A Wild Day in Cycling 26-7-2007

Posted by Damo

Let's start with the Good and, let's face it, the battle between Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) up the last 8km of the Col d'Aubisque during Stage 16 of the Tour was one of the most scintillating pieces of riding in a long time - certainly the stage of the Tour so far.
Of course this was followed by the news of Michael Rasmussen's dismissal from the Tour by the Rabobank team management.
It's been another testing day for the sport of cycling with another drug cheat detected and another team (Cofidis) removed from the Tour de France.
A Swiss newspaper has taken the step of now only reporting drugs-related stories for the rest of this year's Tour de France in the hope that they can help highlight this problem that is threatening the sport.
The riders of the Tour de France staged their own protest at the start of the 16th stage with 8 teams refusing to move until the rest of the field had started.
Hardly surprising I suppose but now a "senior IOC official" has come out and stated that after the recent spate of drug scandals there is a cycling risks being ejected from the Beijing Olympic Games. Now, while I think this is virtually impossible, the mere fact that the suggestion is being touted is cause for concern.

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