Iban Mayo of Suanier Duval has reportedly tested positive for EPO use during the rest day of the Tour de France. Mayo is but another casualty in the war on doping proclaimed by the UCI and the ASO.
Vinokourov's B-sample was also confirmed as positive for a homologous blood transfusion, and he was sacked from his Astana team.
How Mayo, Vino and Moreni thought they could get away with such infractions escapes the editor of Cycling Commentary.
What an incredible time trial! Leipheimer put in the best time and almost edged Cadel out of 2nd place overall on general classification. He won the stage, but he almost won the Tour de France with an amazing time trial performance where he averaged 51.3kph or 32.92 miles per hour - the 3rd fastest Tour time trial.
Meanwhile, Contador hung on by 20 seconds to his lead, losing 1:30 to the Aussie, Cadel Evans.
Now only 30 second separates the first, second and third place on the GC. Amazing!
What lies in store tomorrow?
Alberto Contador of Discovery Channel and Cadel Evans of Predictor Lotto will battle it out for the honor of wearing the Tour de France yellow jersey in the penultimate stage of the Tour, the individual time trial from Cognac to Angoulême. Covering 55.5km (34.46 miles), the individual time trial will be one of the most exciting time trials since Lemond beat Fignon in 1989 or when Lance beat Ullrich in 2003.
Presently, Contador has a 1:50 minute advantage over evans. Evans was savvy enough to pick up three seconds at the finish in today's race, when a small gap occured in the peloton. That three seconds could prove vital in Contador's battle to keep the maillot jaune.
Cycling Commentary looked back at the last two times Contador and Evans went head to head in an individual time trial. In the Tour of Romandie this past April, Evans beat Contador by 51 seconds over a 20.4km course. At that rate, Evans could expect to take a total of 2:18 out of Contador, and he would win the Tour by 28 seconds!
However, the recent Tour de France individual time trial in Albi is probably more instructive. Over 54Kkm, Evans beat Contator by a total of 1:04. At that rate, Contador could expect retain his yellow jersy and win the Tour de France by 44 to 45 seconds. Contador will have the added benefit of wearing the maillot jaune, which always seems to give it's wearer the more power than he would otherwise have.
In any event, the final time trial is sure to be a nail biter!
Greg Lemond is out of line - way out of line.
In an interview featured on cyclingnews.com, Lemond "insisted that the riders know very well who dopes and who doesn't, suggesting that 'it's obvious there are still dopers in the peloton.' He explained that Contador weighs the same as Rasmussen, and both climbed at the same speed as Pantani. 'That's sufficient for the red flag to come up.' He also reminded us that Contador's name came up in connection with Operación Puerto, but was cleared after the 2006 Tour. 'I am not pointing the finger at him [Contador]. I am simply saying if Rasmussen got caught then we also need to have a very close look at his competitors.'"
What about Cadel Evans? He went up the mountains almost as fast as the others and he weighs 10 kilograms more than Contador and Rasmussen? So, Cadel's power to weight ratio is likely the same or higher than Contador's and Rasmussen's. Yet, "everyone knows" that Cadel is clean. So what gives?
How can this guy impunge the yellow jersey with impunity and get away with it? Likely a doper himself, Lemond appears to be after anyone and everyone who is a better athlete that he was. He should be slapped with a slander suit and told to shut-up forever.
Cycling Commentary was about to post an entry about how Michael Rasmussen deserved to win the Tour de France after his amazing victory atop the Col D'Aubisque. Rasmussen showed himself to be the strongest man, surviving repeated attacks from Discovery Channel's Levi Leipheimer and Alberto Contador.
And then, Cyclingnews.com announed that Michael Rasmussen had been dropped from the Tour de France and sacked from his Rabobank team. To quote Phil Liggett, the English voice of cycling around the world from 2003, "What is this Tour de France?"
Apparently, this Tour de France is scandal-ridden as the UCI and race organizer ASO bump up their all out war on doping. First, T-Mobile's Sinkewitz was sacked for an out of competition positive test for exogenous testosterone. Then, yesterday, Vinokourov was booted for a positive test result for homologous blood transfusions. The entire Astana team was booted from the Tour along with Vino. Today, Moreni and his Cofidis team packed their bags as the result of Moreni's positive test for testosterone usage.
And now, Rasmussen has been sacked by his team for lying to them about his whereabouts during the month of June. Apparently, he was in Italy. He told them Mexico. Good-bye Michael Rasmussen. Good-bye yellow jersey.
What a shame! Cycling Commentary was just starting to warm-up to the guy, or at least respect him for his courage and strength in the mountains.
For a complete news report visit Velonews.com
Alexander Vinokourov of Team Astana amazed us with his victory in the Albi time trial on Saturday. He amazed us again yesterday with his victory in Loudenvielle.
Bandaged and bloody, Vino apparently had a little help in the form of an autoglobous blood transfusion. Team Astana has pulled out of the Tour, and the Tour is in an uproar with yet another protaganist testing positive for doping.
Links to the tragic news can be found here at CyclingNews.com and VeloNews.
Cycling Commentary shares David Millar's sentiments:
"What timing, huh? This is just fucking great."
He continued:
"I'm gutted. I really feel like crying right now."
From Phil Liggett:
"Paul, Bob and I are, for once, speechless. We are all very upset and such a stupid action at a time the sport looked to be putting its own house in order. It is incomprehensible that Vinokourov could do such a thing when he must have known he was under suspicion because of his dealing with disgraced doctor Michele Ferrari in Italy. He must have known he would be tested at every opportunity and the time trial was the perfect occasion."
Cycling cannot take much more of this nonsense.
Alexander Vinokourov just completed a classic win on Stage 15 of the Tour de France, going out front with an escape group, then attacking forcefully and repeatedly on the final climb up the Peyresourde to drop his counterparts, before descending rapidly Loudenvielle for his second stage win. His win is similar to his victory in Gap in 2003 and Briancon in 2005. Classic Vino!
Meanwhile, Contador is teaching Rasmussen what it means to have the yellow jersey by attacking him viciously on the climb of the Peyresourde and on the decent to Loudenvielle. Great racing!
Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer and Yaroslav Popovych of the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team did Lance Armstrong proud today. Popovych lead an elite group of top GC contenders up the Plateau-de-Beille, dropping Kloden and then Kasheiken before Leipheimer and Contador put the hammer down to drop all but the race leader, Michael Rasmussen, and King of the Mountains wannabe, Maurice Soler.
Contador's attacking style was impressive, so impressive that he put over 2 minutes into Cadel Evans. Contador won the stage and took over Evans second place on GC.
In the process, Discovery won the team competition for the day. Discovery now leads the overall team competition, and they have three men in the top 10 - Contador in 2nd, Leipheimer in 3rd and Popovych in 10th. Impressive, to say the least.
Tomorrow's massive mountain stage finishing in Loudenvielle presents an opportunity for Discovery to gain more time. However, given Vino's on again, off again performance, we may see the Kazak animate the stage as well.
Alexander Vinokourov is back! During yesterday's long hot day, he directed his team to attack. Their attack prevented GC hopefuly Christophe Moreau from getting back on the fast moving peloton being ripped apart by cross winds in Southern France. As a result, Moreau lost over 3 minutes on the stage.
Stage 12 Montpellier - Castres
Today's stage features four categorized climbs, including the Cat 2 Monte de la Jeante, 50km from the finish. If Vino is feeling well again today, this stage represents the perfect opportunity for him to attack. A dehyrdated and race weary peloton that averaged almost 30mph on yesterday's stage may let him go.
Tour de France Stage 6: Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse
Alexander Vinokourov's Team Astana might have had visions of a stage victory and a surge in the General Classification yesterday, but those dreams were dashed as Andreas Kloden crashed fracturing his coccyx bone and Vinokorouv bloodied himself on the descent of the Category 2 Haut-Folin. Kloden's crash was early enough in the stage that he was able to get back on the peloton and maintain his 2nd position on GC. Vinokourov, however, was not so lucky. At the time of his crash 15 miles from the finish, the peloton was surging to catch the lead duo of Sylvan Chavanel and Phillipe Gilbert, who scooped up the majority of KOM points. As a result, Vinokourov was unable to catch the peloton and lost over a minute on the stage. He sits in 81st position, 2:10 down on the general classification.
In 2005, Vinokourov lost 5 minutes to the GC leaders of the race on the long, tough climb up Courcheval. The very next day, he went on the attack on the toughest stage in the Alps, conquering the Madeleine and the Galibier ahead of the peloton. If Vino starts today's race - and I think he will - then we may see a repeat here where Vino goes on the attack to regain his points. Tired from yesterday's hard day of racing and concerned about being fresh for tomorro'w first true mountain stage in the Alps, the peloton might let Vino go. The stage is flat and ideal for sprinters, who will want to settle the Green Jersey score, before heading into the mountains. But Vino may just foil their plans. This should be interesting.
