According to cyclingnews.com, the city of Stuttgart - host to the 2007 World Championships - has threatened to sue the UCI (!) if Danilo Di Luca and Paolo Bettini are at the start line of the World Championship road race on Sunday.

Di Luca I can kinda see, because he's been implicated (not proven, just implicated, which now means "guilty" in pro cycling) in another doping scandal (not Puerto).

But Bettini? That's just plain dumb.

Bettini has agreed to DNA testing, but - and this is where he's really taking a stand for something that matters, and why the city of Stuttgart is all bent out of shape - Bettini does not want to sign the UCI's code of ethics because the UCI puts all of the blame and all of the punishment squarely on the shoulders of the cyclist.

NOT the team management.
NOT the team doctors.
NOT the sponsors.
NOT the race organizers.
NOT the parties who stand to benefit the spectacle that pro cyclists provide.

Only the cyclist. Clearly, it's his fault, his idea, his doing, his organization, all performed in a black box with no help or assistance from anyone at all, despite constant reports that managers, doctors and sponsors know about or even assist with doping.

According to the UCI, the only party who should be punished when doping occurs is the cyclist himself, and that happens in the form of an annual salary.

Unbelievable.

The whole problem with doping in pro cycling is that the riders are pressured by teams, managers, sponsors, and organizers to do inhuman things. They're taunted with big bonuses if they can win sprints or stages, so can you really blame the rider alone for succumbing to pressure?

To put it in perspective, if you make $30,000 to $40,000 annual salary as a domestique for a great team, that's basically your salary cap. If you've got a wife and kid, that's your max earning potential, so you'd really better make the best of it. And unless you're the next Lance or Boonen, you're not gonna get much better as a cyclist and consequently you probably won't make more money. But pro cyclists are people, too. They have bills, they take vacations, they have homes and repairs and unexpected costs. Surely some of those riders might try to bend the rules if it might increase their earning potential. Everyone could use an extra $10,000.

I'm not condoning doping, but it's not solely the fault of the rider. The managers, sponsors, and organizers need to share in the responsibility. And right now, they're not. The UCI seems to think that all blame - 100% of it - should go to the rider himself.

And I'm not even going to get into the constant "guilty by association" stories that make it in the news all the time. Ok, I will, but just a little bit. Why is it that the newspapers are the first ones to find out, even when doing so explicitly proves several lab protocols (disclosure rules and anonymous testing, for example) were totally violated? And the newspapers themselves stand (surprise!) to make a huge chunk of money when they sell extra copies of their otherwise worthless paper the next day? I don't trust the newspapers or the drug labs, because they're provably working together with direct financial gain at stake.

And the UCI thinks the only party who should be punished is the rider... It's just stunning.

The city of Stuttgart has threatened to sue the UCI if Danilo Di Luca and Paolo Bettini start in Sunday's World Championship road race. Di Luca is allegedly on the verge of being suspended on doping-related charges, and Bettini has still not signed the UCI code of ethics, the city said.

A spokesman for the city told the dpa press agency that it feared the loss of sponsors and television coverage, saying the damages could be as high as one million Euros.

UCI spokesman Enrico Carpani has said that Bettini's signature is not necessary for him to start. however, Susanne Eisenmann, the Championships organizer and the city's chief of sports, has said that the city does not want him to start. Bettini's attorney told the dpa that his client had signed a document acceptable to the UCI on July 10.

CONI, the Italian Olympic Committee, is said to be ready to suspend Di Luca for three months for working with the "doping doctor" Carlo Santuccione.

The 2007 World Championship road race is only days away, and several countries have announced their final team selections. Germany is officially including Erik Zabel, he will be co-lead with Stefan Schumacher. Other favorites include Paolo Bettini, Damiano Cunego and Davide Rebellin on the Italian team, and George Hincapie, Vande Velde and David Zabriskie on the U.S. team. Unfortunately, a few days ago Tom Boonen officially dropped out of the Belgian team due to recent injuries.

Despite ongoing drug problems, random behavior, negligent & dangerous parenting, and generally all-around sucking, Britney Spears is still in the news. Even the BBC is covering her latest goings on (Britney is dropped by management).

She just got busted for committing a hit-and-run, in broad daylight, in front of paparazzi who took photos and video...

I don't get it. Why do we care about Britney?