Tour De France

[r8rh8rmike]

Absolutely unbelievable! Who would have thought there could be so much intrigue and human drama without the likes of Armstrong, Ullrich or Basso?

There's a new legend being born and his name is Floyd Landis. After painfully watching this guy crack and crumble in the Alps yesterday, lose the Yellow Jersey and then left for dead, he puts forth a Herculean effort on the last day in the mountains and produces one of the greatest single day rides and makes one of the greatest comebacks in Tour history.

The time trial on Saturday will be absolutely electric.

[r8rh8rmike]

Mission accomplished, legendary status secured. Congratulations to American Floyd Landis on winning the most grueling sporting event on earth. Did I mention that he did it on a completely deteriorated hip that will be replaced in a few weeks?

[RamsFan4ever]

Bad news r8rh8rmike....

I was looking at AOL Sports and found this

Steroid Speculation Swirls Around Landis

http://sports.aol.com/tourdefrance/s...00010000000001

[r8rh8rmike]

Yea, I've seen the story. It makes no sense to me that anyone would get involved in doping during a race with the enormous amount of scrutiny focused on every competitor, especially this year after the huge scandal that affected 56 riders just days before the Tour De France started. Anything is possible, but I'm just not buying this. Lance Armstrong has been dogged and hounded with accusations of doping ever since he won his first Tour back in 1999, and those accusations continue today, even though he's retired and hasn't raced for a year.

It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

[general counsel]

Mike, i hear you loud and clear and i am fully supportive of innocent until proven guilty. However, in the context of the positive test, it becomes even harder to believe in the unbelievable recovery landis made in stage 17 the day after he completely ran out of gas and seemed to fall out of contention. All of a sudden he comes back with an incredible performance, and that happens to also be the day he tests positive. It doesnt smell right mike, but i hope you are correct and it turns out to be a bad result on the first test.

ramming speed to all

general counsel

[r8rh8rmike]

GC, I'll admit that the positive test coming after stage 17 raises legitimate questions, but again, it just makes zero sense. Landis would have to be an idiot to deliberately put testosterone in his body on a day he told everyone that he was going to attempt a bold, early breakaway.

I'm no expert on these tests, but they regularly give misleading results. Adding to the confusion is the fact that Landis has been taking thyroid medication as well as cortisone for his hip, both of which could have very well had an impact.

Hopefully the truth can be determined, but I have my doubts because even so-called "experts" often differ in their opinions on doping test results and what other issues can affect them. If this is determined to be true, I'll certainly be heartbroken because I have come to love watching the Tour the last several years and reveled in what Landis did.