Sports Betting Articles
All Eyes Set on the Tour de France 2008 – A New Beginning?
By Claudia Beckford
The world’s most popular cycling competition with a 3,500-kilometer circuit will begin this Saturday July 5th and the sports world has already set eyes on the 95th edition of the Tour de France after continuous scandals surrounding the doping storm several professional riders have had to face.
It has been 105 years since the Tour de France first competition started; the race is divided into flat or mountain stages which take place in most areas in France. Throughout the Tour’s history there was only a short period in which the event did not take place which was between 1940 and 1946 due to World War II. More recently; the race incorporated a final race in the city of Paris to close up the competition which is on the Champs-Élysées; certainly a most celebrated ending as the winner rider is crowned after the race is completed.
However; despite the glamour and popularity the event has carried out during more than a century; the Tour de France has been repeatedly hit and plagued by the doping controversy since the Lance Armstrong’s days. Nevertheless; in Armstrong’s case he was completely cleared of any doubts and he kept his title for the longest run in the Tour’s history. But since 2006 the cycling world became once more an easy target for doping involvements and riders such as: Jan Ullrich and Floyd Landis were proved to be seriously involved to the point of retirement and penalty fees besides the title withdrawal.
After the Operación Puerto doping cases; last year’s winner the Spaniard Alberto Contador became the first man to win the Tour; in a fair and professional way despite his previous never-proved involvement in the case. Contador was one of the few athletes whose name was part of the black list which came out clean once the investigation ended but even so he was hardly bombarded by the international press. Contador tried to conduct himself professionally and provided all possible evidence to help the Tour authorities solved the case promptly. Anyhow; Contador who currently rides for the Astana team will not be able to defend his title this year as his team was removed from the Tour’s list of UCI participants.
The French cycling authorities alleged this measure to be the best possible lesson for the rest of the professional riders who were not involved but were only spectators of how the biggest names in the cycling world fell down one after another. They support this strategy to be a zero tolerance stand against any type of drug misuse and a warning for those who will not comply with the rules. For the Astana team in particular this was a slap in the face as they were able to participate in the recent Giro d’Italia.
Now that Contador is out of the big picture the last men-standing to win the Tour are: Australia-Silence-Lotto Cadel Evans who was second place at the last’s month Dauphine Libere, Spain-Caisse d’Epargne Alejandro Valverde and Russia-Rabobank-Denis Menchov. Furthermore; it is thought Evans will accomplish the expectations of the cycling fans in the coming weeks.
About the author
Claudia Beckford provides current Tour de France content as well as information in the sports betting industry. Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety on your site, make sure to leave all links in place and do not modify any of the content.
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