Now, before you get all cross with me for being anti-French, I’m not. I just think many of the things French authorities do (such as ban cyclists from using certain asthma drugs not because they improve performance, but because they look kind of like other chemcials that do…) and many of the things the French media does (see any news story from l’Equipe, Le Monde, Le Parisien Libere containing the words “Lance,” “Armstrong” and “dopage“) are a tad bit ridiculous. That having been said, I like France, and acknowlege that the folks over there are by means excessively dirty (and certainly not so compared to other Europeans).
Subject: Lance and France
Friday, August 26 th, 2005; 11:00 PM PARIS, France —Lance Armstrong’s record setting seventh Tour de France victory, along with his entire Tour de France legacy, may be tarnished by what could turn out to be one of the greatest sports scandals of all time. Armstrong is being quizzed by French police after three banned substances were found in his South France hotel room while on vacation after winning the 2005 Tour de France.
The three substances found were toothpaste, deodorant, and soap which have been banned by French authorities for over 75 years. Armstrong’s girlfriend and American rocker Sheryl Crowe is quoted as saying “we use them every day in America, so we naturally thought they’d be ok throughout Europe.”
Along with these three banned substances, French authorities also physically searched Armstrong himself and found several other interesting items that they have never seen before, most notably a backbone.