I was so busy playing Bob the Builder in July that I didn’t have time to write about my favorite July activity: watching Le Tour de France. I have been following it for quite some time (usually by internet or my mother-in-law’s video taping service), but now that we are at mom’s, I get to watch it on Verses (formerly the Outdoor Life Network). I normally would be home from workinig on the house by 5 each night and was able to catch the prime time replay of that day’s stage.
One thing I noticed this year is how much closer the top 5 or 6 riders stayed in the overall classification as the race progressed. The top 5 spots were not decided until the next to last day. Normally, there is a 2 or 3 minute separation between the top riders by that point in the race. Secondly, I noticed that there were some riders that previously had been lower in the standings doing quite well. The most obvious is Christian Vande Velde of, (ahem), my favorite team…Garmin-Chipotle. Third, there were a few riders who were pre race favorites (due to past Tour success) that were no where near the top. Damian Cunego and Alejandro Valverde are the riders I am referring to.
All of these things, in my mind, point to the fact that we probably had the cleanest (although not 100%, I am sure) Tour in over a decade. I think that guys who previously were doping (Cunego & Valverde) are finally off the juice and it has allowed formerly second tier riders (Vande Velde & Carlos Sastre) who have been clean all along, to rise to the top where they belong.
Some may say that guys like Christian and Carlos are now doping, and I would have agreed in years past. However, the fact that the teams they are on have such a rigorous blood control system in place puts my mind at ease. I think it is neat that these teams are creating a “blood portfolio” of each of their riders and are being so open about it. Unfortunately, this is the only solution to the doping epidemic in sports since the Ricardo Ricco affair shows that the drug tests don’t work all the time (they only work 20% of the time, in fact). That and sponsors pulling their funds if riders on their teams test positive, as with Saunier Duval.
All in all, I found it a very refreshing race and feel like cycling has turned the corner on its doping past and is on the upswing.