Christian Prudhomme, Director of the Tour de France has commented on the USADA vs Lance Armstrong affair. He has said that the jerseys Armstrong is about to lose should not be given to other cyclists. He said that after reading the USADA report, one cannot remain indifferent whether a race organizer or cycling fan. He noted that the picture drawn by USADA is overwhelming and questions a time forever tarnished.
He feels it’s not logical to designate new winners from those dark years where most of the riders on the podium in Paris were involved in doping. The best solution is to not designate a winner for those years. They put an asterisk after Bjarne Riis’ name for the year he won. They want to put the doping years behind and move forward.
He feels cycling has changed dramatically in the past few years in the fight against doping. He thinks the pressure should continue to be applied but progress has been made.
Editorial Comment:
They would have to go so deep into the peloton to find someone who hadn’t doped and even then it might barely be possible. In the year or two following the Floyd Landis debacle, an Italian cyclist who was in next to last place was selected for a random doping test. He tested positive for EPO. So it can’t be said that just taking drugs will enable any cyclist to win the Tour. And it shows how widespread the doping is (or was).
