Say it is not true?
Please, just say it was one of those April Fool’s jokes but a couple of months late.
Yet given the speed the Astana bus left last night, you can only presume that Vinokourov has a big fight on his hands trying to prove he is not guilty of blood doping. Either that or he comes clean and disappears from the cycling scene as another broken dream.
I added this picture to my Flickr stream last week, it was a superb picture of a rider at his lowest (well now he has sunk lower) yet would not go down without a fight.
Despite having over 60 stitches in his body, he managed to tackle the Alps, then in the Time Trial he wiped the floor with every one. Two days afterwards, he had the ride of his life, winning his second stage.
Little did you know that this was done using someone else’s enhanced blood work.
Vino’s A sample from Saturday’s Time Trial returned as positive for blood abnormalities.
This is such a let-down for the world of cycling, it was turning out to be a good Tour, with only Rasmussen and his ‘where were you’ problems rocking the boat. But now the pre-Tour favourite and the entire team have left the camp in a complete disgrace.
I would have really liked Vino to take the win, but then this was when I thought he was a good rider that deserved that break. Now he is another one of those broken heroes that have utterly lost face and heart in their sport.
Whatever the result, Vino obviously made his choice and will have to stick by it, but one person I do feel for is Andreas Kloeden. Kloeden was in a good position overall and if he performed well in the next Time Trial stood the chance of a podium place in Paris, but now thanks to Vino the team and Kloeden are not welcome in the race.