what fucking bullshit

The much-anticipated bombshell from this year’s Tour de France has exploded: double stage winner Alexandre Vinokourov, once the favorite to win before a spectacular crash in the foothills of the Alps, tested positive for homologous blood doping in his incredible time trial win on Saturday, July 21.

All I can say is: he’s a fucking jerk, and I’m glad that he and his Astana team are out of the race. And while I feel sorry for some of the other riders on said team (particularly Klöden), it serves ’em right to get out of town before the door hits their needle-marked behinds.

One of the best reactions from a fellow cyclist comes from David Millar, a Brit racing for Saunier Duval-Prodir, who himself doped a few years back but fessed up to it, and is now a major advocate for drug-free racing:

“Jesus Christ – there you go, that’s my quote,” he blurted out. “What timing, huh? This is just fucking great. It makes me very sad because Vino is one of my favorite riders. He’s one of the most elegant riders in the peloton… If a guy of his stature and class is doing that in what’s cycling living right now, we can just all pack our bags and go home.”

I hope that the rest of the Tour is run clean. There is already controversy surrounding the current leader, Michael Rasmussen, and his failure to report for four spot-check anti-doping tests leading up to the tour (such truancy usually leads to a guilty charge for doping by the UCI). And all the other riders who perform well seem to be riding with bullseyes on their backsides.

This shit has got to end – now.