Before and After: Rasmussen and Ricco Prepare to Come Back to Cycling Sans Doping . . . Hopefully

Michael Rasmussen was on the precipice of greatness two years ago at the Tour de France before being unceremoniously booted from the race by his own team for lying about his whereabouts on a UCI form. A year later, Italian Riccardo Ricco was found positive for EPO CERA, and was likewise booted from the Tour. Both riders will return to cycling in 2010, presumably without the assistance of drugs. Whether they will garner the same results however is another matter entirely.

Rasmussen, though not a time trialist, rode out of his skull at the 2007 Tour de France until he was kicked out. He was able to easily drop all of the riders in that year's race in the high mountains, with exception to "el pistolero" Alberto Contador. Rasmussen looked like a shoe-in to take top honors in Paris that year, but never got a chance after being removed form the Tour by his Rabobank team.

Riccardo Ricco too was having an amazing Tour before he was removed from the race for drug taking. The brash Italian, all of 22 years old, was seen (here at the Giro) flying off the front of the peloton as if he had a motor on several stages. Once caught, he flippantly admitted what he did, perhaps realizing that he still had his entire career ahead of him.

Now though, for both riders, things get very interesting. Rasmussen has announced that he'll have a new employer within the week, and that he feels confident that he'll get a chance to race at least in the Giro in 2010. But without doping, which he undoubtedly did his first time around, things may unfold differently for the lanky, skeleton-like Dane. Like Ivan Basso, Alexander Vinokorouv and many other riders who have returned after bans, the going is often much tougher for them than it was when they were cheating. Rasmussen will likely assume the role he has held since his suspension: an outlier, a side show attraction, but nothing more.

Ricco, unlike Rasmussen who is 35, is much younger and has a legitimate chance to clean up his tarnished image. "The Cobra" undoubtedly has it in him to be a great rider, but whether he can do so without cheating is another matter entirely. Ricco was known for his big mouth and attacking style before his suspension, it will be interesting to see if he retains any of his swagger this time around. Now 26 years old, Ricco will have a handful of years to make good legitimately as a pro, but with such a dark past it seems a matter of time before he is drawn to cheating again.

Whether Rasmussen and Ricco succeed is almost irrelevant. What is important is how they handle themselves upon their return. If they choose to be contrite and humble like Ivan Basso, they will likely win back many of their fans. But if they remain aloof, stubborn and arrogant like Alexander Vinokorouv, they should expect to be shunned by the cycling world much like the Kazakh nightmare himself is today.