The Tour de France is nearly upon us again and I am being bitten by cycling fever. Le Tour is a truly seductive event, it takes in some of the finest scenery in the world and the sheer brutality of the event is compelling and as a soap opera it is unbeatable. I want to believe in the Tour de France, I love the event, I remember watching LeMond beat Fignon by 8 seconds in a time trial around Paris. Then the drugs came and they have not gone away. Pantani, Delgado, Ulrich, Mayo and Vino great names in the Tour all drug cheats. Every year we have a new winner an every year since the Festina affair in 98' has become a drug cheat issue. Even the years of Armstrong are clouded by drugs and claims of endemic EPO abuse led by Armstrong himself.
So we come to the Tour de France 2011 before even one peddle has been turned in anger we are in a drugs controversy, the current champion Contador is claiming a false drug test caused by clenbuterol in tainted meat.. Yet I am feeling hope, the reason is the potential shown by Bradley Wiggins, an Olympian and champion cyclist he could win and he brings none of the baggage associated with previous yellow jersey wearers. I hope he wins and restore my faith, in reality he will fail and be beaten by a cyclist with a questionable association with drugs.
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