Cycling looks back to drug-tainted Tour

PARIS – The 2007 Tour de France ended on Sunday after three weeks of unwelcome controversy and drama which has led to calls for far-reaching reforms ahead of 2008.

One of the most tainted editions of the race since the Festina doping scandal in 1998 ended in triumph for Discovery Channel’s yellow jersey winner Alberto Contador on the Champs Elysees. But with the eviction of two entire teams and a long-running controversy which led to the ejection of former race leader Michael Rasmussen, the 24-year-old Spaniard’s victory was almost completely overshadowed.Inevitably, cycling – and the Tour – has lost face, especially for those who believe that weeding out the drugs cheats with the tests designed for the job is a sign that the sport is in bad health.As cycling looks for solutions to the problem, the peloton has mixed opinions.”I’d be more worried if there were no positive cases than some cases,” said Belgium’s Tom Boonen, who finished the race with the sprinters’ green jersey.”The anti-doping tests now are much better, and we know now who to look for, and what to look for.”For Frenchman Jerome Pineau, there’s still plenty of weeding out to be done.It took two positive tests within two days to shake up the race, despite the speculation surrounding Rasmussen after the revelations he had missed four random doping controls in two years.Kazakh star Alexandre Vinokourov, the pre-race faourite, tested positive for homologous blood doping, and then Italian Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone.Despite all the scandal this year’s race attracted an average television audience in France of 3.6 million viewers with Sunday’s final stage watched by a peak of seven million – the highest figure since 2004.Nampa-AFPBut with the eviction of two entire teams and a long-running controversy which led to the ejection of former race leader Michael Rasmussen, the 24-year-old Spaniard’s victory was almost completely overshadowed.Inevitably, cycling – and the Tour – has lost face, especially for those who believe that weeding out the drugs cheats with the tests designed for the job is a sign that the sport is in bad health.As cycling looks for solutions to the problem, the peloton has mixed opinions.”I’d be more worried if there were no positive cases than some cases,” said Belgium’s Tom Boonen, who finished the race with the sprinters’ green jersey.”The anti-doping tests now are much better, and we know now who to look for, and what to look for.”For Frenchman Jerome Pineau, there’s still plenty of weeding out to be done.It took two positive tests within two days to shake up the race, despite the speculation surrounding Rasmussen after the revelations he had missed four random doping controls in two years.Kazakh star Alexandre Vinokourov, the pre-race faourite, tested positive for homologous blood doping, and then Italian Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone.Despite all the scandal this year’s race attracted an average television audience in France of 3.6 million viewers with Sunday’s final stage watched by a peak of seven million – the highest figure since 2004.Nampa-AFP