Competitive cycling is trying to get it’s act together, and has managed to get 189 riders to side their pledge against doping. I can not fault anybody for signing the pledge, but I would not have done it.

“Every rider has signed the pledge. I’m very happy with that,” UCI president Pat McQuaid said Friday. “It shows a commitment from the riders and the teams for a clean future. With each rider it’s a personal commitment. It gives a message to the world that cycling is not completely driven with drugs.”

Alessandro Petacchi is not one of those 189 riders. He was banned by the UCI (pending a hearing on July 24) for using his asthma medication during a race. He maintains that his use was not performance enhancing and was under the guidelines of his medical certificate.

(Sources: BBC – ESPN)