 | Posted on the off-chance that Europe still matters. |
STRASBOURG, FRANCE — A doping scandal knocked Tour de France favourites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso out of the race Friday and threw the world's most prestigious cycling event into chaos. The decision to bar Ullrich, Basso and others implicated in a doping probe in Spain also sent a strong signal that cheating, or even suspicions of cheating, will not be tolerated.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme said organizers' determination to fight doping was "total." "The enemy is not cycling, the enemy is doping," he said the day before the start of the Tour.
Riders being excluded will not be replaced, meaning a smaller field than the 189 racers originally expected. And that's not even counting the absence of American Lance Armstrong, who retired after winning his seventh straight Tour last year. |