Desperate times demand extreme actions.

With the arrest of Saunier Duval-Scott rider Ricardo Ricco yesterday, and teammate Leonardo Piepoli's firing by his squad today, it's become increasingly obvious that some guys still think that they can get away with cheating. Thankfully, many of those guys are being caught.

But imagine the anger and frustration of the riders who were robbed of stage wins in this year's Tour by Ricco. The second-place finishers, the guys who lost to the dopers and didn't get their moment on the podium. They didn't get to celebrate winning a stage in the Tour de France. They didn't get the attention that their sponsors paid for.

It's obvious that some riders simply disregard the pressure from the race organizers, and the various anti-doping organizations. It's time to exert some pressure from within the peloton.

How do you do that? Shut down the Tour. Today. Send everybody home. Don't go to Paris.

We first proposed this idea on KCBS-AM radio in San Francisco. You can listen to that interview here.

Outrageous? Yes. But imagine the outrage of the guys who ride clean and contend for the lead. They would be furious that their Tour had been taken away. This is, after all, a job. And there is major money on the line. Take away the Tour de France, and that money could dry up.

If you stop the Tour today, you know that the guys who ride clean will make darn sure that everyone who races around them does not dope...does not break the rules...does not endanger their jobs, and the jobs of countless others who rely on bike racing to make a living.

What if, for instance, guys like Thor Hushovd, Denis Menchov and David Millar had known that Ricardo Ricco was using EPO? You can bet you life that they would have had a little "chat" with Ricco. And that chat might have become violent. Ricco may have come away battered and bruised, but he probably would not have ever cheated again, or risk facing the wrath of his fellow hard-core riders.

That, in my opinion, is what it takes. You need to police this sport from within. You need to make the guys who race bikes for a living rise up and pressure the cheaters. You need to make them so mad that they take control of their own sport.

You need to shut down the Tour de France. It will be painful, but it may be the only way to save professional cycling.

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