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Voigt, Millar deride dopers
Germany's Jens Voigt led the criticism of the drug-laden cheats who have plunged this year's Tour de France into new depths of the on-going doping crisis.
CSC’s Voigt, who claimed his first-ever stage win here in 2001, finished last of a four-man breakaway after a long, hard 188.5km race from Pau to Castelsarrasin on Thursday as the peloton finally waved goodbye to the Pyrenees.
The doping issues that have clouded this year's race, and led to the exclusion of former race leader Michael Rasmussen, as well as two entire teams, have hit the image of the Tour and the sport hard.
But they have also left their mark on the peloton.
"All the cheats should be caught and sanctioned, whatever team they are in, whatever nationality they are and whether they are small time or famous," said Voigt. "The most important thing is to clean up our sport."
"I am fed up with this. Through their obvious stupidity, they risk the livelihoods of entire teams and all the staff."
Britain's David Millar, who returned to the Tour last year after a ban for admitting to using the banned blood booster EPO, has become one of the most outspoken riders against doping.
Asked if Rasmussen's exit was a good thing for the race, Millar did not hesitate.
"For me, yes," said the Scot, who was almost in tears during Tuesday's rest day upon hearing that Alexander Vinokourov, one of his "heroes,” had tested positive for blood doping.
"We couldn't have a winner that had so much suspicion on him. There are a lot of us who are clean, and the public deserve for us to give them a clean race."
After Vinokourov and his Astana team were sent home in disgrace on Tuesday, top French team Cofidis were sent home the next day after Italian Cristian Moreni tested positive for testosterone.
Rasmussen’s former Rabobank teammates, meanwhile, have mixed feelings. They have spent the past two and a half weeks fighting for to defend the yellow jersey of the disgraced Dane, and now some of their riders are in limbo.
"I don't know what I should think of all this. I want to go home immediately," said team captain Michael Boogerd.
He is not looking forward to the post-Tour criteriums which are supposed to fete the Tour's heroes.
"And what do you think it will be like in the criteriums?" Boogerd asked HLN.be.
"At Boxmeer, you come to the start and the announcer will say, 'Look, here we have Michael Boogerd, who rode for Rasmussen for weeks.' I find it terrible."
