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...Within the space of a few days, France's most prestigious annual sporting event has morphed into a tawdry drama. That happened when the cloud of suspicion about doping that generally hovers over cycling turned into a veritable thunderhead, and started raining allegations down upon some of the Tour's top riders. That deluge has now flushed some of the race's leading lights and teams right out of the competition...
...latest, ugliest spasm of scandal came Wednesday night, when Tour leader Michael Rasmussen was sent home by his Rabobank team after the Dane admitted having lied about his suspect pre-race training program. That logic was based on a move made a week before by Danish cycling authorities to kick Rasmussen off their national team headed for the 2008 Olympics. Danish officials say Rasmussen failed to provide required information as he trained for the current Tour - details on his whereabouts designed to allow anti-doping experts to perform surprise tests. Rasmussen's departure was greeted with relief by Tour directors...
...Those dire developments were only the most recent wave of scandal dogging the Tour. Tuesday night, l'Equipe broke news that one of the race's top stars, Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov, had tested positive for a prohibited blood transfusion after wowing fans with a resounding time-trial victory over the weekend. Although an appeal is possible and a backup analysis by the lab entrusted with testing is routine, Vinokourov promptly dropped out of the race and hustled home - a move replicated by his entire Astana team, at the request of Tour organizers seeking to protect the race's reputation. Though...
...That move may be too little too late, given the residual impression left by previous allegations of doping. As speculation swirled around race leader Rasmussen, French gendarmes made unannounced inspections of their own on supply buses used by some participating teams - checks that generated more bad press for the Tour, although no banned substances were turned up in the raids. By now, however, the corrosive effects of suspicion had already begun to take their toll. After a German rider for the T-Mobile team tested positive for testosterone during the first week of the race, German TV channels...
...Confirmation and eventual punishment of any doping infraction would require weeks of additional lab checks and probable appeals, after all. Meanwhile, allegations made thus far involve but a handful of the hundreds of riders in the current race. However, given the accuracy of l'Equipe's reporting of past Tour doping violations - and the strong record of the testing lab when past analyses have been challenged - all these elements have served to significantly stoke suspicions that have been accumulated and strengthened over successive Tours. Last year's winner, American Floyd Landis, was stripped of his title after failing a drug...