Excerpt: "I'm still trying to get my head around Lance Armstrong.

Did he or didn't he? We'll probably never know whether the seven-times Tour de France champion was the squeaky clean competitor he so vehemently insists he was or whether he actually succumbed to the dark side and took the jab.

But what was once admiration for an athlete many considered to be beyond reproach and among the best of his generation has regrettably turned to suspicion. And each time another rider gives in to his cynical chemical urges, it puts the integrity of past champions like Armstrong squarely on the line.

It's the old "smoke and fire" and "guilt by association" scenario, and even if Armstrong is, and always has been, innocent, he will never erase the doubt.

Armstrong rode his last tour in 2005, but since then, 2006 champion Floyd Landis, this year's favourite Alexander Vinokourov and temporary leader Michael Rasmussen have continued the sordid saga of top riders facing accusations of cheating.

We still don't know if Landis is the official 2006 champion, such has been the interminably arduous arbitration process to either clear his name or confirm his guilt regarding claims of excessive testosterone. "