No Cycling in 2012 Olympics???

There has been a lot of chatter about cutting cycling from the Olympics due to the doping scandals that have rocked the cycling world. Matters were made worse by the recent results proving that Leonardo Piepoli of Italy and Stefan Schumacher of Germany tested positive for CERA (an advanced version of the blood booster EPO) using new third generation tests. Stefan Schumacher won both time trials and Leonardo Piepoli won the 10th stage of this years Tour.

Samples can be held for up to eight years and tested when ever new technology is presented.

This is the posting I snagged from Bicycling.

More Threats to Drop Cycling from the Olympics
In the wake of the exposure of two more doping cases from the 2008 Tour de France, the Associated Press reports that an International Olympic Committee official has suggested dropping cycling from the Olympics. “We have to ask ourselves whether it is not the time to order a pause for thought (from the Olympics) for cycling,” said IOC vice president Thomas Bach to the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.

Bummer!

For those that are interested in road cycling this is a hell of a blow, however it could be just what cycling needs to clean up. This sort of ’sit in the corner’ time out could prove to be just the wake up call athletes need. However it seems like the doping technology has been out pacing the testing technology so unfortunately we may never be free of doping.

There have also been a new battery of allegations against Lance Armstrong, to which he responded:

“The last time I checked, I won the Tour seven straight years and was never once found to be guilty of doping despite seven years of intense scrutiny.”

I think you either believe him or not, but for now it is all speculation. So much for innocent until proven guilty.

I for one think Lance is a superhero and if we piss him off bad things will happen…to us all!!!