don't be a dope

Lance Armstrong, the dude with all the yellow braclets and yellow jerseys, is staging a comeback to professional cycling. And in what has all the trappings of a Republican running for office, Armstrong is taking great pains to convince the world that he's clean, going so far as to create his own anti-doping program. For those who don't closely follow the sport, Mr. Armstrong is following in the footsteps of other cycling teams, Garmin-Chilpolte and Team Columbia in developing strict (stricter than WADA, the world anti-doping association) policies to prove to a dismayed public that cyclists are competing clean.

We find Lance's comeback to be stangely as much about clearing his somewhat tarnished name (former teamate Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy Andreu, both testified in a lawsuit that Armstrong admitted to using the blood enhancer EPO and other drugs; however Armstrong disputed these allegations and eventually won the lawsuit against a company that had suggested he cheated and refused to pay his a large cash bonus) as it is about competing to win.

It's not clear yet how Armstrong will compete in next year's Tour de France, for which team he will compete, and in what role. It's likely he'll ride for Team Astana under Johann Bruyneel, the director sportif for all 7 of Lance's Tour wins. However, as of Sunday, Alberto Condator, the current captain of Astana, became only the 3rd cyclist in history, and the youngest ever to capture the 3 Grand Tours: Tour de France, Giro DÍtalia, and Veulta a Espana. For once, we'd like to see Lance work for a teammate during a race.