A New Season of Racing

Sunday came with a breeze of anticipation, revealing speed, controversy, teams in search of sponsorship, with newfish and vets looking to test themselves in a new season of competition. Of course, I'm speaking of the Amgen Tour of California. I don't know, someone else said there was some other race on Sunday, but apparently their marketing plan must of fell below the radar.
For The Carbon Post anyway, the TOC, marks the beginning of a new season and it couldn't have come too soon. With the lose ends of the Puerto Investigation and the Landis-Tour controversy not being resolved before the end of the off season, the cycling world is ready for some highlights.
But in fairness to all, we will reluctantly start with updates on those two lingering subjects. First is Puerto, which really ended up doing little more than smear athletes’ names and create a massive dark cloud over the sport. What we needed was closure. Sure we know that there are some who will cheat and they should be held accountable, but the manner in which this investigation was held is truly criminal. And after almost all the tarnished riders have found their way back to the peleton (keep your chin up Ulle, you'll make it), the National Institute of Toxicology in Madrid, which analyzed the blood, found the "existing amounts (of EPO) in the bags would not be sufficient to cause detrimental effects and the doses used in patients who need it therapeutically are much greater." So it would seem that there won't even be evidence to convict the charged of the general accusation of "Crimes against public health."
Secondly, the Floyd vs. Pereiro vs. the Tour de France. Understanding how serious it is for the athletes to be able to have a legitimate and legally binding way to protect their rights, reputations, and livelihood against the circumstances of a false positive, I must say that I find the title 'Floyd Fairness Fund' just laughable. Are we really that childish? Well, looking at the name calling and bickering between Landis and McQuaid, I guess I am expecting too much. At least the arbitrators have been finally named for his hearing against the US Anti-Doping Agency. If July roles around this year still with no decision, you might as well close the show. What satisfaction is there in taking a victory from fools who can't be held to a responsible level of accountability? Meanwhile, poor little Pereiro, is being the patient and good sport about this whole issue by taking the high road and staying out of things. February 18th, hundreds of protestors came out into the streets of Vigo, Galicia in Spain to pressure the UCI to name Oscar Pereiro the winner of the 2006 Tour de France. Everyone showed up wearing a yellow jersey to surround Oscar and show support. Again, being the consummate good sportsman that he is, respecting the scoreboard, Pereiro did not wear yellow. After leading the mob on bicycles through the streets of town, they will be launching a massive petition to the UCI governing body. Now there is a man who could teach us all about how to lose gracefully.
And finally we are brought back to the start of this year at the start of the TOC. What a race this has become in only its second year. The level of competition is superb and the involvement of the sponsors has been great. Amgen, a producer of the banned substance EPO, remained the sponsor for the second year, though I wonder who they are marketing to, the athletes or the fans. Oh, but the organizers can say they did run a perfectly clean race last year, with no positive test for any banned substances. But then again, there is one little thing that ought to be pointed out, you see, coincidentally they never did include a screen for EPO in the athletes drug test. Excuse me while I have flashbacks of Thank You For Smoking. We certainly wouldn't want any bad press for the race or the sponsor in the inaugural race that was touted to become the new "Tour de France" for the cycling world.
Well, this year things should be better. We can put all that behind us and look forward to a clean slate with teams leading the fight for clean sport, like CSC and Slipstream. Congrat's to Discovery's Leipheimer for taking the prologue. Equal props to the young upstart, Neo-Pro Jason Donald of Slipstream, for his finish of second place on the tough course by one second. Now we sit back and watch eagerly to see history be made this year. Enjoy!

T.C.S. = Tinkoff Credit Systems?

Or does it mean, "Takes Controlled Substances"
Oleg Tinkoff, the Siberian beer tycoon, recently sold his breweries to get into the credit business. What better way to begin to advertise this new venture but with a Russian/Italian cycling team. If only there were a host of capable riders out there looking to be signed to a squad. What is that you say? All this fuss about Operation Puerto? Nonsense, these guys told me they had no idea what was on the other end of the IV line when they tripped and accidentally fell onto the needle, pricking them right in the left arm (allegedly).
How convenient is it to build a roster with the likes of Tyler Hamilton, Francisco Mancebo, and soon to be announced no doubt, Jan Ullrich. Not since, well, the 2006 U.S. mid-term elections, have we seen a line up with such a dark cloud of questions and poor judgment. Can you imagine the team returning to the old Soviet training camps, far up in Siberia? There was never in the history of sport a program more dedicated to clean/drug free sport! I challenge anyone to show me a place that cared more about fair and honest competition. Oh, and Spiuk may need to ramp up their production of XXL helmets, because for some reason these riders have begun to get unusually large heads. Oh, well. Hamilton did his time and the others were not confirmed, right? So join us in welcoming Tinkoff Credit Systems to the peloton! They join a proud tradition of teams to compete. Although, bicycling.com did note, "the last team to be sponsored by a company whose official name included 'systems' was Phonak."
Oh, I almost forgot, there should still be room on the roster for our boy Floyd too, if he wants to ride.

If You're Not Cheating, You're Not Trying...

...and you're only cheating if you get caught.
Cycling in the US is no where near registering on the sports radar of the average American. Sure they know the Tour, Lance, and now Floyd(thanks again for showing us all the virtues of a Mennonite upbringing). Beyond that it is really hit or miss, and mostly the kind of idiotic miss depicted by the French marching into Russia. The greatest shadow hanging over the sport is the cloud of suspicion from doping scandals continuing to surface.
My question is to ask, is it really that bad? Understand that all sports have doping scandals. Look at the superstars of baseball reduced to laughing stock as they squirmed their way through congressional hearings parroting meaningless words. Performance enhancing drugs were a major concern in the NFL during the 80's and into the 90's. Track and field athletes are frequently failing drug tests as well. It happens in all sports, whether a result of pressure from peers, sponsors, management, or self-imposed.
It just so happens that in the US, Football, Baseball, Basketball, and (for a small hardy bunch along the northern border) Hockey are so close to their hearts that these occurrences are often overlooked. Sure people stand at the office water cooler and complain about the devalued records being set in a tainted era, only to then go back to their desk and buy tickets to next weekends big game and support the sport.
So the truth is athletes will always be one step ahead of the countermeasures and always looking for that edge, the issue is about image control. It should be accepted that Cycling will never be a major sport in the US and not try to force it. Let it be a European sport with niche markets in the US. To do more is to force another MLS on this poor nation, who is still reeling with the embarrassment of the WNBA. Instead focus on the positives of the pro cycling teams creating self-imposed ethical guides, riders being lead by great individuals like Jens Voigt, along with the UCI to create some of the strongest regulations and penalties for testing and failure. Maybe the reason cycling appears dirtier than other sports is because they are investing in the effort to compete in a clean environment by enacting policies with teeth. Imagine the MLB Player's Union fighting for a year's suspension for Barry, instead of arguing to allow him and their other members the right to destroy their bodies with roids. Wouldn't that just be silly. Even still, I hope David Millar enjoyed his farewell tour this year, because I hear the Tour d' Cell Block D doesn't draw quite the same audience.