Zypherov said:
Energy Starr said:
In any of the TDf "wins" of the LA era, would he not be the winner of the race? If dude finished 89th, but did it clean and the first 88 finishers were dopers, is he not the deserving winner of the race? This question comes on the heels of LA yet again claiming all the guys who raced in the TDF for those years would say he is the rightful winner. And for the love of dawg, would some rider from the era please step up and say they rode the whole thing clean and they are the deserving winner? Did ANY, I mean literally ANYONE race clean? I don't care if you finished 185th...you are more deserving than LA. Am I way off here?
Mark Scanlon, the former World Junior Champion, finished 89th overall at the 2004 Tour. You betta he was clean.
The only riders to consider in terms of placement are those riding for GC. The other riders have helping roles, and aside from those few permitted to go for a stage win their only concern is making the time cut. So Mark Scanlon, or whoever, coming 89th means nothing.
In my view, in fact, the very basis for this thread - "one clean rider" - means nothing, or very little. No one able to ride for GC is doing so unassisted. The real question to ask is this: is that assistance within the rules, or not? And even that line - within the rules or outside them - isn't so well defined. There is grey area.
So, is there anyone riding for GC who doesn't stray beyond the grey area, into cheating outright? That's a question we can legitimately ask, but I doubt we'll find a legitimate answer.