan3, royalfan4 all taken?) pretty much all are. The ones who aren't finish towards the last of the nice with their pride at least.
Lance has denied and denied. Barry has denied and denied. Barry is vilified. Armstrong is the Great American Hero. But, as the old saying goes, where there's smoke, there's fire. All I see when I look at Lance Armstrong is a big black cloud. Why don't people want to believe? Is it the cancer? Is it winning all those Tour de France's? I know Barry would ask you, is it because he's white? I don't know what it is, but it's dirty.
I think it comes down to two things Josh. 1) The personality of the two in question. 2) Lance's cancer.
so if you're a nice guy juice up? if you're a dick you're bad?
because barry has had a pretty good career too, if you haven't been watching
Sam, your sarcasm flew several feet above my head. My apologies. More than the doping itself (which I don't dismiss by any means), my biggest beef with Armstrong is that I believe he's a phony. I've heard whispers and rumors that the smiling, humble, all-American demeanor that has won Armstrong millions of fans across Bible Belt America is not, how you say, genuine.
Josh, it doesn't matter how you really are, just how you portray yourself to the media and the fans.
The main difference is that Lance meets everything head on. He goes on TV every chance he gets when any accusations come out about his doping. Bonds, on the other hand, shuns everything and everyone, so everyone starts assuming that he's hiding.
Let's face it, we all know a lot more about Barry than we do Lance. Not that many Americans follow bicycling, but even non-baseball fans can tell you who Barry Bonds is and what he does. While Lance Armstrong is a household name, 99 out of 100 Americans can't name another bike race other than the Tour de France. We have more exposure to baseball, so of course Barry is going to catch more heat than Lance when it comes to performance enhancing materials. Americans seem to embrace athletes who go to other countries and beat their athletes at their sports. Just look at Forrest Gump. He had his own line of ping pong paddles.
RAGBRAI doesn't start until the end of July
I'm just happy I have some more contacts for the juice. World Series of Beer Pong is six months away, and I can fit a few cycles in before it starts. They probably dont test, right?
Also, no one has written a "Game of Shadows" expose of Lance. If he was a doper, he hid it better than anyone. Some of the people who have accused him are of questionable authority, as well. Accusing him of discussing his plan for doping 3 days after his brain surgery seems unlikely, I have to say. There are guys who are just built for their sports. Miguel Indurain, for example, 5 time champion of the Tour, had (literally) a heart that was about half again the size of a normal human heart. Lance's recovery from cancer may have actually helped him physically--there are easier ways to cut your body fat to almost 0%, of course, but none quite as radical. Also, his femurs are unnaturally long, which is a suprisingly huge advantage. Perhaps he had them articially lengthened? I find it perfectly acceptable to dislike the man. He rankles a lot of people. I think it somewhat wrong-headed to lump him in with almost greats like Ullrich and Basso. Perhaps this current investigation will net the evidence some of you seem so anxious to get, but it isn't there yet.
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