OPINION

By Tim Dahlberg

updated 5:42 p.m. ET July 19, 2008

There was a time not so long ago when none of this would have mattered, at least on this side of the pond.

The bikes ridden here are mostly low riders that kids pedal to school, or cushy cruisers the parents take for a spin around the block. Anything longer than that and we reach deep into the wallet and gas up the SUV.

Somewhere, though, around the time Greg LeMond rode to victory and we discovered he wasn’t a Frenchman, we began paying some attention to the Tour de France. After Lance Armstrong began winning them by the handful, we had to embrace the sport, if nothing other than to show those snooty French how patriotic we really are.

So we had to learn racing language, understand what a peloton was, and find out why they kept making such a big fuss over the rider wearing a yellow jersey. Even if the last time we were on a bike was to deliver the afternoon newspaper, sprinkling a few cycling terms made for good conversation over a glass of Chablis at the backyard barbecue.

“Hey, did you see what Lance did when he broke out of the peloton in that category two climb to sprint the final leg,” we would say, no doubt impressing the neighbors

“Sure did, and just wait until he gets to the Pyrenees and chases down the yellow jersey.”

Normally solid citizens began recognizing teams by their colors and matching helmets, and knew that the U.S. Postal Service was going to deliver for Armstrong. They figured out what a time trial was, why the Tour de France was sometimes run in countries other than France, and why 50 riders could all be credited with the same exact time.

Some even understood why on the last day the leader could sit on his handlebars, pedal backward, and still come in first place.

What they didn’t know was that it was all one gigantic fraud on spokes.

They should by now, assuming anyone is still paying attention to the race that ends next week in Paris minus at least three riders who have been booted from their bikes after testing positive for EPO, the performance drug of choice for racers. The latest to go was Italy’s Riccardo Ricco, who was carted away by the local gendarmes and spent a night in jail after he was caught.

It hardly qualified as a surprise, even though Ricco had protested after winning the ninth stage that he had high hematocrit levels since he was a child and that he hoped “everybody will stop speaking about that.”

Actually, doping is about all anyone talks about these days in the cycling world. The sport is so crippled by dirty riders that everyone is presumed doped and whoever wins the Tour will be suspect.

It’s nothing new. Decades ago riders used to use heroin and strychnine to numb the pain of a race stretching out more than 2,000 miles, and later amphetamines helped them keep pedaling. Later came steroids, and in the last decade EPO has been found in tests and hotel rooms across France.

What’s new is, with sponsors pulling out and the survival of the race at stake, those running it have gotten tough and there’s a new no-nonsense attitude toward dopers. Not only are they being kicked out of the race and off their teams, but also face the possibility of real jail time for cheating.

The testing is tougher too, and those in cycling will argue that the fact the last three tours have been tarnished by doping charges — beginning with Floyd Landis being stripped of his title in 2006 — means simply that cycling is ahead of other sports in chasing down cheaters.

“I’m glad they got caught,” International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid said. “The Tour needs to continue and get to the finish in Paris. It’s another blow to the sport, but I have to see it in light of the fact that they’re getting caught and going to be thrown out.”

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Interestingly enough, the first doper caught at this year’s race was Spanish veteran Manuel Beltran, a strong climber who helped Armstrong win the Tour in 2003, 2004 and 2005 by helping pull him up the steepest climbs. Beltran was the fourth former Armstrong teammate to test positive for doping, joining Landis, Tyler Hamilton and Roberto Heras on that list.

Which, of course, brings up a question that has bothered the French for quite some time now. How could Armstrong win not just one, but seven straight Tours if he wasn’t juiced when some of his teammates and presumably most of his fellow competitors were?

Good training and great legs, if you hear Armstrong tell it. And the fact remains he never tested positive in any of the races he won.

Here’s a better question: After all that’s gone on why should we even care anymore?

It is, after all, just the Tour de Farce.

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