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INCREDIBLE: Basso and Mancebo Were Kicked OUT of Tour De France The main contender for the final win in Le Tour has been excluded by the organizers	By Ovidiu Panzariu, Sports Editor 30th of June 2006, 12:34 GMT Adjust text size:


What happens these days inside the world of cycling is truly unbelievable. I am simply speechless in expressing my feelings towards the latest discoveries before the Tour de France. The doping scandal - also known as "Manolo Saiz affair" - is proving to be far more serious than the "Festina affair" a few years ago. This time, almost every single contender for the final win in the Tour has been eliminated due to their involvement with Doctor Fuentes' network. After the 1997 Tour de France winner, German Jan ullrich, was withdrawn from the race by his own team earlier this morning, two other favorites for the final win - Ivan Basso and Francisco Mancebo - were excluded from the Great Boucle. The announcement was made by the race manager, Christian Prudhomme. So, after all of this, one day saw three of the best cyclists in Le Tour being "slaughtered" by the organizers. Although they are yet to be proven guilty, the three riders are now facing exclusion for being linked with Eufemiano Fuentes' doping network. More, after Ullrich, Mancebo and Basso, the Kazakh rider Alexander Vinovourov may also miss the Tour because of his team's involvement in the affair - Astana Wurth. Ivan Basso has won the Tour of Italy this year and, in specialists' opinion, he would have had a great chance of repeating that triumph in France. More, after Lance Armstrong decided to retire, nobody was giving anyone better chances of wearing the yellow jersey on Champs Elysees more but Basso. He even dared of winning Il Giro - Le Tour double in the same year, repeating his compatriot's performance in 1998, Marco Pantani. It seems, though, that the Italian's dreams of making that happen were destroyed 24 hours before the start of the race. ""The enemy is not cycling, the enemy is doping", said Prudhomme earlier today. Well, that doesn't give the three "losers" any comfort. Do you imagine the scandal if the three riders will be proven NOT-GUILTY after the trial?

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