[editor's note, by chris] So it was all a hoax? That's where things stand now. I guess someone needed to sell some newspapers yesterday. Hopefully they'll apologize to Soler at some point.

If it's _  day, there must be a Cycling scandal brewing, right? With a big assist from Jens, I've caught that the Danish press and French Radio are reporting that another rider tested positive on stage 14. [Link in Danish, sorry. Stay tuned.] All we're told is it was someone wearing a leader's jersey, and Barloworld's hotel is apparently under Gendarmerie assault. While Soler turning up positive would be thoroughly depressing, I suppose it's better than Boonen or Contador, holders of the green and white tunics that day.

Update [2007-7-27 16:51:14 by chris]: Rumors are pointing at Mauricio Soler of Barloworld (1st in KOM points, 2nd in white jersey, winner of Stage 9), but nothing confirmed. Press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning, though I bet something will come out before then.

Another Update [2007-7-27 17:8:37 by chris]:: with h/t to TdFBlog.com, HLN (Belgium) is already naming Soler.

Some quick doping links:

• Rasmussen weeps for himself.

• Stephen Roche talks about the dopage generation gap in the Tour.

• If you're not thoroughly disgusted yet, read Christian Prudhomme ratcheting up the blamestorming for the next round of ASO hates UCI.