Beautiful

In prelude I will avow that I certainly hope that the dope testers have their act together, but this really makes me smile:
from ap feed on yahoo sports

...Roche Pharmaceuticals placed a molecule in its product CERA— Continuous Erythropietin Receptor Activator—when developing the drug to help anti-doping authorities detect illegal use.


Yeah science! While a small tiny victory in keeping cycling clean, this is the kind of thing that should be expected if you are going after doping the right way. Go to the producers and get their help in making a test for their drug. Do it before it is easily available. Use scientists.

kudos to all involved. I would like to think that the tight top 10 in the tour this year after some truly outrageous mountain stage is due to some excellent doping controls leading to a pretty level playing field among the freakishly gifted.

But I am psyched for the science. Really, scientists are good at what they do and it probably helps to ask the right questions. And perhaps, the involvement of the science types got ricco kicked out on stage 12 wearing the polkadots instead of on stage 21 wearing yellow...

Please please please let whoever the hell is doing the doping controls this year have their ducks in a row.

Also, are you watching? It is a good good tour. Again. Oh the Drama, the suffering, the nearly naked people falling asunder at 70 kph. Must sleep so I can awake mighty early and then play some flex time enhanced hooky to watch the tiny little men go over two huge passes and only then tackle l'alpe. I told my boss that tomorrow is a national holiday for my people. He looked so confused that I had to explain that it was not some sort of crypto-jersey religious ritual, but was in fact the queen stage.