I am not even close to properly fitting under the name “RandomGirl” but here goes.
I went to look at the blog post about what a Thursday entry is supposed to be, but I was disappointed: “Random Post.”
Fine.
I am really very disappointed in the Tour de France this year. Things over there seem to really be out of control. One wonders what the
But I don’t think anyone was expecting anything like this.
Keep in mind that I am not following the race this year, so anything I relate here has just been picked up second or third hand. Apparently there was a day of the race where the start time was pushed back due to the number of riders who didn’t show up for the stage. A large group of competitors had arranged a sort of “late out” to protest all the doping allegations. So far, two entire teams have quit the tour after their marquee riders were stung by drug tests. One rider, for yet another team, rode his bike across the finish line of a stage only to be met and escorted away by police. And then, as sort of a cherry on top – if we’re at the top, but I suspect we aren’t – just recently a team fired their star rider while he was in the lead, wearing the yellow jersey because he didn’t keep up his training paperwork; which opens him and his team to doping allegations.
Not all the excitement is in the race. German television dropped their coverage right in the middle of a stage when they found out that one of their national riders was under suspicion of doping. It was largely symbolic though as another network picked up the feed fairly seamlessly.
What does this say about the tour?
What does this say about professional cycling?
What does this say about Lance Armstrong, Andy Hampsten, and Greg LeMond?
Hopefully nothing, but I doubt it. Last year, when Floyd Landis had that MONSTER stage; the one just after the one where he ate it and fell off the lead, and then he comes back the next day and wins, alone, by like seven minutes I was really truly amazed at the capability of the human athlete. After the fact, when allegedly he tested positive it made more sense, and I remembered how much that stage reminded me of Ben Johnson running the 100 meters in the Olympics and just crushing everyone. It’s too bad when really stellar moments like that are snatched away after the fact by drug testing. I am sure it makes us all that much more cynical as observers.
So is the tour this year rotten? Yes. It is because it is rotten that I’m not watching? No, that’s because I don’t feel a connection to any of the riders. Will it keep me from ever watching again? No. If it’s still around and another American prospect distinguishes himself I’ll probably be right there again. But aside from all of that, I mean geez, guys, clean it up already.
I wonder what my .sig will look like…
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http://mydaddidntliketheurl.blogspot.com
1 comment:
hmm. .sig too many characters. Bummer.
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