Dope Free Giro d' Italia--So Far.

Twelve stages of the Giro d' Italia have been raced without one positive dope test.

The centenary Giro d' Italia has been spectacular so far with exceptions. Rabobank rider Pedro Horrillo lost control of his bike on a decent, went over a guard rail, and plummeted 250 feet into a ravine. Horrillo was airlifted from the accident sight by helicopter and flown to hospital. In spite of arriving at the hospital in a coma, with a broken femur, collapsed lung, and broken ribs, Pedro Horrillo has regained consciousness and is recovering in hospital.

American rider Christian Vande Velde suffered multiple fractures from an early Giro d' Italia stage accident and withdrew. Chris Horner pulled a muscle during a crash and withdrew. Levi Leipheimer, road rash, is still racing.

During the Giro d' Italia Stage 10 Milano Show 100 the peloton decided that the course was unsafe to ride. After racing at a fifteen mile/hour pace for four laps of the circuit, maglia rosa Danilo Di Luca stopped the peloton and addressed the astounded fans. "We have deemed the course conditions unsafe. We hope you will understand." The peloton complained of cars along the course and sections where the riders encountered oncoming traffic. The Milano Show 100 continued at a faster pace dominated by the sprint teams after the brief "work stoppage" intermission, however. British sprinter Mark Cavendish won a meaningless stage and was awarded no sprint points. All 190 riders were awarded the same time.

Danilo Di Luca insists that the peloton had an agreement to let a Rabobank rider cross the line first to honor Pedro Horrillo but that the stage was hijacked by the sprint teams.

RCS Sport leader Angelo Zomegnan exploded with rage over the Milano Show 100 antics. Zomegnan complained that the "elder riders" of the group had deliberately sabotaged the stage because they did not want to exert the necessary effort to compete. Zomegnan stated that the Milano Show 100 course was very technical with turns that would require the riders to "get their butts out of the saddle." "For one hundred years the Milano 100 has been raced without complaint from the riders" exclaimed an exasperated Zomegnan. "The fans will not forget this outrage." In a contrite move after reflection, Danilo Di Luca and Lance Armstrong apologised to racing fans over the incident.

But Lance Armstrong also insisted that it is time for a organization with teeth to represent rider concerns. Grand Tour courses have always had bad designs. Turns 300 meters from the finish line on flat stages may make great television drama. But when three sprint trains wind up side by side in pouring rain reaching speeds up to 60km/hour; a turn more often than not results in a disaster. 100 Giro d' Italia years of spilt blood is proof of this assertion. The riders should have some input in course design. Ending the race before the turn will not diminish the race; fans don't want to see a bloody mess with career ending injuries; they want to see a good lead out and sprint.

But would a rider organization end the despotic rule of private entities that own European Grand Tours? If a rider representative could influence Grand Tour decision making would this end the petty tyrannies of people like Christian Prudhomme and Angelo Zomegnan?

Christian Prudhomme has once again shown his arbitrary reasoning by banning Tom Boonen from the Tour de France for the second straight year. Tom Boonen has a bad habit of attending raves where big fat lines of powder cocaine can be snorted. Or raves where crack cocaine can be rolled into "eight balls" and smoked, shot up, skin popped, or used as a suppository. After all there is no prohibition against out-of-competition use of cocaine for recreational use. Party on dudes! Christian Prudhomme is trying to punish Tom Boonen for a non-existent crime for excluding him from the Tour de France. And Pat McQuaid wants to punish Tom Boonen under some lame UCI rule number with seventeen decimal points. Pat McQuaid has proclaimed that Tom Boonen has "done something that results in harm to the UCI." Constant cocaine use would fit this obscure rule, obviously. The UCI rule could be applied to Pat McQuaid as well for his dunderhead behavior and statements over the years. Christian Prudhomme and Angelo Zomegnan could also be banished under the same rule. The riders need some sort of organization to safeguard their interests as Lance Armstrong has suggested. The sooner the better.

Lance Armstrong has suddenly banned the tifosi and Italian media and refused all requests for comment after the tifosi and Italian media tried to infer that Lance Armstrong was the ring leader of the Milano Show 100 protest.

How about those uniforms worn former Astana team riders during the Giro d' Italia? Gone is the word Astana, looks like someone got carried away with the bleach bottle. Unfortunately, someone forgot to paint out the word Astana on the team bus. Pat McQuaid announced that Astana had not paid the $2 million UCI Pro Tour fee to guarantee rider salaries. Apparently, Astana has not paid the riders for some weeks. Pat McQuaid set a deadline of May 31, 2009 for the full payment of the fees by Astana or the UCI may yank Astana's Pro Tour license. Imagine all of the current Astana riders with no contracts, Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, Alberto Contador, Andreas Kloden (if Kloden is not busted over the Human plasma affair) and Chris Horner. All of these riders suddenly available for the Tour de France at the same time? Impossible? No.

Enjoy the rest of the Giro d' Italia everyone!