I was so sad to hear that the Kazakhstan-sponsored cyclists at the Tour de France, Team Astana, dropped out of the race. The team was led by Kazakhstani cyclist Alexander Vinokourov, was hit with charges of steroid abuse.
(This picture is not of Mr. Vinokourov, but Mr. Bazaev).
It looks as if the team's investors (or perhaps the Tour?) have taken the 
organization's Web site down (www.team-astana.eu). I did find a Team Astana Fan Page, however. I certainly hope Team A sticks around: first of all, I believe I want to purchase a couple of jerseys. Second, (and far more relevant here) the team is just one of the dominos to fall in this popular summer event. It's a bad year for the race, certainly: but it will not always be so.
According to the New York Times:
This year's Tour has lost at least two teams, the winners of four stages and the overall leader. But organizers have so far said the event would not be canceled. Doing so, said Patrice Clerc, the president of the company that organizes the Tour, would mean victory for the riders who violate the rules.
Besides Team Astana, based out of Switzerland, the French-sponsored Codifis team, have both dropped out, under much the same circumstances: their front-runner, Italian Christien Moureni, also tested positive for steroid use. The event's overall leader was Rabobank's Rasmussen, who has been de-wheeled for skipping blood tests.
And it certainly looks like the A-Team followed all the rules: they had already suspended the very-competitive Matthias Kessler of Germany, on June 27th.
Win a Race, Wreck Your Life:
Now you know I was going to get to the public health aspects of steroid use. Here is a message from Dr. Volkow at the (U.S.) National Institute on Drug Abuse:
Anabolic steroids, which are synthetic versions of the primary male sex hormone testosterone, can be injected, taken orally, or used transdermally. These drugs are Controlled Substances that can be prescribed to treat conditions such as body wasting in patients with AIDS, and other diseases that occur when the body produces abnormally low amounts of testosterone. However, the doses prescribed to treat these medical conditions are 10 to 100 times lower than the doses that are abused for performance enhancement.
. . . .while anabolic steroids can enhance certain types of performance or appearance, they are dangerous drugs, and when used inappropriately, they can cause a host of severe, long-lasting, and often irreversible negative health consequences. These drugs can stunt the height of growing adolescents, masculinize women, and alter sex characteristics of men. Anabolic steroids can lead to premature heart attacks, strokes, liver tumors, kidney failure and serious psychiatric problems. In addition, because steroids are often injected, users risk contracting or transmitting HIV or hepatitis.
Unfortunately, we seem to be going through an athletic version of the Cold War Arms Race when it comes to performance-enhancement chemistry. Ah, brinkmanship. That's what we do when we want to waste some money and mortgage our futures.
In the meantime: next year: Always Team Astana!!!
Further reading:
Alexander Vinokourov's Web site
NYT: After positive test, team quits Tour de France
Tour de France Web site–the English language version
Steroid Abuse Poster–That Explains it All and is not from a Preachy Government Agency
