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Anger simmers in peloton over Tour scandals

Published: Jul. 27, 2007

Riders are still steaming following a string of high-profile doping scandals that have threatened to push cycling over the edge of credibility in the eyes of the mainstream media.

Emotions ran so high at Thursday’s start in Pau that Dutch veteran Michael Boogerd actually tried punching a fan who was booing him before the sign-in podium.

With the Tour decapitated of its yellow jersey Michael Rasmussen, the peloton is trying to get down to the business of racing bikes, but bitterness is still simmering under the surface.

“I’m full with aggression and I want to get home. I don’t care that these people are trying to wreck it for me. I can give two-shits about what these guys have done to us,” said Christian Vande Velde (CSC). “I’ve trained my whole year for this race and I’m not about to give it up.”

Vande Velde voiced his frustration that the entire Tour peloton is being painted with the same brush as the riders getting caught in anti-doping controls. He pointed to Team CSC’s extensive internal testing program as a way for cycling to regain credibility with fans and media.

That didn’t stop him from venting at alleged cheats like Alexandre Vinokourov and Cristian Moreni from putting a sour taste on his Tour de France.

“I’m angry. We’re trying to do everything we can to make a great race and there are still people who shit on the sport. Of course I’m angry,” Vande Velde said. “At the same time I am going to try to be positive and make a great spectacle and a great race for myself. There’s no reason we should be punished. I’m not trying to be a pessimist. I want to go forth.”

Discovery Channel captain George Hincapie said riders are playing “Russian roulette with their careers and our sport.”

“It’s tough, you just wish people would do the right thing. I don’t have all the answers to all the doping issues,” Hincapie said. “All I can say is that I am clean, I work hard and I try to win races. I just hope that everyone can do it the clean way and stop being stupid.”