Eric Zabel was a doper, in an era of dopers.

Tour­ winners, Indurain, Riis, Ulrich, Pantani, Armstrong. ­ That's three dopers, and two with huge clouds of­ suspicion around them (I worship the ground upon which­ San Miguel walks, but you just ask Delgado how clean­ Banesto was, and while you're at it, ask Armstrong­ how his convicted dope doctor Michele Ferrari is­ doing).

ONCE dominated everything else - they were­ about as clean as a back street @#$%. Quick Step took­ the classics, Museuuw admitted doping.

The whole­ Festina affair, followed by protests not that riders­ were doping, but that testing increased.

You can't­ judge a previous era with the present eras morals. ­ They were all doped. Probably, most still are, but­ either way, you can't detract from a few dopers­ when there's no doubt that everyone else was doped­ too during their reign.

Zabel, an East German originally where doping was rife­ for many years. Not only cyclists but swimmers and­ gymnasts.One female athlete was so full of drugs that­ eventually "it" became a man and married.­ There was a full T/V programme about the East Germans.­ Both Zabel and Jan Ullrich should be struck off the­ records for all their wins ncluding Ullrich's­ Olympic title. I also think the same about Virenque the­ Frenchman who holds the "record" of the most­ polka dot jerseys in the TDF aided by drugs. That­ record should be taken away, cheating baxxxxd.

What I mean about Zabel is he could climb a little bit,­ and go on the cobbles a little bit as well as being a­ sprinter.

That elongated his career a tad, because it­ meant he didn't have to always be the best sprinter­ - he just had to be the quickest finisher who could­ hang on to the lead group after a few hills, or­ otherwise difficult terrain.

Zabel admitted to the use of EPO over a very short­ period back in the late 90s. Not something to be proud­ of, sure, but I don't think it tarnishes an­ otherwise impressive palmares. And for my money, he­ was a pure sprinter, who could climb a bit - a la Oscar­ Freire. As for McEwan, he's well passed his­ sell-by date. He was great, but age and injury have­ rendered him a shadow of his former self. That all­ said, I hope I'm wrong, because the better the­ quality of competition for Cav, the better. Last year­ became a bit a joke with Columbia winning all the­ sprints with Cav, Greipel and Boasan Hagen.

Is this the same Zabel who confessed to using drugs to­ "win" many races and stopped better rider­ from getting the honours. String him up I say. Or is­ that too good for him. Baxxxxrd.

Zabel not a pure sprinter! He didn't exactly win­ many king of the mountains points! How many green­ jerseys and Milan San Remo's are needed to be­ considered a sprinter?

Sod LA and CE like the last article on the Tour Down­ Under, this is a REAL headliner.

Robbie *really will*­ be there to race.

I doubt this will be the Robbie we­ remember - he started to fade a few years ago - but­ he's likely to still be close to the top.

At 37,­ he's got to be one of the eldest sprinters ever to­ have competed at the top level. Cipollini was 38,­ anyone else? (Zabel doesn't count, he could climb­ a bit too, and wasn't an out and out sprinter).

Robbie McEwan back in the competitive saddle! Watch out­ Peleton- Robbies gonna get ya!

Good news I think.

Illiterate fool.