What a welcome home... cycling in meltdown (again)

I am not sure where I am with the sport of cycling at the moment.

Having had three weeks off for the wedding and honeymoon I have enjoyed some good riding this week. A great spin over the weekend with other riders chatting and some wonderful isloation in the fens working hard to find some speed in my legs.

It has been both socially rewarding and idyllic. Perfection on two wheels.

But all these romantic notions going around my brain are having to be reconciled against the latest storm of you know what hitting the fan in the professional sport.

Trust me when I say I have been around cycling long enough to understand that nothing should surprise you about pro teams and riders.

But Floyd Landis coming out of the closet at this late stage and trying to bring the whole Lance Armstrong/Johan Bruynnel/LiveStrong operation down even had me looking twice at the date of the article.

It would appear that there are a few things in this that we know are fact.

• The emails are authentic and definitely penned by Landis.
• The UCI has seen them as serious enough in their allegations to deny the content (possibly mindful of losing more spots in the Olympic games?).
• Lance Armstrong has produced his "...lacks credibiltiy" defence as he has done with Greg LeMond and Frankie Andreu's wife.

Now I dont know one way or another whether Lance Armstrong has cheated or not. I have no idea what these individuals motives are for going after him. But I have my own thoughts on both of those issues which may come out (road.cc lawyers permitting!!!).

One thing is for sure is that we need this sorting out once and for all for the long term good of cycling as a sport.

If Lance is guilty, let the people who know come forward and let's get him out of the sport. For good.

If he is clean then let's have definitive proof that can not be open to interpretation and then let us all move on.

Cycling is dying on its backside in the eyes of the media and sponsors. The key protagnoists claim to love the sport and want it to flourish.

Now is the time for them to show their balls and end this nonsense once and for all.