Beautiful

Fabian Cacellara said, of his teammate Dave Zabriskie, that on a time trial bike he is beautiful to watch and I can't put it much better than that. It's a sort of man/machine fusion. Everyone says he's the most aerodynamic man in the peleton. Zabriskie, often nicknamed ZMan, is a rising star in cycling (and an American) and, as previously noted, beautiful on a time trial bike (not to mention beautiful in general), all of which are reasons I am particularly interested in following his career. Then there's his dramatic entrance on the Tour scene in 2005 when he won the prologue and wore the yellow jersey for several days only to lose it when he crashed in the Team Time Trial (just barely outside the 2 kilometer safety zone). Of course there's also funny interviews he used to post on his blog, though unfortunately he's quit blogging. Apparently, the ZMan found internet connections hard to come by in Europe (a problem I'm now well acquainted with myself).

Zabriskie is a time trial specialist, and the reigning US time trial champion, but he didn't win the prologue in this years' Tour. His teammate, and the reigning World time trial champion, Fabian Cancellara took the prologue. I know I've talked about the CSC team before but the team is so spectacular that they warrant more mentions.

You may know that I had the good fortune to attend the Paris-Roubaix a couple months ago, a race won this year by another CSC rider, Stuart O'grady, and last year by none other than current Tour de France leader, and CSC teammate, Fabian Cancellara. I am an unabashed fan of this team and the doping scandal (with Basso, and Riis, and Jaksche) has done nothing to diminish that.

I think Riis' statement makes it pretty clear, without actually pointing fingers at any other riders, that doping was rampant in cycling in the 90s. He says that he did what he had to do to compete at the top level. Of course that's the catch 22 of doping, if everyone is doing it then you can't compete without doing it, so you do, but then you're responsible for perpetuating it because you've become part of the "everyone" who is doing it for the next generation of riders to try to compete with. Luckily for the sport of cycling, for the current generation and the next, the organizers of the sport have decided they are serious about cleaning up the image of their sport. Do I have faith that my favorite team, despite the admission of their director and the accusations of one of their former riders, is riding clean? Yes. Again I have to question though whether or not I really care if they're clean or not. The sport is exciting, it's entertaining, and that isn't diminished for me by thinking the riders might be enhanced.

The thing about doping is that it's dangerous. EPO and blood doping dramatically increase risk of heart attack and stroke. Other more traditional drugs (like steroids and amphetamines) have well documented health risks, also including risk of heart attack and stroke. So, when athletes use these procedures or substances to enhance their performance they're risking their lives. That's fine by me. If they want to risk their lives for my entertainment (and their own profit) that's okay with me. If I had a kid though, and he told me that his greatest dream in life was to one day win the Tour de France, I might change my tune, but maybe not. After all, even a totally clean rider can crash at 35 mph over the side of an Alpine (or Pyreneean) cliff and crack his head open (RIP Fabio Casartelli) so just getting on a bike and competing at all is a risk.

Since I doubt I'll really come to a conclusion on the doping front I'll just enjoy watching the Tour and the beautiful CSC team.