Cheetahs never prosper...

Zazu: Checking in with the morning report.
Mufasa: Fire away.
Zazu: Well the buzz from the bees is that the leopards are in a bit of a spot. And the baboons are going ape over this. Of course, the giraffes are acting like they're above it all... The tick birds are pecking on the elephants. I told the elephants to forget it, but they can't. The cheetahs are hard up, but I always say, cheetahs never prosper...

The almost final ruling in the Floyd Landis doping scandal was handed down today as the arbitration panel reached a 2:1 decision against Landis. Honestly,
I've mixed feelings about this...

I'm disappointed in my self because I was still naive enough to believe in the super human efforts of the cycling heroes. Landis' ride back into contention after suffering so badly the day before was incredible. It's now pretty safe to say that it was TOO incredible to be true.

When I think back over the past 15 years of cycling, most of the great "champions" have faced some sort of doping allegation. The Basso's, Hamilton's, Landis', Ullrich's and so on of the cycling world helped to tarnish the image of the sport I love. The truth is, however, they riders aren't the only one's to blame for the current state of affairs in cycling. The teams, the governing bodies, the outside supporters and staff have all helped to make a mess of things. If it keeps going like this, the sport will be forced to the fringes of the mainstream and we will all become "enthusiasts" of some obscure sport that noone cares about.

Great races will take on the look and feel of some rural road race with a handful of spectators, no media coverage and weak fields.

On the flip side, perhaps things are starting to change. This years' Tour seemed different. The riders looked "human". I saw them suffering. I watched them get tired. Aside from Rasmussen, every rider showed weakness at some point. Hopefully this is the result of the peloton cleaning up.

Or, maybe I'm still too naive...