Wow, did this year's Tour de France just take a hit! I'm not a huge cycling fan. I don't follow the different races throughout the year or anything. But I watched the last seven years with all the Lance hooplah, and I got to know a few names, and I know that losing Ullrich and Basso this year to a doping scandal is HUGE! I think without those two and Lance in the field, whoever wins this year will always have to wonder if he could've won with the big boys in it.
Ullrich, I think, might have suffered even if he'd won from a bit of the, "Well Lance isn't in it anymore." He just couldn't seem to best Lance once Lance made his comeback. But Basso - he was sort of the future face of cycling. He was the next big thing. I don't mean to use the past tense to indicate that his career is over. Right now he's just "implicated" in an investigation, which doesn't prove anything. He may yet be cleared. But being banned from this year's tour is a blow.
I've heard recently about Lance being attacked again in a drug probe, and honestly, I didn't pay much attention. I assume it's this same scandal, but I pretty much quit listening to all that mess years ago. Year after the year, people, the French in particular, accuse him of doping and it's never proven. He took test after test after test when he was cycling, and no one ever found a thing. I figured they just couldn't stand some American (a Texan no less) besting them on their own turf. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't believe it if real proof were found. I do keep an open mind.
My personal feeling is that he didn't dope - not because he's morally superior to other riders, but because I have to believe that after the cancer and the agonizing treatment and all that he went through with that, he just wouldn't risk his health by putting questionable substances in it. I could be wrong, and maybe some day I'll see something that changes my mind. But right now, I stand by my belief that he's just an extraordinarily gifted cyclist. If he'd tried another sport, maybe he would've just been average. But he found the sport that was the perfect match for his particular gifts and talent. He married that to hard work, and he excelled. I see him like I see Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretsky or Tiger Woods. No one asks if they're cheating. We assume they're just gifted. But for some reason, people want to take down Lance. That's too bad.
1 comment:
I can remember the Tour last year - we got pretty into it and Travis was all about cycling. But this year - not so much.
A shame people can't just stay straight and have to fall into those horrible abuse habits. Especially those that are in the limelight and serve as some of our role models for the younger ones.
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