Ok, lets get one thing straight, Erik Zabel was never suspended for doping. He confessed to doping this year for doping in 1996, along with tour winner Bjarne Riis and the rest of the Team Telekom. In Fact he participated in this year's tour.

First of all, the pelaton is no longer the simple "Mafia" you refer to. But it used to. from the 50's well into the 80's. Powerful riders such as 5 time winners Eddy Merckx, Jaques Anqutiel, could conrol the pelation, and any doping testing, in fact, If they were threatened with testing, they would strike, or refuse to participate. Teams were inexpensive, and cheap to run, so sponsorships would change quickly. Teams would do anything, to keep quiet about doping.

But that changed greatly. first of all Cycling has become an expensive sport (From 2 to 20 million a year) and they are lesser compaines interested in the sport and supporting teams with doping. No company wished to have this stigma, (Like the Festina Affair) So When Companies pull out, they don't come back.

In 2005, Liberty Seugros (Liberty Mutual) found themselves in the "Puerto Affair", They yanked their sponsorship immedately, never to return. Even Teams like Discovery Channel, pulling out of sponsorship this year, who just had a tour winner and run by Lance Armstrong, has not find a sponsor for next year.

Teams must have sponsors or they will be no cycling. So Teams like CSC, Team Telekom, have installed their own, anti-doping programs. In order to protect the team, not the rider. in fact both teams, in 2007 have fired riders, for violating the teams anti-doping rules.

Young riders are being more vocal about not doping,

The very fact that riders like Vinokorov, and Cofidis, riders Christain Moreni, were caught during the tour, says a lot.


Rasmussen, knew the rules of his team, and he lied, and they fired him. Plain and simple.

Cycling isn't perfect but it has come a long way, at least they are trying to change the culture,

I can't say the same thing about Baseball, Home run record about to be broken by a known steroid offender. And we applaud.

To bunderwood2000:

You make some salient points about what has changed in the TDF recently, but perhaps--and this is good ol' American cynicism coming through, to be sure--the very points you have made only serve greater indictments down the road. To wit:

1) You claim that cycling is now a much more expensive sport than it used to be. This may well be true, but it is precisely because of the greatly added expense that sponsors and teams will resort to greater methods of deception and keeping potential renegades in line. After all, if you, as a sponsor, are investing $10 million, you may wish to see your team at least show, eh? What exists now may not be your grandfather's peloton, but it ain't gone, either. It may have simply moved into a much more cozy corporate office...

2) Does it really say a lot that some marquee riders were busted recently? Are you sure? Are you positive that they hadn't just gotten so careless or brazen in their doping that the powers that be didn't sacrifice a few high profile lambs to avoid a mass slaughter? Your assertion rests upon a notion that no other high profile riders will emerge to take their places, and that is nonsense. For such an expensive sport, there must be high profile riders, period, even with such undying Francophone frenzy at the base.

3) As for Barry Bonds, perhaps you have let your fierce defense of cycling--merited or not, it is irrelevant--get in the way of one basic fact: unlike the high profile cyclists mentioned above, Bonds has NEVER tested positive for banned subtances. Do we think he juiced? It sure seems that way, but we have no proof as of yet. Unless you have a sample, or a creditable testimony from a supplier, or something else significant, we can't just assume he's guilty and punish him. For the riders mentioned above, such assumptions weren't necessary.