Tom McGee's Blog

Well, it’s offi­cial; Lan­dis is an ass­hole. But like the Tour itself, it’s been a team effort. Years of cheat­ing and scan­dals have cul­mi­nated in this: a cham­pion stripped of a title, the ulti­mate igno­min­ity for a sport. Pro cycling is become an embar­rass­ment, and it’s hard to imag­ine it ever regain­ing the pres­tige it had once upon a time. While it won’t be in quite the same league as roller derby or pro wrestling, it will be mar­gin­al­ized. Peo­ple will look at future rid­ers not to mar­vel at their strength and endurance, but to won­der what it is they’re taking.

I only wish they’d nail Barry Bonds before he does the same thing to the career home run record.

Maybe a two-year sus­pen­sion isn’t enough. If they started hand­ing out life­time bans maybe the rules would get a lit­tle respect, and the sport could sal­vage some of its lost credibility.