With Queen’s rock anthem “Bicycle Race†blaring from loudspeakers, the Tour de France sets off for another day, the riders a blaze of color in their lurid shirts. This, undoubtedly, is one of sport’s most spectacular sights.
But is it believable?
A decade ago, when Lance Armstrong won the first of his record seven Tour titles, the answer to that question was largely “no.â€
Doping had rotted cycling to the core. At least 80 percent of riders in the grand tours of France, Spain and Italy were doping, anti-doping scientists in Switzerland now calculate using blood tests from that time. Back then, researchers in Paris who were working on a method to catch one of the most common forms of cheating struggled to find clean samples to try out their new test…Â Details
Lance Armstrong is among several riders who will have a homecoming of sorts during the sixth stage of the Tour de France, which heads south of the border Thursday from Gerona to Barcelona in Spain.
Many cyclists use Gerona as a base for training, near the Pyrenees Mountains. Armstrong lived there for five years, and said Wednesday it was a “second home.â€
Among other Astana riders, American Levi Leipheimer splits his time between Gerona and Santa Rosa, Calif., and Alberto Contador gets to return to Spain— though he’s a native of Madrid.
“Always it is agreeable to return to your country and to (see) your relatives, because there will be many people coming to see me,†Contador said in a statement Wednesday… Details
* Voeckler takes maiden Tour de France stage in Perpignan
* Sprinters’ teams fail to catch a six-man early breakaway
* Gesink out of Tour after fracturing his wrist in crash
* Cancellara keeps yellow jersey ahead of Armstrong (adds details, quotes)…
…Frenchman Thomas Voeckler timed his move to perfection to clinch a maiden Tour de France win after an early breakaway surprised the sprinters’ teams on Wednesday.
Bouygues Telecom rider Voeckler attacked a group of breakaway riders with less than five kilometres to go in the 196.5-km fifth stage from Cap d’Agde to Perpignan and crossed the line seven seconds ahead of Russian Mikhail Ignatiev.
“I waited for so long for this to happen I had almost ceased to believe in my chances to win a Tour stage,†Voeckler told reporters.
Briton Mark Cavendish …Â Details
Lance Armstrong lashed out at former Tour de France boss Patrice Clerc on Tuesday, saying he should take responsibility for the doping scandals at the race during the American’s three-year absence.
Armstrong was responding to comments made by Clerc, the former head of Tour organizer ASO, who told French newspaper Le Monde last week that the seven-time champion’s return meant “reopening a troubled chapter of the Tour history.â€
“Was the Tour and was ASO in a perfect situation when I was gone?†Armstrong said when asked about Clerc’s statement. “When you look at any company or any organization, and you have dissension among the ranks, corruption among the ranks, you have too look at the boss. He was the boss. Under his reign, and under his leadership, cycling was not perfect.â€Â … Details