“Astana rose from the ashes of the risibly corrupt Liberty Seguros Cycling Team, which disbanded in 2006 when manager Manolo Saiz was caught in the anti-doping sting Operacion Puerto. Liberty Seguros’ star racer, Kazakh cyclist Alexandre Vinokourov and then-Prime Minister Akhmetov cobbled together some Kazakh sponsors and Astana was born. Vinokourov and Kazakh teammate Andrei Kashechkin promptly tested positive for blood doping, and Astana was kicked out of the 2007 Tour de France and banned in ‘08.”

At this point I’ve come to expect that everyone is cheating in sports (and in life in general for that matter), and that the cheating is more or less equal across the game, be it cycling, baseball, football or whatever. The only time I generate anything close to outrage about this kind of cheating is when it is clearly unequal.

It is strange though that Lance Armstrong, who issued such strong denials against accusations of doping in years past, would want to associate himself with such a checkered past.

Maybe someone who knows more than me about professional cycling can offer a good explanation based on the dynamics of the sport.