Clean Tour...and curtailment of 100m dash

From Brendan Gallagher of the Telegraph--"One or two media outlets have even curtailed their coverage of hte Tour this year because of the drugs issue.  Presumably, they will be relegating their reports of the men's 100 metres final in Beijin next month to 'sporting briefs'."

Carlos Sastre wins 'cleanest Tour de France for years'
Telegraph.co.uk - United Kingdom
By Brendan Gallagher in Paris Rafa Nadal and Wimbledon, Euro 2008 and now a
third consecutive winner of the Tour de France. King Juan Carlos should

probably ...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/2463469/Carlos-Sastre-wins-'cleanest-Tour-de-France-for-yearsandrsquo.html

TdF Director dislikes predictions that come true, likes exhausted cyclists

This story from the AP will probably be the big talk in the sports pages.  It gives the Tour de France's side of the doping scandals of this year's Tour.  Expect columnists to rebut the Tour side of the story.  Tour director Christian Prudhomme's big quote, "I don't like people who can read tea leaves to predict a stage win." In regards to Riccardo Ricco predicting what stage teammate Leonardo Piepoli would win. 

Race director hails 2008 Tour de France as victory over doping cheats
International Herald Tribune - France
AP PARIS: Race director Christian Prudhomme hopes the 2008 Tour de France
will be remembered as a victory against doping cheats. The Tour, won by
Spaniard ..

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/27/sports/EU-CYC-Tour-de-France-Prudhomme

Should Women Race the Tour Alongside Men?

The author  of the piece below thinks so, though I wish she had much more knowledge with which to make her argument.  As it is, she doesn't prove her case.

The missing filles in the Tour de France
The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
I WAS watching the Tour de France when a thought struck me: Where are the
women? I've now learned that women have their own "tour" called the Grande

Boucle. ...

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/the-missing-filles-in-the-tour-de-france-20080727-3lp5.html

Tour "color" courtesy of The Guardian

Lots of looking at the Tour, few gems from this writer.  The one surprise starts as follows: "While it is true that cycling fans are spoiled, it occurs today that few events are as anti-cycling as the Tour de France." 

Prato Nevoso, Sunday
guardian.co.uk - UK
Being part of the official Tour de France entourage is a privilege, but it
comes with certain responsibilities. We learned about one of them today.

...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/jul/27/tourdefrance.cycling2

"New" tour

This is the first of what will probably be a spate of articles on the Tour overcoming drugs scandals.  the author was a regular contributor to British cycling mags.

Tour de France: Old race finds new lease of life without the need ...
Independent - London,England,UK
By Alasdair Fotheringham This afternoon, just as they have done for the
past 23 years, the survivors of the Tour de France will speed up and down

the ...

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/others/tour-de-france-old-race-finds-new-lease-of-life-without-the-need-for-drugs-878336.html