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@Wayfarer
This is the headline on the cover of the Tour preview of the French left leaning paper Liberation published 4th July. Its not obvious exactly how to render it in English, but 'piqure' is a jab or a shot, and 'rappel' a reminder - so maybe "A Jab of Memory".
I've just belatedly read this and even though I'm well used to French dislike of Armstrong I find myself a bit shocked by the bitterness and the level of vitriol. Libe (as it is known, and you'll have to imagine the acute accent on the final e since I can't make this keyboard show it), Libe takes it as a given that Lance is a villain and allows its anger to spread out to almost everyone concerned with the Tour. "Lance accro au Tour et vice versa." is the page 2 headline - 'accro' is 'hooked', and the allegation is that the Tour organisation has welcomed him back, in spite of his obvious (to them) guilt, because he raises the Tour's media profile. "The Tour busily polishes its tiles and washes its walls in the name of its sacrosanct cleanliness while welcoming Lance with an invitation to tea and cakes....this is something to snigger at."
Libe accuses the Amaury Sports Organisation (the Tour's owners) of sacking its own former boss, Patrice Leclerc, for being too absolutist in the battle against doping. The result: last year testing was the sole responsibility of the Agence Francais de Lutte contre le Dopage (AFLD), this year it is shared with the UCI and Libe suggests this could mean the tests could be "foutu par terre" (fucked).
This year's weapon of choice for the big stars, they say, is 'autotransfusion' (i.e. transfusions of their own blood). Presumably this is too difficult to organise for all the domestiques. Libe also mentions two new substances 'GW15-16' (a brand of engine oil) which is said to modify muscle fibres to improve endurance, and 'S107' (107 as in Peugeot, and S as in sport), an antifatigant.
Finally, would anyone like to comment on the allegation that the Tour of California, which Armstrong rode last February, was openly sponsored by Amgen, one of the main producers of EPO ?