In another illustration of the destructive impact of drugs on sport, what little credibility continued to attach to professional cycling has all but disintegrated following confirmation on Saturday that Tour de France winner Floyd Landis tested positive during the event for abnormal levels of testosterone.
The American has protested his innocence, claiming his body naturally produces high levels of testosterone, the male sex hormone. But the problem is that his protestations are virtually irrelevant.
The damage is already done because of the established association between professional cycling and drug- enhanced performance. Even before this year's Tour, three of the pre-race favourites were prevented from starting on foot of a Spanish police investigation into blood doping among cyclists and other sportspeople. And such is the degree of suspicion over the sport that all performances, no matter how worthy, are now blackened.
The world cycling authorities will argue, with some justification, that these events demonstrate that they are tackling the problem and that they are paying the price of an approach not matched by other sports. But nobody believes they've got to the root of the problem. As courageously recorded by former professional cyclist Paul Kimmage in his book, Rough Ride, a culture of silence has facilitated cheating. And it is not new. As long ago as 1967, the Tour de France witnessed the death of English rider Tommy Simpson due, in part, to doping. There have been many more cases over the years. And Landis's positive test creates an unprecedented hat-trick whereby the winners of the most recent of cycling's three major stage races are implicated in doping.
Cycling has no monopoly in drug-enhanced performance. The image of athletics has sustained huge damage, compounded by the disclosure a week ago that Justin Gatlin, the Olympic and world 100-metre champion, has failed a drugs test. Nine athletes trained by Gatlin's coach Trevor Graham have been banned since from participation in next month's Berlin Golden League meeting. Swimming too has been severely undermined by drug abuse.
But such is the nexus between cycling and cheating that it is facing the greatest threat to its future. In responding, cycling's authorities should not fear further negative publicity as cheats are exposed. They must encourage whistle-blowers and ban for life those who test positive. And across all sports, corporate sponsors must consider their positions. By controlling the purse strings, they hold the ultimate sanction in dealing with drugs cheats. Because in modern sport, money talks.