Drugs sound death knell of Tour de France (Daily Telegraph - July 27, 2007)
An obituary for the Tour de France was published yesterday as one of the great symbols of Gallic prestige faced intense scrutiny over a series of doping scandals.
The latest scandal saw Michael Rasmussen, who had worn the yellow jersey as Tour leader, thrown out of the competition by his own Rabobank team mates over missing four drug tests.
The newspaper France Soir published a mock death notice on its front page announcing that Le Tour, first run in 1903, died on Thursday "at age 104, after a long illness".
An editorial in the newspaper Liberationsaid: "The Tour must be stopped", adding: "This procession of cyclists has been transformed into a caravan of ridicule. If the organisers really want to save cycling, they should stop the competition and declare a pause for a few years, enough time to treat these athletes-turned-druggies."
Deceit over drugs appears endemic among participants in the race. Jean-Francois Lamour, the vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has already suggested that, based on the Tour's abysmal publicity, the sport should be withdrawn from the Olympics.
German public broadcasters have stopped airing the race, and one of Switzerland's biggest newspapers has even stopped writing about the sport in any length.
Robert with respect, your post appears disingenuous. There is a major crisis in Le Tour and having been at a reception at the French Embassy last night, the majority French opinion was definitely that the view in
Liberation was correct and that the Tour should be pulled for some years until the sport is cleaned up.
This may happen anyway as I can't believe that sponsors such as Rabobank, who are rumoured to have sponsored Rasmussen's team with $15 million, will be keen to carry on with an event that has become so tainted with drug scandals and the concomitant negative publicity.
Aeroman
