Lance Armstrong

[octatonic]

I'm not sure "upset" is fair - I don't feel any strong emotions about the thing. But Armstrong is a dick whether or not I or anyone else cares at all about cycling, surely?

I wasn't posting it about any individual responses here.

[jalapeno]

Didn't watch the Oprah recordings, but from the clips I heard on the radio he sounds pretty delusional - whining that others only got 6mth bans - wise up Dude, they coughed up everything, admitted they were wrong and moved on, and Lance old chum you haven't disclosed anything at all yet other than you were a cheating little barsteward, which we'd all worked out anyway.

(And you broke Sheryl's heart you git !)

[littlegreenman]

I went to Paris in '05 specifically to see Lance "win" TdF#7. Do I feel cheated? Not really. It was a magical experience, and quite ironic that the Champs Elysee victory that day went to Alexandr Vinokourov.

Doping has been part of all high level sport for such a long time now that it's the norm. Lance's Italian doping doctor seems to have dropped off the map ever since the rumours that his little black book was full of top flight footballers. UEFA have always distanced themselves from any serious investigations into doping in footy, despite the fact that it's clearly prevalent.

That LA managed to "pass" every dope test in his entire career to me speaks volumes of the complicity of the entire sport, governing bodies included. I don't doubt it's similar in most other sports.

Despite all that, I still have a romantic connection to the Tour that goes back to my childhood and I'll always follow it.

[PhantomRouge]

Le Tour will survive any drugs scandal. It's bigger than any rider is. But what people like to forget is that the sport is cleaner than ever, especially with the biological passport. However, a few still slip through the cracks, but they tend to be riders who are prolonging their careers by a year or two, and are not GC contenders.

I agree with Hamilton, LeMond, et al., in that McQuaid is the biggest obstacle in making the sport truly clean. The man is deluded, and seems content with calling everyone a liar, rather than accepting that there is a problem.

[Sporky_McGuffin]

I wasn't posting it about any individual responses here.

I didn't think you were - sorry if my reply came across that way.

[octatonic]

I didn't think you were - sorry if my reply came across that way.

No worries, no apology needed. :-)

[Big Paulie]

Despite all that, I still have a romantic connection to the Tour that goes back to my childhood and I'll always follow it.

I've loved the sport, and Le Tour in particular, since witnessing Greg LeMond win the ITT and Tour proper in Paris in 1989. At the age of 12 I wasn't totally sure about what I was seeing but I knew it was something special.



Le Tour will not suffer for Lance's cheating, or anyone else for that matter. As stated above, it's bigger than that.

To look at Lance's wrongdoings purely in the context of cycling is surely missing an opportunity to implement some real changes in competitive sport overall.

[Snap]

I think he's supremely arrogant, to the point where he clearly believes anything he tells himself. He's just a massive liar. I think he's blown it really, and with a bit of luck he'll fade into obscurity, which will crease a bloke like him.

He could be looking at prison too, perjury

[Big Paulie]

He could be looking at prison too, perjury

Among MANY other things!

Let him rot.

[ChrisJordan]

Let him go. As I've said before. it's only a game. All the things he's been accused of are fairly trivial compared to serious things going on in the world. Would you get upset if someone you was playing your WarSpanner was his on weed. I'd like to hope not.

All he was doing was levelling the playing field. As for those other things he of:

He's guilty of the trafficking, distribution, administration and personal use of illegal substances (i.e. a drug dealer and junkie).
He's guilty of libel.
He's guilty of perjury.
He's guilty of blackmail.
He's guilty of making threats (violent and otherwise) against people.
He's guilty of being an absolute prick!

FFS, he's just a guy who has made a mistake.

That list above could probably be a bucket list for some musicians we've listened to. Oooo I can't listen to Black Sabbath or Hendrix because of the drugs. Oooo I can't listen to anything with Ritchie Blackmore because it was said that he's a prick. Oooo I can't listen to Led Zeppelin because their manager (Peter Grant) may have made threats against people.

Maybe I just old and jaded and do not live in a Coldplay Fairtrade world, where everything is fair, and everyone gets paid the same.