Browse Topics
Tools
Editor's choice

Mysterious City of Gods comes to City of Light

Some 450 pre-Columbian pieces in Quai Branly museum.

France country factbook

Includes geography, people, government, economy and transnational issues.

Scandals from the 'The Wild West of Politics'

Basil Howitt on criminal investigations in the coastal resorts.

Renting in Paris

Useful information on renting accommodation in Paris.

Moving your marriage abroad

Relocating can have a big impact on your relationship.

Internaxx Stock Market
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2119.3 0.50
DAX 5252.45 1.50
IBEX 30 10726.8 0.59
CAC 40 3377.59 1.40
FTSE 100 4564.5 0.79
AEX 276.85 0.95
DJIA 9096.72 -0.13
Nasdaq 1975.51 0.39
FTSE MIB 20341.67 1.65
TSX Composite 10570.54 -1.74
ASX 4148.9 -0.60
Hang seng 20135.5 -2.37
Straits Times 0.00
ISEQ 20 442.48 0.27
You are here: Home Health & Fitness Fitness & Sports Editor's Diary - Doping scandals rule the Tour this...

25/07/2007Editor's Diary - Doping scandals rule the Tour this year again

Blood doping scandal overshadows the Tour de France 2007.

25 July 2007

 

It’s synonymous with summer: the low buzz of the television screen, beautiful mountain scenery and a bunch of blokes in lycra pedalling their hearts out. A staple of the national sporting calendar it may be but sometimes even the commentators are at a loss for something original to say about the infamous Tour de France. 

I went along to the Champs Elysée a couple of years ago to watch the winning riders come in. Above the sea of heads in front of me, I caught a glimpse of a few bobbing cycle helmets. As far as spectator sport goes, I realised I was better off in my armchair.

This year, it appears, everyone who comes to the Champs believes the cyclists they are there to see are flying high on illegal substances. According to a poll published in the newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, 78 percent of French respondents don’t believe in the honesty of a winner of a Tour daily stage or any other bicycle race. In other words, the majority of fans believe any winning rider is doped up to his eyeballs in performance-enhancing drugs.

The results of the poll should come as no surprise. This year, like last, doping scandals haunt the Tour. The Tour leader Michael Rasmussen has come in for criticism for failing to make the anti-doping authorities aware of his whereabouts for out-of-competition testing. Two German TV channels pulled their coverage of the Tour after Patrick Sinkewitz’s positive drug test. On Monday French custom’s officers raided vehicles belonging to four of the teams … and it goes on.
So what’s new?

Long before Floyd Landis’s odd testosterone imbalance, long-distance cycling has been soaked in drugs. In fact, the history of modern doping begins prior to the establishment of the Tour in 1903 and dates back to the cycling craze of the 1890s and its six-day races. From extra caffeine and peppermint in black coffee, to red wine, brandy, cocaine, strychnine and nitroglycerine capsules, stimulants have always played their part in this extreme sport.

0 reactions to this article

Inside Expatica
Do the recent healthcare changes affect you?

Do the recent healthcare changes affect you?

Our expert Steven Grover delves into the murky waters of French healthcare for expats and asks how recent changes affect them?

Assurance Vie - An expatriate’s guide

Assurance Vie - An expatriate’s guide

Tax and estate planning figure prominently in the list of priorities of many financially secure expatriate residents of France.

Clubs, groups and associations in France

Clubs, groups and associations in France

From Gaelic clubs to Canadian Alumni organisations, there is bound to be an English-speaking club for you in France.

Should I buy or rent in France?

Should I buy or rent in France?

This is what you need to consider when making an early choice between purchasing or renting accommodation in France.