The French taunt British cycling Olympians about doping a second time

Those witty Frenchmen, what will they come up with next.  It appears taunting the lumbering English cyclists about doping in the Olympics.  To The First Post:

An insinuation from France's former sprint champion Daniel Morelon, who now coaches the Chinese cycling team, that Britain's medal-winning team might have been using performance-enhancing drugs, has forced the British to declaim loudly that they have nothing to hide.

Morelon said that the British team had seemed to have a motorbike inside them. Dave Brailsford, performance director for the British team, responded yesterday by saying he was inviting the International Cycling Union to investigate "any area" of the team which won a record 12 medals on the track in Beijing - seven golds, three silvers and two bronzes.

"We are willing to pay, you can go and hire whoever you want, they can have access all areas," said Brailsford. "I've said before: come and live with us, see what we do, how we live, how we train, come and look at our training books, all the data we've got gathered and you'll see a slow progression over time and that doesn't happen if you're taking drugs. We're as open as can be, anyone can come and look at what we do."

Talking Chris Hoy here?

Chris Hoy the sprint cyclist who went into the record books on Tuesday when he won his third Olympic gold at these Games, had also made a point of clearing up any notion that the British team might not be clean.

Hoy said the gap between the British and the rest of the world was down to other cycling nations going backwards as much as to Britain's improvement. "We've stepped up to a whole new level since the world championships but what is more surprising to me is not so much that we have done that because there are reasons for that - our preparation, our training and our planning - but that some nations have underperformed and the gap has been exaggerated."

Daniel Morelon isn't the only Frenchman to have questioned Britain's amazing form in these Games. Jean Pitallier, president of French Cycling, is understood to have contacted cycling's international governing body to express his doubts.

However there appears to be an 'incident'. 

Britain's Brailsford, according to a report in the Guardian, said he understood people having doubts, given the sport's recent history, but claimed that his team was "absolutely clean".

To prove how assiduously the team was monitored, he admitted there had been once "incident" recently. "There was an incident - I won't mention names - but there was someone who disappeared for a little while although they turned out to have totally legitimate reasons, and so I phoned up to have them randomly tested. You need to protect the team and the authenticity of the results. That's a professional responsibility of mine."

Doping, hamsters and elderberries.

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ARTHUR:

If you will not show us the Grail, we shall take your castle by force!

FRENCH GUARD:

You don't frighten us, English pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottom, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Arthur King, you and all your silly English k-nnnnniggets. Thpppppt! Thppt! Thppt!

GALAHAD:

What a strange person.

ARTHUR:

Now look here, my good man--

FRENCH GUARD:

I don't wanna talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper! I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!

GALAHAD:

Is there someone else up there we could talk to?

FRENCH GUARD:

No. Now, go away, or I shall taunt you a second time-a!

[sniff]

Comments

[Dr. peter Goettig]

Dear Sirs,

it is very likely that such an outstanding performance (8 gold medals in Beiijing 2008) by a single nation that has no tradition in cycling as other nations, such as Spain, France, Italy, has been made possible by illegal drugs. However, there is a tradition of doping in British cycling and the famous doper David Millar has put it that way: "it is possible to win without doping", which also means that it is very unlikely.

Regards,

Peter Goettig