Everybody has an opinion on ex-dopers, discussion on the subject can be explosive.More often than not, when a rider returns from a doping suspension, they are held with suspicion - from fans and riders alike. The majority of us dislike them, we feel they have made 'yet another' mockery of the sport, taken for granted a position in the professional peloton that any one of us would kill for. There was generally a bad taste in many a fans mouth after the Olympic road race when ex-doper Vinokourov took gold, similarly Alejandro Valverde has widely been shunned by the cycling public since his return to the ProTour and Ricardo Ricco was practically a laugh stock when he came back from suspension, only to be suspended again shortly afterwards. Alberto Contador though, has produced a much more mixed reaction...

In a weekend that promised Team GB's first Olympic gold medal for Mark Cavendish but delivered only a silver for Lizzie Armistead, it was left to Enduras Jon Tiernan-Locke to finally secure a win for British cycling. OK, so it wasn't exactly Olympic, but its a win none the same and one that continues to promise a bright future for Britains bike riders...

Saturday will see a stack of Olympians on two wheels tackle the men's road race. The 250km route starts and finishes in London but heads into Surrey to take in 9 laps of Box Hill. Its not a summit finish though, and the race heads back on flat roads into the capital and outside Buckingham Palace for the finishing straight. Riders will ditch their trade team colours in favour of their national ones in a race that sees team-mates become enemies, well, sort of...

Radioshack-Nissan's Jakob Fuglsang has been well and truly given the cold-shoulder by the teams management who dropped him from the Tour de France line-up at the last minute in favour of Chris Horner, even though he had been the teams most consistent performer in the run up to the French stage race. Following his absence from the roster Fuglsang immediately expressed his dissatisfaction and his desire to leave, the team responded by ruling him out of any remaining WorldTour events for the rest of the year, though Jakob will be hoping he gets a ride ride for three teams in the space of 7 months...

This is Surrey's answer to L'Alpe d'Huez and it's what awaits the riders of the Olympic Road Race this weekend. A favoured picnic spot for those living in the capital there are unrivalled views of the city and the Surrey hill's from the summit. Though not steep enough to have the Peloton puffing on the first ascent, at 2.5km Long, and averaging 5.3% there will certainly be some sore legs after the 9 circuits (9 for the men's race, 2 for the women's) needed to take a medal at the Weekend. For those with a fiver on Cavendish, I wouldn't get counting your chickens just yet - the 9 laps of box hill are similar in length and gradient to many a Tour de France alpine climb (on which Cavendish usually drops off the back pretty quickly) and though I expect the peloton to remain in one group come the finish line, having the energy to sprint to victory is a different matter. I'm going to be brave and put Peter Sagan's name on this one...

With the Tour de France now just a memory there is usually a slight lull in the the season that can frustrate fans and riders alike. Fans have nothing to watch until the season picks up again towards the Vuelta and the pro's equally find it difficult to adjust to life back at home and back to training for a couple of weeks. This year will be slightly different as many head off to the Olympics which of course provides cycling fans with some much needed televised entertainment as well. Taking place right now though, are the 'Post Tour Criterium' races throughout France, Belgium, Germany, Holland, Denmark and elsewhere providing fans with a slightly more 'rehearsed' spectacle...

Though this Tour de France hasn't exactly been a vintage year for excitement, there's more to the race than just the General Classification. Each year we hear of stories and anecdotes regarding acts of bravery, stupidity, even heroism and this year hasn't been short of these things either. Professional Road Cycling is undoubtedly one of the toughest, most arduous sports on the plannet. It requires a level of dedication, effort and physical ability far beyond most sports and when accidents occur, the dangers are such that these can often be at worst fatal, and at best extremely painful, which means as a rider, you have to be made of pretty tough stuff...

Just as the race looks to reach a new height of excitement (at last) as it meanders into the Pyrenees for today's stage 16 and tomorrows stage 17, a new rest day doping scandal rears its ugly head and casts a shadow over the Tour de France. This time it is Frank Schleck in the firing line as it comes to light following a doping control at the end of stage 14 that Franks 'A' test has been found to contain the diuretic Xipamide, but is there something far darker at work here...

Though the Tour de France is currently taking centre stage in the world of cycling, it's important not to forget that another high(ish) profile race has been happening over the last 7 days. The Tour of Poland isn't everyones first choice of cycling entertainment especially when it clashes with the Tour, but it's a good race that usually gives us an insight into up and coming talent to keep our eyes on over the next couple of seasons. This year has been no exception with 21 year old Italian Moreno Moser winning overall today ahead of the likes of Rigoberto Uran, Alexandr Kolobnev and Sergio Luis Henao. If the name Moser rings a bell, then it's for good reason...

On the first stage in the Pyrenees we could have expected some attacking riding. Though the final climb Mur de Péguère is a super steep new addition to the Tour, it was still 40km from the finish and any likely attack would probably be made on the descent by Vincenzo Nibali only to be caught further on up the road. As it was, thanks to some deliberate sabotage there were no attacks in the Yellow Jersey group, it was more a case of Tack's...

With Team Sky leading the general classification with a cool 1-2 in the shape of Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, French cycling fans also have something to smile about today. Pierre Rolland road away on his own to take victory on the Tours most mountainous stage yesterday and finishing behind him, second on the stage with the Yellow Jersey group was the youngest rider in this years Tour, Thibaut Pinot. The French have been waiting a very long time for a realistic General Classification contender and typically now it appears two have come along at once. This is the French Revolution...

So, 10 days down and here we are at our first rest day. The riders will be hoping to get a good day today and for many a rest day usually consists of breakfast, a couple of hours steady paced riding to keep the legs moving, plenty of films, games and sleep. After yesterdays time trial however, I suspect Cadel Evans will not be resting easy today...

The race finally headed skywards this weekend (in more ways than one) as riders faced a couple of undulating 'middle mountain' stages. Stages 7 and 8 were tough for everybody, though some felt the effects more than others. Here are this weekends winners and losers...

6 Stages in, not a mountain climbed and already some huge time gaps appearing. Thanks to a massive crash on yesterdays stage 6. The flattest stage of the Tour has destroyed the podium hopes of some and damaged others. The general classification has been truly scrambled, with many riders withdrawing from the race following some horrific injuries...

It has been a busy day in the 'Lance Armstrong affair' with various new goings on regarding the USADA Investigation into the doping of Lance Armstrong and his associates. It's a complex case and today's new snippets of (false) information have left many questioning who, what, where, why and when. So here is a summary of today's events in the most basic sense I can make of it, oh and a little of my own opinion too...

As crashes continue to dominate the first week of the Tour (as is tradition) with Sky's Mark Cavendish and Bernhard Eisel hitting the deck amongst others with 2km to go in today's stage 4 leaving Andre Greipel to take victory in a depleted final sprint, tactics and targets are quietly changing backstage. With Siutsou crashing out yesterday possibly hampering team-mate Bradley Wiggins efforts in the coming weeks to win the overall classification, an equally intriguing scenario may be occurring over at Europcar - With Thomas Voeckler looking ever more likely to abandon, unlike with Team Sky, could his exit play into the hands of team-mate Pierre Rolland?...

As is so often the case in the Tour de France, the early stages are often marred by crashes as riders nervously fight for positioning within the bunch. Nobody knows this better than Bradley Wiggins who crashed out early in last years Tour with a broken collarbone. Today's stage saw a couple of crashes, one within the final 3km that held up some race favourites, including Bradley Wiggins, though they were given the same finish time as Peter Sagan as is customary following an accident in the final 3 kilometres. Worse for team Sky and in particular Bradley Wiggins though was an earlier crash which saw Kanstantsin Siutsou abandon the Tour with a fractured left tibia. The question is, how will this effect Wiggins and his chances of success...

Stage 2 was always going to be one for the sprinters. The token fourth category climb before the midway point proved to be no trouble at all for the majority of the riders and certainly not the all new 'leaner, lighter' Mark Cavendish. If today's example of a perfect sprint was Mark Cavendish 'not at the top-end', then Kittel, Greipel and Goss will be left wondering just how is it possible to beat the Manx Missile?...

On the face of it, today's stage was pretty straight forward. The favourite won. In this victory though, is a question of tactics. Peter Sagan won, thanks largely to second placed Fabian Cancellara. Is Sagan a wheelsucker? Cancellara tactically poor? There is no definitive answer, but here's my view...