Honchar is left Honch-off
T-Mobile announced that the 37 year old time trial specialist, Sergei Honchar, will be left off of the Tour de France roster this year. He tested “suspicious” for doping earlier this year. Honchar won two stages in the Tour last year, and is regarded as one of T-Mobile’s best riders.
T-Mobile director, Bill Stapleton, said that Honchar is awaiting new test results, and that regardless of what comes back, Honchar will not have his contract renewed next year. Stapleton, an American, was brought on to clean up the T-Mobile team, which has been regarded as one of the dirtiest teams in the pro peloton. Stapleton has done wonders to get a clean team, but even he cannot get rid of doping all together.
Another day……..another doper. The tour is exactly one month away, and I expect at least 10 more riders to be implicated in some sort of doping scandal between now and then. We may not know the true Tour rosters until just before the Tour actually starts.
Leave a Reply