TOURmoil. That is what I am feeling right now. Today is the start of my absloute favorite sporting event - The Tour de France. I know some of you are totally immersed in World Cup Fever; I think real football is fabulous, but I love the Tour. However that being said, I am in TOURmoil. This year was predicted to be exciting due to Lance Armstrong's retirement, but I don't think anyone would have predicted the fallout of the past couple of days. Last May Spanish authorities found instruments, blood, steroids, and information about many top riders who may be involved. For the most part the information implicated mostly Spanih riders, so I didn't follow it too much. My favorite was Ivan Basso, and I planned to put all my support behind the talented Italian. He came in 2nd at last year's Tour, and third the previous year. This year he continued to be in good form and even won the Giro d'Italia (a major stage race) as a promise to his mother. Yesterday horror struck when he was sent home from the Tour under suspicion of doping. He was not the only one; two other top riders were sent home for suspicion of being involved in the Spanish doping scandal--including Jan Ullrich a BIG name in cycling.

Cycling has had a terrible history with doping problems because it is an incredible feat of strength and endurance to ride a bike for twenty one days, and some of those days over some of the most challenging mountains. Every year there is shock when another cyclist tests positive for some type of drug. Worse than the cheating soon everyone who wins is automatically suspected of doping. Take Lance Armstrong. During his reign of the Tour he was tested more than any other cyclist, and even though he never tested positive people want to accuse him of cheating. When big names test positive they automatically fight to save their innocence and often blame faulty testing. It is easy for cycling fans and media to become jaded by the whole sport.

I read some letters to the editor at Velo News, and I was pretty disappointed by the reaction. Practically everyone wanted to burn Ivan, Jan, and all the others at the stake even though none of the cyclists have ever tested positive. Citing guilt by association, fans want to make sure these men never see a bike again. Maybe I am naive, but I want to believe these guys are innocent until there is hard evidence that performance enhancing drugs are racing through their bloodstream. Lance was associated with a doctor infamous for giving his clients illegal cycling aids, and although this led to large amounts of suspicion and random tests, Lance did not test positive. He also severed ties with the doctor once he was convicted. So with that little bit of logic that is my opinion of the cyclists who have just fallen from grace.

Despite Ivan's departure, I will still be glued to the tv and internet absorbing all I can about my favorite sport. I woke up early this morning to watch the pre-show and the prologue on OLN. I do have other cycling favorites: Floyd Landis of Phonak and Dave Zabriskie of CSC (Ivan's teammeate). I think Floyd will win. So far this year he has won the Tour of California, the Paris-Nice, and the Tour of Georgia. He is in excellent form this year, and I am hopeful that he will win. A good portion of the US cycling world feels the same way (even when Jan and Ivan were in the picture). The only people who need to be convinced is OLN. This cable channel has the only coverage for the Tour and even though Armstrong has retired, the network still acts like the Only Lance Network. To cut them some slack, OLN is a part sponsor of the Discovery Channel team, so they are going to spend most of their time promoting the them. Granted, George Hincapie could pull a surprise and win the whole thing--he did come in 2nd place at today's time trial--but I wish OLN would stop focusing so much on the Discovery Team, and mentioning Lance every five seconds. It is time to crown a new cycling king, but they need to realize that it is quite possible that the crown could go to a cyclist from T-Mobile.

That's why this tour is going to be exciting. The last few years the winner was going to be Lance. Even though my allegiance shifted to Ivan last year, I knew that Lance was going to win. This year it is anyone's game, and I cannot wait to see how it develops. You will probably see some postings about the Tour because I don't have any Tour friends here. My friends in Seattle would either indulge my constant Tour updates or at least let me discuss my opinions, but I don't really have that now. Yesterday was tough because I wanted to talk about my opinions with someone - anyone. I am glad that my roommate Angie was willing to listen, but I need a fellow fan.