Three riders this year tested positive for EPO, a banned blood booster, leading to their ouster and threatening to consign this year’s 95th edition to the annals of doping-marred Tours — just like drug use and cheats marred the event in 2006 and last year.
The scandals involving Spanish riders Manuel Beltran and Moises Duenas Nevado and young Italian star Riccardo Ricco — the winner of two stages this year — have not been good for its brand image.
■ CAVENDISH PULLS OUT
AFP, EMBRUN, FRANCE
Quadruple stage winner Mark Cavendish has pulled out of the Tour de France prior to the 15th stage, the first of three days in the Alps, his Columbia team said.
Cavendish has been one of the stars of the Tour so far, winning four bunch sprints to set a new British record for stage wins in a single edition.
The 23-year-old from the Isle of Man is said to be suffering fatigue following two tough weeks of racing.
Cavendish missed out on disputing a bunch sprint for the first time in the race when he was dropped on the small climb 10km from the finish line of Saturday’s 14th stage, won by sprint rival Oscar Freire.
Cavendish is now likely to set his sights on the Olympic Games, where he will compete for Britain in track cycling’s Madison — an event in which he is reigning world champion with Bradley Wiggins.
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