Boxing is known as the "sweet science," but wouldn't the term be more appropriate for cycling than for ear-biting displays and disqualifications for excessive holding?
Then again, even the Tour de France -- cycling's grand event -- has had its share of bizarre and unsportsmanlike incidents.
Just like boxers, professional cyclists are intensely competitive. But they are more apt to respect fellow combatants than to denigrate them. Raised voices are uncommon. Throwing a punch is very rare.
After just one week, however, this year's race has been plagued by crashes, disqualifications and a freak water bottle-throwing incident.
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| Erik Zabel was relegated to last place in the sixth stage after interfering with another rider's "line." (Allsport) |
BEFORE THE UNEDUCATED SCOFF at what appears to be a less than jolting issue, understand the most severe of the Tour's three blemishes to date: Tossing a water bottle at a competitor in a 40-mph pack sprint to the finish line can easily be compared to Mike Tyson snacking on Evander Holyfield's ears.
Certainly, the organizers of the Tour de France didn't take the issue lightly.
If you recall, in last Friday's sixth stage, Tom Steels was ejected from the race for throwing his water bottle at Frederic Moncassin in the final meters of the race. Considering the potential danger involved, the penalty was swift and warranted. Had the errant water bottle caused a rider to swerve and a massive crash occurred, the result could have been more devastating than Holyfield's detached ear.
On the same day, veterans Erik Zabel and Djamolodine Abdujaparov also disregarded the race's rules of the road and were severely -- and appropriately -- penalized.
Zabel, who won the seventh stage Saturday, was relegated to last place in the sixth stage after interfering with another rider's "line" while approaching the finish line.
As if the stage hadn't had enough controversy, Abdujaparov, who originally placed third, was jettisoned from the race after failing a post-race drug test.
THE POINT HERE IS THAT THE Tour de France may look tranquil, with television broadcasts showing the field cruising through the beautiful French countryside. And what's so difficult about pedaling along a country road?
Stages of the race, however, can be determined in a split-second. Keep in mind, a smooth-looking field of nearly 200 riders can be transformed into a massive tangle of smashed bicycles and bloodied bodies because of a rock in the road or a careless maneuver on a hairpin turn.
Barring such extremes, though, the disqualifications, drugs and flying water bottles can work in a bizarre way to enlighten the public about the sport's misunderstood nature.
While in no way condoning the Tour's problems last week, at least the public can now understand that cycling is serious business, particularly when the Tour de France is at stake.
Incidents in other sports -- from spitting at umpires to ear-biting -- are embarrassments. The respective governing bodies should reprimand the principles involved quickly and accordingly.
Cycling is showing how that's done. When emotions flare and sportsmanship is lost on greed, credit the Tour de France for its swift and severe penalties.
There were no postponed decisions, no political grandstanding and no athlete posturings before the Tour de France made its decisions last week.
Throw a water bottle at another rider during a sprint at the Tour de France, and your plane ticket home is waiting. Race dangerously and your win is taken away. Fail a drug test and your race is over.
"YESTERDAY, I ACCEPTED THE DECISION of the jury," said Zabel, who responded to his disappointment by winning again the next day.
Perhaps it's too much to ask, but maybe the sporting world can learn something from the Tour de France.
Cycling is largely a misunderstood sport in the United States. But it conducts itself by rules and regulations just like football, basketball, baseball and boxing.
But when the rules are broken, penalties are dispensed on no uncertain terms and the race moves on without looking back.
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