Michael was on his way to fulfill a life long dream and win the yellow jersey of the Tour de France 2007. Three days before he could step up on the podium on Champs Élysées in Paris, he was fired from his team on grounds of lying about his whereabouts during his training period.
Michael was not tested positive in any of the 15 tests taken on him during the Tour 2007. When he was thrown out of the race he held a comfortable 3 minutes to second place Alberto Contador. The Tour de France 2007 was for all intents and purposes stopped prematurely.
Michael Rasmussen showed formidable form, fatigue and cunning, brilliant strategic planning and in every way he lived up to the legendary heroes of the Tour de France. To many's suprise (and apparantly dismay) he created the Tour 2007 single-handedly - of course with impressive support from his Rabobank teammates.
The decision to throw him out of the tour - three days from the podium in Champs Élysées - is not only a far cry from fair. It also represents a new moralist approach that has nothing to do with the idea that is the Tour de France: A poetic, brutal and extreme sport where rules are - if not irrelevant - then certainly secondary to the goal. As such the participants of the Tour de France are not role models to follow. As such the sport itself does not mirror the ever-changing moralities of the modern, western civilization. And as such, putting it under moral and political scrutiny says more about our society than it does about the Tour de France and indeed the participants themselves (even counting the bad apples).
It will happen again, when a tour-rider will be accused of not living up to expectations and regulations, and when heresays and rumours again will be swarming around his team and in the press. What then? Will this again be grounds on which to disqualify him from the race, fire him from his team or sanction him with even harsher means practically ruining his career (or going a long way to ensure that it is)?
The answer from a non-moralist and non-religious perspective is that this should never be the case. Indeed, I am not supporting doping. But I will remind that doping is a part of the Tour and will always be a part of extreme sports. Of course the sport should be clean. But when realizing it isn't, and when subsequently waging a new "war on drugs", it is absolutely imperative that we do not loose sight of what is important. Not the moral view of the decade. But steadfast principles as rule of law and civil rights. And of course the beauty, entertainment and downright action that is inherent in sports like the Tour de France.
So here is a tribute to Michael Rasmussen for representing the latter three. And of course a tribute to the poetry of the Tour itself. A poetry that Michael wrote so well during the tense days of the Tour 2007.
Thanks for reading!!
If you want to show your support there are sites out there where you can. For instance www.kyllingen.com (chicken) and the myspace profile www.myspace.com/michaelrasmussen_2007.
-mlv
Michael was not tested positive in any of the 15 tests taken on him during the Tour 2007. When he was thrown out of the race he held a comfortable 3 minutes to second place Alberto Contador. The Tour de France 2007 was for all intents and purposes stopped prematurely.
Michael Rasmussen showed formidable form, fatigue and cunning, brilliant strategic planning and in every way he lived up to the legendary heroes of the Tour de France. To many's suprise (and apparantly dismay) he created the Tour 2007 single-handedly - of course with impressive support from his Rabobank teammates.
The decision to throw him out of the tour - three days from the podium in Champs Élysées - is not only a far cry from fair. It also represents a new moralist approach that has nothing to do with the idea that is the Tour de France: A poetic, brutal and extreme sport where rules are - if not irrelevant - then certainly secondary to the goal. As such the participants of the Tour de France are not role models to follow. As such the sport itself does not mirror the ever-changing moralities of the modern, western civilization. And as such, putting it under moral and political scrutiny says more about our society than it does about the Tour de France and indeed the participants themselves (even counting the bad apples).
It will happen again, when a tour-rider will be accused of not living up to expectations and regulations, and when heresays and rumours again will be swarming around his team and in the press. What then? Will this again be grounds on which to disqualify him from the race, fire him from his team or sanction him with even harsher means practically ruining his career (or going a long way to ensure that it is)?
The answer from a non-moralist and non-religious perspective is that this should never be the case. Indeed, I am not supporting doping. But I will remind that doping is a part of the Tour and will always be a part of extreme sports. Of course the sport should be clean. But when realizing it isn't, and when subsequently waging a new "war on drugs", it is absolutely imperative that we do not loose sight of what is important. Not the moral view of the decade. But steadfast principles as rule of law and civil rights. And of course the beauty, entertainment and downright action that is inherent in sports like the Tour de France.
So here is a tribute to Michael Rasmussen for representing the latter three. And of course a tribute to the poetry of the Tour itself. A poetry that Michael wrote so well during the tense days of the Tour 2007.
Thanks for reading!!
If you want to show your support there are sites out there where you can. For instance www.kyllingen.com (chicken) and the myspace profile www.myspace.com/michaelrasmussen_2007.
-mlv