Interesting this year how many times have you heard Phil and Paul mention Bjarne Riis, Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso or Tyler Hamilton? They are non-people as far as the Tour reporting is concerned, which is just fine with me. As far as the Tour DQ’ing only Americans, lets not forget about Ullrich (Germany), Sinkivitz (Germany), Basso (Italy), several Spanish riders, Richard Verinck (years ago, France), and an entire Spanish riding team.
I don’t think many Americans would want to live under the rules the riders are forced to follow. They have to know where a rider is 24/7.
How would a person like to be out eating with his wife at a fancy joint and have an official come up to the table and say “Give me your arm, time for a blood sample.”