Dont get me wrong by my last comment, doping pisses me off as much as anyone else. It's not getting any better, with the news of Ricco now as well looks like it's not slowing up. Who do you believe? labs? riders? It seems everyone is corrupt somewhere along the line, and it's a real sad state of affairs. We all want to believe in our heros, but now I cant't help but doubt them all. George Hincapie said in interview today that even the riders have strong doubts in the back of thier minds when they see someone do an awesome ride. Cycling can't go on like that, I want to see real cyclists achieve real results, not doped up idiots who cant be arsed to make an effort so rely on chemicals.

Thank You Miketheserb, you have just made my point for me about the French laboratory. How did they know they were Armstrong,s samples 6 years later when they are only supposed to know the cyclist's samples by number and not by name. Ya dat's right, According to the rules of WADA they are only supposed to disclose the cyclist,s name against the testing number when there is a problem with the test at that time. You don't keep someone's samples for 6 years for further testing. Then you wouldn't know who has been in charge of those samples for that period of time. They can't even follow their own rules. Wow, and you left out the part about how the most tested athelete in the history of the sport has never tested positive. VIVE LE TOUR!

Saint Lance was clean... Please do a bit of research and look into the back-dated TUE for his positive corticoid test in '99. Oh, let's not forget the later testing of '99 urine samples that were positive for EPO (and Beltran, among others, was positive as well). The Lance Myth erodes almost daily...

I don't trust WADA the French Laboratory or the UCI. There is something going on here that does not add up. There is no way that all these guys are doping. Year after year we see the same thing over and over. The testing is not 100% accurate and until it is we will all never know the truth. I believe the first step would be to split up the samples and send them to a second lab to resolve the issue of trust that way if both samples come back positive from two different independent labs then we will all be closer to the truth. Also, the samples need to be guarded by an independent agency while being delivered. Then, there needs to be a better understanding of the hemocratic levels and blood counts that occure naturally. There have been dozens of these guys that have supposedly been caught and never admit to doping. There have been a bunch who swear up and down that they have never doped. They have been offered deals by the UCI to come clean and let them know everything and most of the time they never do. Wow, maybe that's because they never doped and it's hard to admit to something you haven't done. So, you have rider's that just drop out and never return because the system is untrustworthy. Floyd is one of few who have taken the system to the limit to prove his innocence. The contract that WADA and the UCI make you sign to be in the Pro Tour leaves you handcuffed for defending yourself. Guilty until proven innocent. Most riders don't even try. This is all injustice. They should have to prove your guilt without a doubt. They don't write the rules this way because the testing is not accurate enough to prove doping without a doubt. You have to ask yourself why is this only going on in the sport of cycling. I'll tell you why: cycling is paying a ton of money to labs to find cheats. Any abnormality that comes back they are going to cry foul. This is called job justification. I'm wasting my time most of you won't get this. You will believe what they tell you.

How can you say "let them all take drugs"???? are you guys serious? this is a disgrace for the world of sports. I know the physical demand must be inmense but if ppl can do it then they should all train to do it! not take drugs to do it. If you let everyone take drugs, the winner wont be the best rider, the winner will be the guy who got the best drug. So in this case, those who take drugs should be banned since they didnt get the message last year. Let the winner be the strongest and the best.

Why not allow everyone to use drugs?? What sport will be next? If you want to take drugs in a sport, then form your own. The FIA does not only represent professional riders, it is the whole sport, including amateurs.

I now think that the information is so widely known that drugs will not be accepted that anyone convicted of using drugs shuyld be banned from the sport for life. For the sake of all those that simply want to know what they can achieve using their own bodies and minds, lets act responsibly.

I'm not for doping in sports, but for biking I might make an exception. It's just too enticing considering the physical torture test that they have to go through. There seems to be a strong culture of doping in biking, so just make the playing field even and let them all do it.

Only way to get round doping?...Let them all dope, then it will be a fair competition again as they will all be at the same level, just a faster race, then no one has to worry about who's doing it and who is not...all they have to worry about is how to keep their syrup like blood moving while they sleep.

Lance was an amazing athlete from birth...from swimming to tri's to full on bike racing! His cardio & respiratory systems are naturally superior to the average person and average athlete. He was lucky enough (hate to say lucky when talking about cancer) to have his battle with cancer drop his upper body weight and make him a more dangerous climber. Also, watch the way LA would climb vs. Jan (et al)....JU was always pushing a big ring when LA was using his cardio (his advantage) and pushing smaller rings with higher rpm while monitoring his heart rate. Power vs. Efficiency....and efficiency won!

Add in an amazing support cast (team/training/etc) and a goal of only winning the tour...and you have 7 wins!

He probably could have done 8!

Alex.....Pantani was caught with a high blood count.....The doctors and trainers that Pantani used were proved to be using illegal methods to train their athletes...Pantani was a fantastic climber, but his Giro and Tour double was not won by fair means....Read Matt Rendells book about Marco...Yes, the guy never recovered from the shame of the drugs bust, and he was a fragile and sensitive soul as it was..The point I was making about Lance was if the guys he was trouncing were doped, how doped was he???..If his trusty climbing compatriot Roberto Heras was doped, how doped was he????..

When are we going to kick cycling as a media event into touch. There are and never were cyclists in the Professional side of cycling who I would trust not to take drugs not even Armstrong. He was far too good to be only on fresh air. Get it off the box and give us a break from cheats. It's worse than athletics.

johnpaulbaxter, Armstrong only beated pantani after he was kicked out from the giro which completely destroyed him. Pantani was not disqualified for doping but was escluded from the giro because his hematocrit was less than 2% superior to the limit. It´s important to say that the rules were changed in 2002 and that with the new rules he would not have been suspended. So to say that Pantani used doping (never proved) because Armstrong used to drop him on the mountains (Armstrong only dropped Pantani after his suspension) are both false statements. Pantani suspension was only 15 days long so he could have taken part to the tour but he decided not too because the shock of the events that took place in the giro completely destroyed him mentally.
just though it was right to point that out.

The guys that Lance was destroying on the climbs (Ulrich, Basso, Mayo,Pantani etc etc) have all been found guilty...The riders Lance worked with (Heras, Hamilton, Landis, Andreu, Beltran etc etc) have been caught as well...Cancer thrives on abnormality in the hormones.....Dr Ferrari...The list goes on...Check out some old youtube of Lance in action...He is awesome...Too good to be true, sorry....P.S...Im a massive cycling fan, racer and supporter...Vive le tour..

@#$%...........complete and utter @#$%. No respect for cycling and no respect for the tour.........Thanks 4 adding another stain on the 2008 tour

Is it time the other 8 riders with suspect levels were announced? Anyone know who they are?

at least cycling is trying to get rid of cheats unlike sports such as football,tennis and rugby. This is a good thing that we are catching the people cheating

Bem é com tristeza, para os amantes do ciclismo, que se recebe estas notícias embora por outro lado se exigam grandes actuações durante 20 dias de etapas duríssimas. Claro que com isto não tou a desculpar o doping, não tem desculpa.Temos é que deixar de sermos chauvinistas e começarmos a pensar noutra forma de se verem as coisas! Apesar de tudo, CICLISMO sempre!

7 Tour De France championship and approx. 190 stages of that tour Armstrong NEVER failed a drug test, he worked hard and kick everybody's @#$%!!

Tennis buries its head in the sand.
Rugby buries its head in the sand.
Even golf buries its head in the bunkers.
Cycling throws guilty riders out.
So who are realy the bad guys ?
And one other thing - is there anyone out there who trusts football referees ? Just another form of cheating.

Not really a surprise is it? I am still a cycling fan regardless.....