Tour de France 2006: Ullrich, Basso, Mancebo, Beloki Out!

Looks like recent scandals related to the Spanish report "Operation Puerto" have now knocked out Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Francisco Mancebo and more...

Operation Puerto: The list (Eurosport)
UCI add names to official list (Eurosport)
Spirit of '98? Surely not (Eurosport)
Basso and Mancebo out of Tour (ProCycling)
Ullrich out of the Tour de France (ProCycling)
More riders suspended: Basso and Mancebo out (Cycling News)
Operation Puerto: Yet Another Doping Scandal (Centripedal Blog)
Black Friday: Basso, Mancebo, Ullrich all withdraw from Tour (TDFBlog)
Doping Scandals Throw Tour de France Into Chaos (NY Times)

Updated Rider Listing (Tour de France site)

One final quote from the Ullrich story to give you an idea how serious this is:

"The only thing I can tell you is that the information is clear enough and didn't leave any doubt."
— T-Mobile PR Luuc Eisenga

I guess this year will be quite interesting indeed.

Looking for the latest Tour 2006 info?

Visit my entry for Tour de France 2006

Comments

[Christian Bech]

Or not interesting at all... at least not from a danish perspective (Basso is danish he really is :-)

The real exitement for me will be if Carlos Sastre will be able to fill in for Basso or if national hero Michael Rasmussen can make without the competition from the great riders.

Who's your favourite?

[Mike Rohde]

Christian � thanks for the comment!

I really like Michael Rasmussen, especially after his gutsy performance last year. Chickenlegs is pretty cool by me. :-)

My favorite... hmm... I hadn't considered this, as the news was a bit shocking, but I really liked Valverde last year, and would love to see him do well.

I also like Floyd Landis, but I wonder if he has the killer instinct or not. So far based on 2005, he still has some way to go � but we'll see.

I also like Zabriske, but he seems maybe not as all-around as someone like a Valverde, Rassmussen or Landis.

Honestly, I'm likely going to pick a favorite as the Tour starts and unfolds. So often I start watching games with no favorite, and as the event goes on I tend to pick someone. So, when I do that, I'll let you know for sure. :-)

[JAbbott]

The whole thing is pretty shocking. I'm not surprised that guys are getting implicated in the doping scandal but at the fact that the top six guys will not be in the tour (last year's top five finishers plus an already suspended rider):

• #1: Armstrong retired.
• #2-4: Basso, Ullrich, and Mancebo are barred.
• #5: Vinokourov's team may not have enough riders to enter.
• Tyler Hamilton is suspended from the 2005 and 2006 tours after finishing fourth in 2004.

[mashby]

Vinokourov and his team are out becuase they don't have enough riders.

This is crazy!

[ender]

holy cow ... i can't believe how crazy this doping scandal is getting. particularly since once again, they're complaining about the now retired lance. how many french riders are on the banned list now?

[Mike Rohde]

No idea where the list is now... I'm sure it will be brought out soon.