Mixed Metaphor Meaning Less

From a hopeless ignorant article on cycling and drugs comes this doozy of a sentence:

Despite all the scandals, the sport of professional cycling continues to power forward like a rider straining toward the crest of Alpe d’Huez, the famous French peak that has been featured in many Tours.

 So does this mean slowly, covered in sweat, and, as Tim Krabbe put it, like a "pantomime of strength" or lithely and quickly like an angel of the mountains. Are there no editors over to the NYT?

Also, too Baseball MVP nabbed for narco is Baseball now under a cloud? Or, much like cycling, coming out of one.