Ed-D wrote:
"AMG" wrote in message
...
The French journal Le Monde ran an editorial (July 27) suggesting that the
TdF may not be free of doping, despite the extensive urine and blood testing
that is now performed under the direction of the UCI. While not an
accusation, the article notes that the average speed of stage winners this
year is the fastest on record, even faster than in 1997, the year preceding
the Festina affair, when EPO use was presumably widespread.

The piece goes on to suggest two possible reasons: (1) Climate conditions
were ideal this year, and the riders also benefited from tailwinds, or (2)
New techniques for evading the chemical controls have been put into play.
The official TdF line is apparently (1). The speeds themselves are not
disputed, since they are essentially a public record.

For perspective, Le Monde is something along the lines of the New York
Times -- a fairly well-respected middle-of-the-political-spectrum newspaper

actually Le Monde is pretty left wing. So too is the NY Times.

Actually, not.

(rather than a tabloid, for example), but not particularly a sports rag.

That is true.

I
don't know its history well enough to know whether it has any axes to grind
with the TdF.


I don't know about this either but I do know that Le Monde has numerous axes
to grind with the U.S. government, U.S. private sector companies, and
Americans in general. If I'm not mistaken, they were one of the main forces
behind some of the allegations surrounding Lance Armstrong.

What has this to do with the content of the article?

The article (in French) is available by going to www.lemonde.fr. In the box
at upper left entitled Rechercher, type in "dopage" (no quotes needed) and
click the arrow. On the list of articles that comes up, look for "Un Tour
trop vite?" Right now it seems to be the second article listed, and for the
moment, at least, it is available for free. I don't know of an English
version, but I know there are at least a few francophones out there who
might find this of interest...

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