Spain doping scandal has wheels spinning
STRASBOURG, France -- The Tour de France was supposed to be intriguingly wide-open this year, freed of the competitive hammerlock imposed by seven-time champion Lance Armstrong.
Instead, the world's most famous bicycle race appeared to be on the verge of blowing apart as organizers were faced with the ugly possibility that a Spanish doping inquiry could keep some of the top athletes in the sport from rolling down the start ramp tomorrow.
Confusion and tension reigned in the Tour caravan even as the 21 teams paraded through a downtown square in the traditional prerace ceremony. Riders could be expelled from the Tour as early as today, although it could take much longer for a confusing array of governmental and sporting organizations with overlapping responsibilities to trade information.
One of the few riders who sounded a positive note yesterday was former time trial world champion David Millar of Great Britain, freshly returned from a two-year suspension after admitting to using the banned blood booster EPO.
Millar said he is reformed and ready to prove he can race clean and do well at cycling's top level. He said he welcomes aggressive prosecution efforts such as the ongoing Spanish probe.
``What's happening in Spain is fantastic," said Millar, a three-time Tour stage winner who rides for the Saunier Duval team. ``Organized, schematic doping is slowly going to be eradicated. People are always going to cheat, but it's about getting rid of these beliefs that you can only succeed by cheating. I don't believe that."
Spanish authorities have not publicly released documents related to the investigation, which broke with five arrests -- none of Tour riders -- last month. However, the Spanish newspaper El Pais has published several detailed stories in the last week based on files it obtained.
The newspaper claimed the documents implicate 58 riders, 15 of whom competed for one team -- the former Liberty Seguros, now known as Astana-Wurth. The riders allegedly were clients of a Madrid clinic where they received performance-enhancing drugs and had blood stored for future transfusions aimed at boosting oxygen-processing capability.
Various riders were named on Spanish websites in an informational free-for-all yesterday. El Pais itself at first listed Tour co-favorites Jan Ullrich of Germany and Ivan Basso of Italy, but later deleted Basso's name.
Both Basso and Ullrich have denied the newspaper's allegations.
Two riders currently serving suspensions for doping violations, Olympic time trial gold medalist Tyler Hamilton of Marblehead, Mass., and three-time Tour of Spain winner Roberto Heras, also were named by El Pais.
If the judge overseeing the Spanish case releases the names of active riders implicated in the investigation, a decision on whether to keep them out of the Tour might fall to team directors, who are scheduled to meet this morning. Tour organizers, in consultation with the UCI, cycling's governing body, also could ban a rider.
Yesterday's only solid news came out of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, which ruled that the Astana-Wurth team and its leader, Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan, must be allowed to race. The team appealed to the CAS after Tour officials asked Astana to withdraw from the race. The court ruled there was insufficient evidence to ban the team.
That decision could have a bearing on riders who are kicked out of the race by Tour officials or the UCI. Riders or teams could file emergency appeals to the CAS.
A pall hung over the Tour's start headquarters here, where riders reported for medical checks and press conferences yesterday. Millar's appearance was singular for its optimism. He answered pointed questions for a half-hour, continuing the mea culpa that began after French police found evidence of his EPO use when they raided his home in June 2004.
``All I can say is I have to prove myself again over the next five or six years," Millar said. ``There are always going to be those doubts about me.
``I cheated. I lied. I'm the one who has to live with that. I have a lot of regrets. My responsibility and the responsibility of cycling is to take this by the scruff of the neck . . . It's one of the most beautiful sports in the world. It's up to us, the riders, to get it the respect that it deserves."
Millar began training again last fall after staying off the bike for a year. He said he was ``a little bit apprehensive" about his potential reception by fellow riders.
The scandal threatened to be cycling's worst since the 1998 Festina case, when an entire team was kicked out of the race for doping. Other riders quit in protest, a stage was canceled, and the race was nearly halted in midcourse.
Veteran American rider Bobby Julich, who finished third in that race, said he thought the Festina scandal's outcome ultimately was positive and predicted this one could pave the way for cleaner racing in the next generation.
Julich, who rides for Basso's Team CSC, also said he is proud to call Millar a friend and will welcome him back into the fold.
``You can't help but respect a guy who took it on the chin, admitted his fault, moved on, obviously had some difficult soul-searching moments, but is back here in the sport he obviously loves," Julich said.
