Vincenzo Nibali: Drugs are "abhorrent" and need to be eradicated from cycling

I don't believe cycling is suddenly clean because one guy (L.A) got caught.

I think that riding is 'cleaner', but we are not talking as clean as an autoclave. If we consider the 1990s as a sewer, the 2010s are more like bathing in a stream. It appears to be clean, but you can't tell what lurks below, and sometimes the water appears positively murky.

At the moment what prevents things from being 'shit' to carry on the metaphor, is the blood passport means that riders have to be more careful about how they raise and lower their blood values in order not to raise suspicions by micro dosing. LA knew how to circumvent the process - he knew the key was to get a blood value at a certain time and then set the base point at that. The rider then has to monitor the values to ensure that they don't rise too high or fall too low to arouse suspicion - regular blood monitoring can help with that (did anyone say Sky?) The point is that the lift they get can only be a few points, and so the racing we see is more authentic.

However, as other posters have mentioned, certain places seem to show the process more scrutiny. Spain has a history of being a dopers friend, and we shall have to wait and see what happens late August. Chris Horner's victory was a joke and you could see that on every riders face. I suspect that Nibali did his own Simeone move on Horner when he attacked in the Pyrenees this year, except this was sort of in reverse.

I have my sympathies with the athletes, most probably don't want to dope, but they know that their athletic ability is being trumped by syringes and red eggs. I wouldn't say any of them are clean, but some are cleaner than others....and there is honour amongst thieves as they say.....while Horner may train hard, his age belies his bodies ability in a way that only PED could have done.

Nibali? A talented cyclist, and probably a nice guy. I hope that one day that sentence doesn't sound open ended.

I agree with some of the other comments. I think Nibali probably is clean, I hope so anyway, but it's tragic that he's riding for Vinokourov's team.

By the way, in the Belgian and Dutch press today, it's reported that Vinokourov is being charged with paying €150,000 for a race win. Obviously the fact that he's charged doesn't necessarily mean he's guilty.

I think the Vuelta is a lost cause. And I'm fed up with Roger Hammond in the studio, who is not prepared to say anything against convicted dopers - that's my impression at least.

The vuelta feels way more dodgy than the tour to me, some stages in the last couple of years have featured the same rider attacking 5 or 6 times.

Veino. I wish we could get rid of him. Tosser.

Agreed about Vino and the Olympic road race, that hurt. Especially as Uran made such a hash of 'pretending to look the other way' at just the 'wrong' time. How much did he pay you, Rigo?

Anyway, Nibali. I reckon he's OK. And I hope someone less dodgy wins the Vuelta this year, it's becoming a joke.

Between 1991 and 2009 I lost all confidence in clean riding, but now you get a different vibe, more openness, more discussion from riders. It has changed, a lot. Yes, you will always get people who attempt to cheat but I think the likes of nibbles and other riders of his generation are riding clean. I just wish he wasn't riding for Astana, I hate that team and it's history, and wish vino could be banished from the sport.......but unlike the Armstrong witch hunt, he seems to have for away with it. Nothing was more crushing than seeing that arse win the Olympic road race, biggest waste of 6 hours of my life.

Well… let's wait and see. Honestly, although he is a strong rider, I can't believe he's clean. There are too many hints around pointing in the same direction as when LA was flying.