DING DONG the Tour is dead?. . .Tour de France..doping..and more doping. . .

[NewtonMP2100]

amid multiple doping scandals. . .


No Rider Dons Yellow Jersey for Stage 17

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: July 26, 2007

PAU, France (AP) -- Shaken to its core and its future in doubt, the Tour de France began limping toward the finish Thursday stripped of its race leader, who was unceremoniously sent home under a cloud of doping suspicion. . .


. . .Meanwhile, it seemed questionable whether anyone was still interested in the outcome. Some French newspapers Thursday declared the Tour dead and said it should be stopped after the bombshell announcement Wednesday night that Rasmussen's team was sending the Dane home.

Team spokesman Jacob Bergsma said Rasmussen's withdrawal was ordered by their sponsor, Rabobank. It was linked to ''incorrect'' information that Rasmussen gave to the team's sports director concerning his whereabouts last month. Rasmussen missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28, saying he was in Mexico. But a former rider, Davide Cassani, said he had seen Rasmussen in Italy in mid-June. . .


. . .After the Tour's upbeat start in London, when throngs of spectators lined streets to watch, bad news -- nearly all of it related to doping -- quickly dominated.

German rider Patrick Sinkewitz crashed into a spectator and was then revealed to have failed a drug test in training before the Tour. Star Alexandre Vinokourov was sent home after testing positive for a banned blood transfusion. On Wednesday, when Rasmussen won stage 16, Cofidis confirmed Moreni's failed a doping test. Police detained him and searched the hotel where the team was staying. . .

[AAA]

what sport is not dead,then?

I like what I heard elsewhere from some comic. Instead of rules to ban steroids, there needs to be sports/games/olympics with unlimited enhancements. That way,, no one can complain/cheat. And it would probably be interesting.

[davester]

Yep, it's pretty sad. However, bear in mind that the reason for all this scandal is that the cycling organizations have extremely strict drug surveillance measures and rules. If american sports organizations would get realistic about drug testing we'd probably have just as many scandals here.

[MacMagus]

How do you test positive for a blood-transfusion?

[Lew Zealand]

High levels of RBCs relative to your already established baseline?

[Seacrest]

I used to care, but now I am resigned to accept the fact that athletes benefit from modern technology in so many ways, and doping is just one of them.
So I'm kind of with AAA up there.

[davester]

The problem with the concept of allowing all doping is that many forms of doping have long-term, sometimes fatal, health effects, and doping has made its way down to the high school level. You can't allow pro athletes to take harmful drugs but then expect to tell high schoolers in the same sport that they can't use them ("Do as I say, not as I do").

BTW, macmagus, they are not talking about blood doping (i.e. transfusions), they are talking about drug use (steroids, etc.).

[JoeH]

[quote davester]The problem with the concept of allowing all doping is that many forms of doping have long-term, sometimes fatal, health effects, and doping has made its way down to the high school level. You can't allow pro athletes to take harmful drugs but then expect to tell high schoolers in the same sport that they can't use them ("Do as I say, not as I do").

BTW, macmagus, they are not talking about blood doping (i.e. transfusions), they are talking about drug use (steroids, etc.).
That was also included, it is right there in the NY Times article, "Star Alexandre Vinokourov was sent home after testing positive for a banned blood transfusion."

[AAA]

there are no EXTREME HS sports, either, per se. I think you can.

-base jumping
-cage fightis
-Iron Man
-etc.

etc.

Plenty of 'games'/sports outside the traditional ones that HSs play. I don't even know of any schools with endurance biking ala the Tour.

[ztirffritz]

The blood transfusions increase the Red Blood Cell count I believe. Red Blood Cells are the binders that carry O2 throughout the body. More Red Blood Cells means more O2 means better performance. EPO chemically boosts the RBC.