Ullrich and Basso kicked out of Tour de France!

[spyboy1]

"The Tour de France was stripped of three of its biggest names on Friday after Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo were named in a doping investigation in Spain.

Jan Ullrich had his medical exam on Thursday but won't ride in the 2006 Tour de France.

The decision to prevent those cyclists and others from racing threw the sport's premier race into upheaval the day before it begins.

Basso finished second in last year's Tour behind American Lance Armstrong, now retired. Ullrich was third and Mancebo fourth."

http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/tdf2006/news/story?id=2505072

This is out of control. It seems like all you have to do is make a list of names and those guys are kicked out purely based on suspicion and heresay. Where's the due process? Bring them all in for a drug test to see if they do in fact fail it.

I was really looking forward to this year's tour with a more wide open field, but this has really stripped the event of the top names remaining after Armstong's retirement.

I'm also quite surprized that no one else from Basso's team CSC was implicated or that no one from Discovery was named, just because the French press has been after Armstrong so much, you'd almost expect that they'd still go after his old squad if they couldn't get him.

I look forward to seeing what real evidence they have against these riders in the long term, but in the short term, it just seems very quick and unfair to kick out riders so close to the start of the event with no real evidence on the table to support any of it.

Quite the opposite of how Barry Bonds has been handled in the USA. There's a mountian of heresay, reports, admissions and evidence, but he continues to play.

[Herk]

it's unfortunate. I was looking forward to seeing if Ivan Basso would become the first cyclist since 1998 to win both the tour de france and the giro d'italia.

[fonz]

Ya, this is a blow to the sport. Although it will be nice to see someone new win this year!

[NJTank]

Wow and they still think Lance is dirty yet he passed every test amazing.

[HedleyLamarr]

Ya, this is a blow to the sport. Although it will be nice to see someone new win this year!

I don't know....

They might need Lance, you, and me to fill out their field....

[Jigga]

Wow and they still think Lance is dirty yet he passed every test amazing.

Hellooooo! Barry Bonds has passed every test and there are just as many people that have accused Lance of doping that have "first-hand knowledge" as that have accused Barry Bonds.

Why the vast difference in treatment? Just because you like Lance and detest Barry?

As for the actual race, it was already wide open, but with Lance's retirement and these riders being kicked out, none of the top 5 finishers from 2005 will ride in 2006. Wow.

Finally, I don't know where it said that any of these riders failed a drug test. Get your head out of the sand, you can be doping without it showing up on a blood or urine test. You can't test positive for things the test isn't supposed to even detect in the first place! Remember THG, the cream, and the clear? They weren't detectable either. The scientists who devote their lives to cheating are always ahead of the scientists that devote their lives to exposing them.

[ROCHitman]

So who's the favorite now?

Hincapie? Hushovd? Rasmussen?

[NJTank]

Wow and they still think Lance is dirty yet he passed every test amazing.

Hellooooo! Barry Bonds has passed every test and there are just as many people that have accused Lance of doping that have "first-hand knowledge" as that have accused Barry Bonds.

Why the vast difference in treatment? Just because you like Lance and detest Barry?

As for the actual race, it was already wide open, but with Lance's retirement and these riders being kicked out, none of the top 5 finishers from 2005 will ride in 2006. Wow.

Finally, I don't know where it said that any of these riders failed a drug test. Get your head out of the sand, you can be doping without it showing up on a blood or urine test. You can't test positive for things the test isn't supposed to even detect in the first place! Remember THG, the cream, and the clear? They weren't detectable either. The scientists who devote their lives to cheating are always ahead of the scientists that devote their lives to exposing them.

Bonds Trainer Bonds and Balco and they didnt test until 2003.