...and we need it now! I will not talk about Rasmussen this evening as everything has been said and written a hundred times. However, I think it’s time for me to share with you some very important facts.
First of all, it’s pretty obvious but there is an extreme tension on the Tour. All the riders are acting as if everything is normal. They go to press conferences, attend all the meetings planned and all that, but you can see in their eyes that the pressure is getting a bit too high for them. They are even a bit scared of this whole scandal...scared of what you will ask. These guys are passionate and they are scared for their sport. It’s that simple. I wish you could see the thousands of people along the road today who kept on cheering all the riders from the start to the finish line. The Tour is not dead and won’t die. That’s my feeling. The Tour is too big to die and one day it will be the place of a new start, a new cycling.
However, don’t expect me to say a cleaner cycling. Why? Because with 250 blood tests since the beginning of the Tour and only two of them positive, this sport is clean. There will always be cheaters. Always.
But what about soccer? Last year for the World Cup, do you how many blood tests they made? Well, it’s pretty simple: none. They didn’t process a single blood test. It’s pretty easy for the FIFA to say that soccer is clean.
I’m telling you if we were applying all the rules and tests that you in cycling to any other sports, you would see lots of athletes differently.
So, the first question that comes to my mind when I picture that is, why does the media talk about only drugs in cycling? Cycling doesn’t generate as much business as the NBA or the NFL, for example. Cycling is not just one hour like a basketball game. Cycling is not easy to understand if you don’t have an expert eye. So what do you “market," what do you talk about to get some audience and attention? Drugs and doping work!
THe media is just searching for the sensational news, the scoop as you say. Shall we let the media rule this sport and decide what is important or should we help them understand what makes cycling great?
I would go for the second option, if you don’t mind. Remember early this week: the Astana trick to cut the peloton in two parts, all these echappées and all that? This is what we need to spend time on.
Finally, I would like to end with a very positive fact. Riders and all the people who are involved in professional cycling shouldn’t be scared of stopping doping and drug-taking. If they ride from 45 kilometers per hour to 42 kilometers per hour, we won’t care at all. There is no global timing involved in cycling. A 100-meter sprinter doesn’t have that chance because if his times go from 10 seconds to 13 seconds, everybody will start asking: "What the **** is wrong with this guy? He was running way better last year." But in cycling, we won’t even notice. We won’t care because cycling should be and will be one day above all these dirty, useless things.
So enjoy the show because it’s not over!
Ronan
Ronan Pensec participated in 8 Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in the 1990. He now operates Ronan Pensec Events , an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.
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avivA
Thank you for your positive spin on the situation. That's a great point, that out of 250 tests only 2 came back positive. Unfortunately, people assume that since 2 were caught, there must be many more who doped but weren't caught. (And maybe there were, too, we can never know...)
For me the most annoying thing is the conventional media coverage. For the last two weeks, the L.A. Times has had only a tiny corner of a page, buried deep in the Sports section, with a photo and summary of the day's Tour stage. This morning, a large color photo of Rasmussen appeared on the newspaper's front page, with a full story taking up most of the Sports section's front page too. Suddenly, when something scandalous breaks out, they're interested in cycling!
Matt
I don't mean to be a wet blanket here, but I am just trying to look at the facts as we know them and apply to the real cycling world. Vino's B samples haven't yet been confirmed, but for this comment lets say that they will. So with that assumption...WHY would Vino cheat on Cyclings BIGGEST STAGE, KNOWING FULL WELL that he will be tested (time trial win)...and if caught, will lose EVERYTHING he's worked for his entire career! (remember that Astana had just announced they were ready to renew the team contract for ANOTHER 10 years, and Vino would most probably have moved up to Team Manager). So..he threw ALL THAT AWAY along with the team...(I don't See Astana being invited to the NEXT TDF, do you?) So WHY would he cheat? The ONLY answer I can come up with is that he didn't think he would get caught. And to follow that thread of thought, why would he think that? The ONLY answer I can come up with for that one is that he's done it before and NOT been caught. And to further this thought, if HE has done it before and not been caught, then WHO ELSE is cheating and not getting caught? Vino is (was) at the PINNACLE of pro cycling! He was the MAN TO BEAT coming into the race this year. If HE has been cheating, then MAYBE there is a LOT of water behind the **** of doping. I'm not sure how to burst the **** either. Obviously the cheaters are 1 or 2 steps ahead of the 'good guys' trying to catch them. And until SOMEONE comes forth with CURRENT PRACTICES of cheating and breaks the ****, we may never know the depths of the doping waters! Surely there's NO INCENTIVE to come forward if you are getting away with it! I truly HOPE AND PRAY this isn't the case, that doping is going on in a very SMALL scale in the Peleton, but I'm afraid that I might just be wearing the same blinders that the REST of the sports world is wearing!
Syllybee
in response to: so sad
With regard to Vino's supposed blood doping, I would like to know what type of tests the French lab used to determine that he indeed receive a "DONOR's blood". Simply saying there were 2 different types of red cells does not justify saying he blood doped.
To answer the question about needing a lot of equipment~not really. But I would worry about the technique!
And, for that matter, why is the French lab still doing the testing while they themselves are under investigation?
Testing of any type should be performed by a state-of-the art lab that IS NOT INVOLVED/partakes in the Tour!
I am a former hematology med tech and currently am employed as a research specialist.
I would love to be part of this lab!
Syllybee
Hi Ronan,
I have a question about the logistics involved with doping. How could Vino get a blood transfusion before a leg of the race ? I mean, doesn't it involve a lot of equipment, people, etc. ? When would he have got the time and space to do it unnoticed ? ... or does it imply that the whole team was involved ???
I feel bad for Kloden who had to quit with the rest of the team.