Fighting the battle of who could care less

Nauseatingly familiar, isn't it? This is getting to be like a broken record. Does anyone really care anymore? More blood dopers, more denials, more endless scandals, more convoluted never-ending investigations. Just what we need as the ticking PR time bomb of the Olympics draws ominously closer and the questions multiply just as fast as the dirty used syringes.

Remember how bad things got right before the World Championships, with the accusations flying everywhere like well-aimed shrapnel. The recriminations, hostilities, and lawsuits. Valverde, Bettini, and DiLuca fighting to ride. UCI, CAS, and BDR fighting over who was clean and who wasn't. It was ugly indeed. More body blows to cycling's decrepit image which is already on death's door. But that was nothing compared to what we might see coming before the Olympics this summer. The glaring spotlight and media firestorm focused on the suspected unclean will only intensify as the Olympics draw closer. With the glacial (or permanently stalled) pace that anti-doping investigations tend to move, I highly doubt that much of anything will have been clarified before it is time for the big events in China. Who exactly gets to decide which riders are allowed at the Olympics? What if Valverde or another questionable sort cannot be prevented from taking part? Will we get a result like Tyler, part 2? Another lying blood doper crying crocodile tears of false joy over a stolen gold medal. It will be a cold day in hell before I will waste one second of my time watching such a revolting spectacle drag cycling into the sewer of disgrace for another mind-numbing year.

Sueddeutsche Zeitung says that private detectives hired by the Austrian Ski Federation have been investigating the Austrian Humanplamsa lab for a while, and have witnessed athletes coming and going from the lab at odd hours. At least some of these detective have reportedly faced serious threats due to their investigations, and the threats are said to have come from Russian criminal elements.

Although any possible relationship between the Russian mafia and this particular doping investigation is unclear at this time, previous doping investigations have shown that the Russian mafia is heavily involved in the traffic of doping products. Anti-doping expert Sandro Donati has previously stated that "the Russian mafia controls much of the world’s trade in anabolic steroids, and the Russian pharmaceutical industry is predominantly controlled by the mafia."

The number of athletes involved in the Austrian scandal is supposedly somewhere between 30 and 50, with two-thirds of the athletes being Germans. Notable, perhaps, if rather depressing, is that those German cycling fans familiar with the ARD television station say that in general it is considered a quite reliable source of news.

Regarding the accusations against his team's riders, Rabobank's Henri van der Aat stated, "What we do know are the blood monitoring tests we've done with the team. We've looked at all of them and there's nothing suspicious. Unless there's an official inquiry, we're not going to investigate this story." Wrong answer. Nothing like another team manager sticking his head determinedly in the sand. When are these people going to face reality? Nothing suspicious? Really? Like there was nothing suspicious about Rasmussen being in Italy not Mexico? Like there was nothing suspicious about him missing so many doping tests? You will have to excuse me for having a distinct lack of trust in what anybody from Rabobank decides is suspicious or not. Really, by now we do know why the Chicken crossed the street.

How about show us Menchov's blood profile for all of last season. Show us if he got a nice transfusion before or during the Vuelta. Show us if the real reason that Menchov never seemed too keen to take over the Vuelta throne abdicated by Heras was because he knew he was not really any different. Talk is cheap, and worthless. Denials are a dime a dozen. The upcoming bio-passport blood profiles for every rider should be made public knowledge. At this point, not much else is worth believing. If Rabobank has no interest in investigating their riders, good for them. Cycling fans can play that game too. Guess what? I have not one iota of interest in their team or any of their riders. When they have management with such a cavalier attitude, and keep on Breukink despite his part in the Rasmussen debacle, any results that their riders may get are worthless in my eyes until something changes in a big way in their team's philosophy.

Only clean wins are worth anything. Only teams that do everything to put ethics before results are worth existing. That is the bottom line. Every new scandal and set of denials that comes down the line, crushing the hopes of the sport's fans beneath the sordid headlines and the doping riders' depraved indifference leaves us with even less of a sliver of ground to stand on as cycling fans. Why exactly should we bother caring about this sport anymore, if the people in positions of power in the sport show such disdain for our battered and bruised fandom? I never tell anyone I am cycling fan anymore, never. It is sort of like admitting to being a glutton for punishment, or a junkie. Addicted to a sport full of lies and deceit and gruesome blood bags. What does that say about me? Or any of us? Some days I really curse the fact that I seem incapable of just quitting the sport cold turkey once and for all.