Hard to keep up with Hein

HEIN VERBRUGGEN, former Union Cycliste Internationale president, fired a broadside at the Tour de France this week in the aftermath of three doping scandals. "Cycling should ask itself if it still needs the Tour," he was quoted as saying in the Dutch newspaper AD . "It is synonymous with doping. There are idiots in the peloton who take more risks in the Tour than anywhere else. That can't continue …" Is this the same Verbruggen who, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, accused the media of beat-ups over reports about the emergence of the drug erythropoietin (EPO) and tragic deaths of some users? Is this the same Verbruggen who is still closely associated with the UCI that is at war with the Tour organisers over its flawed ProTour series that the Tour organisers reject? Yes … on both counts. Wallabies on road FORMER Wallabies Simon Poidevin and Warwick Waugh are riding their bikes several hours ahead of the event on the race route. With no racing on Monday, they visited several riders' hotels. Poido had Wallabies jumpers to present to the Australian riders. Gerrans rocks on ON the list of "things to do" given to me by the Herald 's sports editor before the Tour began was to explain what it is like for a rider to win a stage. Who wrote it, he didn't care. So a game of "rock, paper or scissors" was played with the Herald 's exclusive online blogger Simon Gerrans at Embrun on Sunday morning to decide who'd write it. Gerrans won. How's that for luck? Read his blog on www.smh.com.au Quote of the day "Am I talking too much?"