With the Tour and the Olympics quickly approaching, mainstream media seem to be refocusing its attention on the big black cloud over professional cycling.  The NY Times is running an article about a study that will soon be published online at The Journal of Applied Physiology, which proves that tests looking for doping agent “recombinant human erythropoietin,” or EPO, in athletes’ blood are completely unreliable.
From the article:
…The investigators gave eight young men EPO and collected urine samples on multiple occasions before, during and after the men were doping. The men’s …

The Tour de France organizers have updated their rules to not guarantee a place for any team for 2008.  This means the ProTour teams are not assured a spot at the start.
“There will be discussions but no one can be sure yet of being at the start of the Tour,” Prudhomme told reporters before the route for the 95th race was unveiled.
They’ve also updated their rules to require the “biological passport” that is currently being implemented by the UCI and WADA.
The Tour route been reworked a bit to “break …

A loophole that would possibly let Floyd Landis compete in next years Tour de France will soon be closed by the French anti-doping agency (ALFD).  Landis has been suspended from competing in any events that the International Cycling Union sanctions for two years.
But the situation could arise whereby he could compete again if the Tour de France took place outside the calendar of the UCI, with whom the organisers of the leading Tours are in conflict.
Some think Landis wasn’t guilty of doping, but until that’s proven, these loopholes should be …

I’m not sure if Landis is appreciative or not, but Pereiro has been quoted as saying “I feel sorry for him (Landis)”, along with this:
“He was disqualified after the biggest triumph in his life and won’t be able to enjoy it, but as a sportsman you have to abide by the rules.”
I don’t think anyone has been happy to see all of the turmoil over doping in the past Tour de France, and it’s probably not how Pereiro pictured himself winning.  Pereiro is pretty relieved that it has all come …

Well, congratulations to Oscar Pereiro, who is now the official winner of the 2006 Tour de France.  Pereiro was the second in line after Floyd Landis was found doping, and his latest appeals failed.
There are stories about this everywhere, so I will just link to a few of them, and let each one tell it’s own story.
Reuters has interesting facts about Pereiro.
Bloomberg has a small article as well.
Times Online mentions Pereiro finally gets his yellow jersey.
International Herald Tribune calls it the ’longest tour in history‘.
The AP has a quite interesting Pereiro article as well.

Oscar Pereiro will receive the yellow jersey for the 2006 Tour de France, after coming in second behind the banned Landis.
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme will award the yellow jersey to Pereiro, race organizers said Tuesday in a statement.
This is, of course, assuming that Floyd Landis latest appeal isn’t successful.
Read more here.

Floyd Landis is appealing, for the final time, to reclaim his 2006 Tour de France title.
An arbitration panel ruled against Landis last month, upholding the results of a test that showed the American cyclist used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback Tour victory. That decision meant Landis must forfeit his title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to Jan. 30.
I highly doubt he will win this appeal, even with the support of Lance Armstrong. I wonder how long it’s going to take to clean out the …