WADA-Heck!! Do you see the difference?

The pictures speak a thousand words.

Another priceless gem from my collection of books and magazines - this one from the 2006 Livre d'Or du Cyclisme (Golden Book of Cycling) written by my friend Jean Francois Quenet or Jeff, who also has the Malay name of Jaafar Qonet given to him, having been a regular visitor of Malaysia the past 13 years.

The 51st page of the book shows what Jeff describes as a "decomposed" Charly Gaul (on top) hosted by the finish atop the Monte Bondone, one of the Dolomites, in the 1956 Giro. The bottom pic shows, 50 years later up the same Dolomite, an Ivan Basso looking "fresh as a roach" getting onto the podium.

Now, maybe Gaul had the wrong kinda pasta for breakfast on June 8, 1956. Maybe his bike was a couple of kilos heavier than Basso's Cervelo.

But 14 months later, Basso's exit in shame on June 30, 2006 when while preparing as the main favourite to succeed Lance Armstrong as winner of cycling's greatest race kind of provided some explanations. Tour de France organisers the ASO had announced a list of riders not welcome to start the Tour that year and Basso was one of them. Later his admission that he "had attempted to dope" to win the Tour de France, handed him a two-year suspension, which has since been exhausted.

Look back 50 years and the cyclists doped as well. But the dope they used were amphetamines, caffeine and cocaine. Maybe some other easily available stuff as well. And 50 years from Gaul's era, doping has become a multi-million euro business for willing sports doctors.

The World Anti-Doping Agency running out of funds fighting the battle in the courts like they're doing here ?

Long live the doctors, cos Basso never really tested positive. He just had relations with Dr. Eufemiano Fuentes. But his forced admission that he had contacted a doctor specialising in blood doping was enough to get him banned. So, how does the WADA really catch the dopers? How many Dr. Fuentes' are out there?