Oh noooooo!!

Say it ain't so!

Double stage victor Alexandre Vinokourov has tested positive for homologous blood doping following his victory in Saturday's individual time trial. Upon receiving the news, the Astana team suspended Vinokourov and quit the Tour de France. The team's withdrawal removes fifth placed Andreas Klöden, eight placed Andrey Kashechkin and 23rd placed Vinokourov from the picture.

The Kazakh was rumoured to be targeted prior to the Tour by the UCI as one of the 'men in black' - riders who try to avoid out of competition controls by training in anonymous clothing in out of the way places. Astana denied that this was anything other than a way to avoid being pestered by fans.

Despite the negative press that cycling gets and the recurring doping scandals, cycling is the sport which fights the hardest against doping. I don't understand why they don't go after other dope plagued sports such as track and field, swimming, biathlon, soccer, football and baseball.

Allegedly, some 200 professional athletes, including tennis and soccer stars, have received prohibited doping products from Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes, yet the media attention has focused almost exclusively on the relatively small number of professional road cyclists that were named in the Operación Puerto investigation. I would bet there are a number of Real Madrid players on that list, but of course, no names have been released. Not fair if you ask me.

In retrospect, Vino's performance seemed too good to be true. Kind of reminiscent of Landis' performance in last year's tour. Bad day, good day, bad day, good day.

Still, this is NOT good for cycling. What sad, sad news.