Tour de Fiasco! Latest Dope Scandal Lends More Credence To LANCE ARMSTRONG Cheating Charges!

WITH the credibility of the TDF in grave trouble due to doping,
Armstong doubters now have heavy ammunition to support their charge
that those seven "championships" were tainted by Lance's use of
illegal substances. In fact, one must conclude that any racer's
equpment, in addition to bicycles and uniforms, also includes
performance enhancement drugs.

THEY'RE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TOUR'S TRADITION!

Additionally, Armstrong's "MIRACLE" recovery from mass cancer will now
be questioned even more than before.

TO DATE, absolutely ZERO doctors or cancer patients have come forward
to offer conclusive evidence that they, too, recovered from the death-
sentence-level-cancer-spread that Lance claims he did.

Just another instance of a fake hero's popped balloon.

------------------------------------------

"Leader Rasmussen Removed From Race"

Associated Press
Wednesday, July 25, 2007; 5:47 PM



GOURETTE, France -- One of its biggest stars is already gone, and now
so is the leader of the Tour de France.

Michael Rasmussen was removed from the race by his Rabobank team after
winning Wednesday's stage, a day after Alexandre Vinokourov and his
team withdrew when the star cyclist tested positive for a banned blood
transfusion.

"Michael Rasmussen has been sent home for violating (the team's)
internal rules," Rabobank spokesman Jacob Bergsma told The Associated
Press by phone.

The expulsion, which Bergsma said was ordered by the Dutch team's
sponsor, was linked to "incorrect" information that Rasmussen gave to
the team's sports director over his whereabouts last month. The Danish
cyclist missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28, saying he was in
Mexico. But a former rider, Davide Cassani, told Denmark's Danmarks
Radio on Wednesday that he had seen Rasmussen in Italy in mid-June.

Only once before in the history of the 104-year-old Tour has the race
leader been expelled. In 1978, Belgian rider Michel Pollentier, trying
to evade doping controls after winning a stage at the Alpe d'Huez in
the Alps, was caught with an intricate tube-and-container system that
contained urine that was not his, said Tour historian Jean-Paul
Brouchon.

Rasmussen, who has led since July 15 and looked set to win the race
which ends on Sunday in Paris, could not be reached for comment late
Wednesday.

But just hours before he was kicked out of the Tour, the 33-year-old
told the AP he was being victimized.

"Of course I'm clean," Rasmussen said, after a doping test following
Wednesday's stage win. "Like I said, I've been tested 17 times now in
less than two weeks. Both the peloton and the public, they're just
taking their frustration out on me now. I mean, all I can say is that
by now I had my test number 17 on this Tour, and all of those have
come back negative. I don't feel I can do anymore than that."

Although Rasmussen has not tested positive, some fellow cyclists had
openly voiced their skepticism about him.

Fans booed Rasmussen at the start of Wednesday's stage, and mostly
French teams staged a protest to express disgust at the doping
scandals that have left cycling's credibility in tatters. As the
starter's flag came down, dozens of protesting riders stood still as
Rasmussen, ace sprinter Tom Boonen and several others began riding
away.

Some riders were forced to lift up their bicycles to get around their
protesting colleagues, who eventually rejoined the race after causing
a 13-minute delay. But the message was sent.

"We're fed up," AG2R rider Ludovic Turpin of France told Eurosport
television.

Tour organizers said Tuesday they would have stopped Rasmussen from
taking part in the race had they known about the missed tests before
the July 7 start.

"We cannot say that Rasmussen cheated, but his flippancy and his lies
on his whereabouts had become unbearable," Tour director Christian
Prudhomme said.

The leader of cycling's governing body applauded the decision.

"My immediate reaction is, why didn't they do this at the end of June,
when they had the same information?" International Cycling Union
president Pat McQuaid said. "The team decided to pull him out --
that's their prerogative. I can only applaud that. It's a zero-
tolerance policy, and it's a lesson for the future."

With Rasmussen out, Spanish rider Alberto Contador of the Discovery
Channel team moved into the lead. Australian Cadel Evans, who rides
for Predictor-Lotto, moved up to second, with U.S. rider Levi
Leipheimer, also with Discovery, now third.

"It's in no way a celebration on our end. It's the third piece of bad
news," Discovery Channel spokesman P.J. Rabice said. "It reflects
badly on our sport."

Bergsma said the Rabobank team, which has suspended Rasmussen, had not
decided yet whether its other riders would take the start Thursday in
Pau. Its next best rider was Michael Boogerd of the Netherlands, 16th
and about 28 minutes behind Contador.

After the Tour's upbeat start in London, when millions of spectators
lined streets to watch, bad news -- nearly all of it related to doping
-- quickly dominated.

German rider Patrick Sinkewitz crashed into a spectator then was
revealed to have failed a drug test in training before the Tour, and
Vinokourov was sent home after testing positive for a banned blood
transfusion. On Wednesday, as Rasmussen was riding toward his stage 16
win, the Cofidis squad confirmed its Italian rider Cristian Moreni
failed a doping test, prompting the withdrawal of the entire squad.

Police detained Moreni after he finished the stage and searched the
hotel where his Cofidis team was staying. Results from the raid
weren't expected until Thursday. France has tough laws against
trafficking in doping products.

Cofidis manager Eric Boyer said Moreni "accepted his wrongdoing" and
waived his right for a follow-up test to confirm the results of the
first, which was positive for the male hormone testosterone.

All this talk of doping prompted Jean-Francois Lamour, vice president
of the World Anti-Doping Agency, to suggest the sport should be yanked
from the Olympics. German public broadcasters have stopped airing the
race, and one of Switzerland's biggest newspapers stopped writing
about it. The daily Tages Anzeiger said on its Web site Wednesday it
will limit its coverage to results and doping stories.

Tom Lund, chairman of the Danish Cycling Union, said Rabobank "did
they right thing, because it is a situation that no serious team
cannot live with."

"It is an unfortunate situation for Danish cycling, for international
cycling."

-- -- --

Associated Press Writers Jamey Keaten and Jean-Luc Courthial in
Gourette, France, John Leicester in Paris and Jan Olsen in Copenhagen
contributed to this report.

© 2007 The Associated Press

Actually I was thinking t just the opposite. While I am certainly not
convinced of his innocence, the way in which everyone is getting canned
left and right now, and given the FACT that Lance was probably the most
tested athlete on the planet for those 7 years, I just can't believe he
would NOT have been caught if he was doping. MAYBE autologous blood.

at least for wins 2-7

and what's with the odd cross-posting?



Lil Obwon wrote:
WITH the credibility of the TDF in grave trouble due to doping,
Armstong doubters now have heavy ammunition to support their charge
that those seven "championships" were tainted by Lance's use of
illegal substances. In fact, one must conclude that any racer's
equpment, in addition to bicycles and uniforms, also includes
performance enhancement drugs.

THEY'RE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TOUR'S TRADITION!

Additionally, Armstrong's "MIRACLE" recovery from mass cancer will now
be questioned even more than before.

TO DATE, absolutely ZERO doctors or cancer patients have come forward
to offer conclusive evidence that they, too, recovered from the death-
sentence-level-cancer-spread that Lance claims he did.

Just another instance of a fake hero's popped balloon.

------------------------------------------

"Leader Rasmussen Removed From Race"

Associated Press
Wednesday, July 25, 2007; 5:47 PM



GOURETTE, France -- One of its biggest stars is already gone, and now
so is the leader of the Tour de France.

Michael Rasmussen was removed from the race by his Rabobank team after
winning Wednesday's stage, a day after Alexandre Vinokourov and his
team withdrew when the star cyclist tested positive for a banned blood
transfusion.

"Michael Rasmussen has been sent home for violating (the team's)
internal rules," Rabobank spokesman Jacob Bergsma told The Associated
Press by phone.

The expulsion, which Bergsma said was ordered by the Dutch team's
sponsor, was linked to "incorrect" information that Rasmussen gave to
the team's sports director over his whereabouts last month. The Danish
cyclist missed random drug tests May 8 and June 28, saying he was in
Mexico. But a former rider, Davide Cassani, told Denmark's Danmarks
Radio on Wednesday that he had seen Rasmussen in Italy in mid-June.

Only once before in the history of the 104-year-old Tour has the race
leader been expelled. In 1978, Belgian rider Michel Pollentier, trying
to evade doping controls after winning a stage at the Alpe d'Huez in
the Alps, was caught with an intricate tube-and-container system that
contained urine that was not his, said Tour historian Jean-Paul
Brouchon.

Rasmussen, who has led since July 15 and looked set to win the race
which ends on Sunday in Paris, could not be reached for comment late
Wednesday.

But just hours before he was kicked out of the Tour, the 33-year-old
told the AP he was being victimized.

"Of course I'm clean," Rasmussen said, after a doping test following
Wednesday's stage win. "Like I said, I've been tested 17 times now in
less than two weeks. Both the peloton and the public, they're just
taking their frustration out on me now. I mean, all I can say is that
by now I had my test number 17 on this Tour, and all of those have
come back negative. I don't feel I can do anymore than that."

Although Rasmussen has not tested positive, some fellow cyclists had
openly voiced their skepticism about him.

Fans booed Rasmussen at the start of Wednesday's stage, and mostly
French teams staged a protest to express disgust at the doping
scandals that have left cycling's credibility in tatters. As the
starter's flag came down, dozens of protesting riders stood still as
Rasmussen, ace sprinter Tom Boonen and several others began riding
away.

Some riders were forced to lift up their bicycles to get around their
protesting colleagues, who eventually rejoined the race after causing
a 13-minute delay. But the message was sent.

"We're fed up," AG2R rider Ludovic Turpin of France told Eurosport
television.

Tour organizers said Tuesday they would have stopped Rasmussen from
taking part in the race had they known about the missed tests before
the July 7 start.

"We cannot say that Rasmussen cheated, but his flippancy and his lies
on his whereabouts had become unbearable," Tour director Christian
Prudhomme said.

The leader of cycling's governing body applauded the decision.

"My immediate reaction is, why didn't they do this at the end of June,
when they had the same information?" International Cycling Union
president Pat McQuaid said. "The team decided to pull him out --
that's their prerogative. I can only applaud that. It's a zero-
tolerance policy, and it's a lesson for the future."

With Rasmussen out, Spanish rider Alberto Contador of the Discovery
Channel team moved into the lead. Australian Cadel Evans, who rides
for Predictor-Lotto, moved up to second, with U.S. rider Levi
Leipheimer, also with Discovery, now third.

"It's in no way a celebration on our end. It's the third piece of bad
news," Discovery Channel spokesman P.J. Rabice said. "It reflects
badly on our sport."

Bergsma said the Rabobank team, which has suspended Rasmussen, had not
decided yet whether its other riders would take the start Thursday in
Pau. Its next best rider was Michael Boogerd of the Netherlands, 16th
and about 28 minutes behind Contador.

After the Tour's upbeat start in London, when millions of spectators
lined streets to watch, bad news -- nearly all of it related to doping
-- quickly dominated.

German rider Patrick Sinkewitz crashed into a spectator then was
revealed to have failed a drug test in training before the Tour, and
Vinokourov was sent home after testing positive for a banned blood
transfusion. On Wednesday, as Rasmussen was riding toward his stage 16
win, the Cofidis squad confirmed its Italian rider Cristian Moreni
failed a doping test, prompting the withdrawal of the entire squad.

Police detained Moreni after he finished the stage and searched the
hotel where his Cofidis team was staying. Results from the raid
weren't expected until Thursday. France has tough laws against
trafficking in doping products.

Cofidis manager Eric Boyer said Moreni "accepted his wrongdoing" and
waived his right for a follow-up test to confirm the results of the
first, which was positive for the male hormone testosterone.

All this talk of doping prompted Jean-Francois Lamour, vice president
of the World Anti-Doping Agency, to suggest the sport should be yanked
from the Olympics. German public broadcasters have stopped airing the
race, and one of Switzerland's biggest newspapers stopped writing
about it. The daily Tages Anzeiger said on its Web site Wednesday it
will limit its coverage to results and doping stories.

Tom Lund, chairman of the Danish Cycling Union, said Rabobank "did
they right thing, because it is a situation that no serious team
cannot live with."

"It is an unfortunate situation for Danish cycling, for international
cycling."

-- -- --

Associated Press Writers Jamey Keaten and Jean-Luc Courthial in
Gourette, France, John Leicester in Paris and Jan Olsen in Copenhagen
contributed to this report.

© 2007 The Associated Press

On Jul 26, 4:54 pm, Lil Obwon wrote:
WITH the credibility of the TDF in grave trouble due to doping,
Armstong doubters now have heavy ammunition to support their charge
that those seven "championships" were tainted by Lance's use of
illegal substances. In fact, one must conclude that any racer's
equpment, in addition to bicycles and uniforms, also includes
performance enhancement drugs.

THEY'RE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TOUR'S TRADITION!

Additionally, Armstrong's "MIRACLE" recovery from mass cancer will now
be questioned even more than before.

TO DATE, absolutely ZERO doctors or cancer patients have come forward
to offer conclusive evidence that they, too, recovered from the death-
sentence-level-cancer-spread that Lance claims he did.

Just another instance of a fake hero's popped balloon.

------------------------------------------

I guess that John Lester here in Boston who just won his first game
back never had cancer, or our Red Sox 3rd baseman Mike Lowell either.
Bill C

"chester" wrote in message
...
Actually I was thinking t just the opposite. While I am certainly not
convinced of his innocence, the way in which everyone is getting canned
left and right now, and given the FACT that Lance was probably the most
tested athlete on the planet for those 7 years, I just can't believe he
would NOT have been caught if he was doping. MAYBE autologous blood.

at least for wins 2-7

Perhaps this is why there are so many folks getting caught now. In past
years the powers that be spent all their drug testing time and money on Mr.
Armstrong. Without him around they are spreading out a bit, and these guys
that have been flying under the radar are suddenly in the spotlight. And it
doesn't help when you don't know from day to day who is going to be in the
yellow jersey. When leaders are dropping out it really messes up the folks
thinking they could slide by because they weren't on the leaderboard.

Bill C wrote:

I guess that John Lester here in Boston who just won his first game
back never had cancer, or our Red Sox 3rd baseman Mike Lowell either.
Bill C

Did they have both lung AND brain metastases?

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:51:32 -0700, "I.P. Freely"
wrote:

You people have no concept of how tired we get of your goddamned
cross-posted spam. Keep it to yourselves. Cancer forums are for people
trying to survive cancer or at least people helping the terminally ill
face death peacefully. We hope -- we REALLY HOPE -- you will join us
some day . . . on dial-up.

I don't know who cross posted to your little dirtpile which you bestride as a
titan. But dumping bombs like that into a newsgroup is simply wrong.

Go back to what you're doing, which is indeed far more important than bicycle
racing and try not to act more childish than the dumbasses around here.

Ron

In article ,
RonSonic wrote:

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007 05:51:32 -0700, "I.P. Freely"

wrote:

You people have no concept of how tired we get of your goddamned
cross-posted spam. Keep it to yourselves. Cancer forums are for people
trying to survive cancer or at least people helping the terminally ill
face death peacefully. We hope -- we REALLY HOPE -- you will join us
some day . . . on dial-up.

I don't know who cross posted to your little dirtpile which you bestride as a
titan. But dumping bombs like that into a newsgroup is simply wrong.

Go back to what you're doing, which is indeed far more important than bicycle
racing and try not to act more childish than the dumbasses around here.

Or at least learn to snip a miles long post that you're replying to.

--
tanx,
Howard

Never take a tenant with a monkey.

remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?

Think for a second: A new big-time American champion who suddenly
brings scads of big-money American sponsors to the sport. You think
they WANTED to catch him? The UCI's strategy has never been to
eliminate dopers and doping. The strategy has been to reduce the
incidence of positive results. Big difference.

On Jul 26, 3:39 pm, chester wrote:
Actually I was thinking t just the opposite. While I am certainly not
convinced of his innocence, the way in which everyone is getting canned
left and right now, and given the FACT that Lance was probably the most
tested athlete on the planet for those 7 years, I just can't believe he
would NOT have been caught if he was doping. MAYBE autologous blood.

"kaiser" wrote in message
ps.com...
Think for a second: A new big-time American champion who suddenly
brings scads of big-money American sponsors to the sport. You think
they WANTED to catch him? The UCI's strategy has never been to
eliminate dopers and doping. The strategy has been to reduce the
incidence of positive results. Big difference.

I was going to ignore you but you're just about the dumbest dumbass posting
so I'll just remind you that they lowered the detection level of
testosterone from a NATUALLY obtained 6:1 from the general population to 4:1
JUST so that they could say that they were finding positives.

On Jul 26, 7:09 pm, Bill C wrote:
On Jul 26, 4:54 pm, Lil Obwon wrote:





WITH the credibility of the TDF in grave trouble due to doping,
Armstong doubters now have heavy ammunition to support their charge
that those seven "championships" were tainted by Lance's use of
illegal substances. In fact, one must conclude that any racer's
equpment, in addition to bicycles and uniforms, also includes
performance enhancement drugs.

THEY'RE AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE TOUR'S TRADITION!

Additionally, Armstrong's "MIRACLE" recovery from mass cancer will now
be questioned even more than before.

TO DATE, absolutely ZERO doctors or cancer patients have come forward
to offer conclusive evidence that they, too, recovered from the death-
sentence-level-cancer-spread that Lance claims he did.

Just another instance of a fake hero's popped balloon.

------------------------------------------

I guess that John Lester here in Boston who just won his first game
back never had cancer, or our Red Sox 3rd baseman Mike Lowell either.
Bill C- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

--------------- NOT TO THE EXTENT ARMSTRONG CLAIMED HE DID!
-----------------

Get real, Lance lickers!

---------------