Tuesday, 24th July 2007 at 10:37 pm

Vinokourov goes as Tour crumbles

South Africans at least have the exploits of Robert Hunter and Team Barloworld to follow; even that’s of limited solace, however, in the context of a sport in a downward spiral that shows no sign of ending. Last year’s race still hasn’t been officially settled, Floyd Landis’s dope test mired in appeals; and any hopes that this year’s race might avoid the dark stains of the last few Tours, have been firmly extinguished.

A fall early in the race meant Alexandre Vinokourov was all but out of the challenge for this year’s race; stage wins on Saturday and Monday, however, offered a shred of redemption for the Astana rider… until a day later. Now the Khazakstani finds himself a cycling outcast, sacked by his team (who have in turn been ejected from the Tour) after serious irregularities with his blood sample.

Blood doping is a cloak and dagger world, the intricacies and mechanics of it largely beyond the grasp of cycling laymen. But Vinokourov’s test has clearly been enough to convince his team that he’s guilty, and that is a body blow to a race that’s already taken many of them in recent years. Another Tour de France tainted then, and another big name cast out in disgrace; how much further does cycling need to sink before it becomes a sport beyond redemption?