A lot has made the news since my last post. I apologize for the infrequency of these stories as I have been busy with other things. The latest news in the pro peloton is all not good news. Actually, that depends on your own outlook with the sport. There were further confirmations of EPO CERA use, which is a big negative, but if you consider the fight with doping, it's good news...the cheats are being caught and punished.

Now, unlike ever before, the testing and research capabilities involved with potential performance enhancing drugs have followed pace, or even surpassed, that of the dopers. We hope this creates a deterrent that will make some cyclists think twice before they consider using these substances.

It's unfortunate that Team Gerolsteiner has to suffer the bad press involving their 2 riders' positives. Already leaving the sport at the end of this year, the last thing Hans Michael Holzer needed was bad press related to this. German Stefan Schumacher's positive was no big surprise to anyone but nonetheless sad. We desperately wanted to believe Schumacher just stepped up his game and had the form of his life to win both Tour de France time trials. Sure, it was a huge shock to everyone when he easily beat Fabian Cancellara and other known time trial specialists but we all gave him the benefit of the doubt. We were mistaken. Our trust was abused.

Follow up:

His teammate, Austrian Bernhard Kohl, was the other revelation of this year's Tour. He came out of nowhere to win the King of the Mountains jersey and 3rd place overall all the while cementing himself as the next great Austrian hope. He too has disappointed us. Like Schumacher, we wanted to believe that Kohl has stepped up to the next level. He has shown promise in the past, when he was riding with Jan Ullrich at T-Mobile, so this year could have been the stepping stone for Kohl. But no, instead of possible future glory, he faces humiliation and an uncertain future.

Both Schmacher and Kohl face 2 year bans. They both are still young and can physically ride again but will there be a team (or race) willing to give them a chance?

Speaking of 2nd chances, Italian Ivan Basso is set to complete his return to cycling at the end of this month at the Japan Cup. Liquigas gave Basso a contract hoping the past will slowly make way for some honest results. I think the peloton will receive Basso warmly even if he may not deserve it. Basso's return will be closely watched and he is confirmed to ride the Giro d'Italia in 2009 while hoping for a return to the Tour a year after that. He's an enormous talent that made a bad choice and it would be exciting to watch him battle it out with a certain American next May.

That brings us to our next story, a positive one. More news has emerged about Lance Armstrong's comeback. The UCI has confirmed that Armstrong will be allowed to return to racing in Australia at the Tour Down Under. There was a week of question marks because Armstrong just missed the 6 month rule requiring athletes to enter the out of competition testing pool prior to their first race. If the UCI interpreted the rule exactly to the "T", Armstrong would not have been allowed to race. But there was a bit of ambiguity in the books that allowed the UCI to confirm his participation. The organizers of the Tour Down Under literally held their breath until the notice came out. Some say Armstrong received a favor from the UCI. They also forgot that Mario Cipollini was allowed to race the Tour of California under similar circumstances.

Armstrong also confirmed his entrance into the Giro d'Italia, setting up a repeat of the 2005 Tour de France match up where Basso finished 2nd. Armstrong also hinted that he may skip the Tour de France altogether in favor of the Italian Tour and said that he will be riding to win. This is exciting news for the race. Armstrong will elevate the Giro to another level since the race has been mostly known as a domestic affair. Will Armstrong go for the Giro / Vuelta double similar to Contador? This will alleviate any conflict between the Spaniard but also give Armstrong the opportunity to ride some of the races he never would have entered during his 7 year reign at the French Tour. This sets up for a very exciting 2009 season.

Speaking of comebacks, some of you who've been around cycling for a while will know the name Raúl Alcalá. Think back to the 1990 Tour de France. While riding for PDM (same team as Erik Bruekink), Alcalá stormed to a huge stage victory in the stage 7 Vittel to Épinal time trial in a rain storm. This is the same stage where people started questioning whether Greg LeMond had the form to defend his yellow jersey. LeMond finished a disappointing 5th, a full 2 minutes behind Alcalá and slower than Indurain (pre 5 Tours), Gianni Bugno and Pedro Delgado! LeMond blamed his ride on the weather but surely not on his radical looking handlebars that made him look like a bullet. Sure enough, Greg was right. He was on form and eventually did capture the 1990 Tour to complete his trifecta.

Sorry, went on a tangent. Those were the days though! Anyways, Alcalá is considering a full time comeback and even recently raced the Vuelta Chihuahua in Mexico. Although he eventually had to drop out a few days into the race because of a crash, he says he fully intends to ride in 2009. Recently, the current Scott-American Beef team has stated that it will return next season with additional new sponsors from Mexico and that Alcalá just might be on the roster. At 44, his comeback is much more of a dream than Lance's. But we've all been surprised before.

The 2008 season is not done, at least not until they race the Giro di Lombardia this weekend. Will Damiano Cunego raise his arms a third time? He has stiff competition in the likes of Cadel Evans and Samuel Sanchez. I'm not sure if new World Champion Alessandro Ballan will race but he will more likely ride for Cunego as this classic has a bit more hills than his heavier frame would like.

Let's enjoy the end to the 2008 season, put up our bikes in favor of some skis and wait for the exciting 2009 season to roll our way!