Big Wheel Dumped From Tour De France

Jan Ullrich, the 1997 winner of the Tour de France and favorite this year to take the successor's crown from Lance Armstrong, has been suspended by his T-Mobile team and will not start when the race begins to roll in Strasbourg. Nor will Giro d'Italia winner Ivan Basso, Ag2r team captain Francisco Mancebo or Ullrich's team-mate Oscar Sevilla, latest casualties of a doping scandal that's mushrooming over the Tour and is set to deal another blow to pro-cycling's already damaged reputation.

T-Mobile's suspension came after parts of a report were given by the Spanish Sports Council (CSD is its Spanish acronym) to the French judiciary and police along with the names of riders allegedly implicated in the doping ring, a CSD spokesman told Time. The report, which has also been passed to the Spanish Cycling Federation, contains the names of other élite riders like Joseba Beloki, Time has learned, and by the time Spanish police have ended their investgations and analyses, even athletes from other sports could end up being implicated. The Spanish Federation is meeting today to study disciplinary measures against Spanish riders and possibly the Astana-Würth team, which runs with a Spanish licence. Further action could also be taken by the Tour de France prior to tomorrow's start.

But the antidoping operation carried out by the Spanish Civil Guard on May 23, which led to the discovery of a wide doping ring allegedly involving dozens of cyclists, has already caused other casualties. Last Sunday the riders gathered at the starting line for Spain's national championship decided to boycott the race in protest over the latest doping allegations published in the press.

The cancellation hurt mainly the small cycling teams for whom races like this are the bread and butter of their competition calendar. "This can't be. This is the only race where we, as a small team, can compete on live TV. They can't do something like this without telling us in advance. My riders knew nothing of it", says, with irritation in his voice, Jesús Suárez Cuevas, a former cyclist and now director of the Relax Fuenlabrada Team.

The revolt was led by the Comunidad Valenciana team, which, according to Suárez Cuevas, took matters into its own hands and pressured the rest of the pack to stop pedaling. Comunidad Valenciana is one of the two teams allegedly involved in the doping scandal. One of the alleged ringleaders arrested on May 23, Eufemiano Fuentes, has long ties to the team. Another one of the people arrested by the Civil Guard was Ignacio Labarta, deputy director of Comunidad Valenciana who, is accused of being a partner of Fuentes in criminal activities. So far neither has responded publicly the charges.

Suárez Cuevas' frustration also reflects the rift between the small teams and the cycling powerhouses that have tried to monopolize the international circuit and the TV money that goes with it. But with money comes the pressure to win and the allure of finding a shortcut to glory through the help of illegal drugs. The irony is that, at 40,000 euros a treatment, only rich athletes can pay for it, says Suárez Cuevas, whose riders make an average of 30,000 euros a year. On the other side of the spectrum is Manolo Saiz, one of the five people indicted in the doping case, former director of Team Liberty Seguros and strong man of the UCI ProTour, the international league that encompasses the wealthiest teams in the sport.

The big question now is whether cycling and the Tour de France will be able to withstand this latest blow and sustain the sport's credibility. The Tour decided to withdraw its invitation to the Comunidad Valenciana, The other team allegedly implicated in the scandal. The Astaná-Wurth [formerly Liberty Seguros] was cleared to participate, but the new information in the hands of the Spanish Federation and French authorities may result in its definite ejection from the race.

The International Cycling Union is "recommending" that pro teams ask their riders to sign a written statement certifying that they are not involved in this case. Many within the sport caution against demonizing cycling. "This problem not only sullies cycling but other sports as well", says Suárez Cuevas. "We, as cyclists and directors, have always been in favor of strong antidoping measures, but some people go faster than the laws in finding ways to circumvent them".