Lance Armstrong needs some attention

[ghostrunner]

I assumed they must have more than testimony for him to give up, but maybe not.

But yeah - I'm of the mind that if they were testing and the tests didn't catch it, then you can't strip titles even if it's true that at some point it's known that he took something.

[Popeye_Card]

Is cycling really the dirtiest sport in regards to doping, or just the most closely tested? I can't fathom it being worse than the NFL, or NCAA football.

[MrSaigon]

When Armstrong was at his peak, the crowd (and I cant believe anyone goes to watch this event, you stand for hours for what, a 5 minute payoff?) always shouted 'cheater' and 'doper' at him. Of course there was some bitterness about an American doing it, but it would appear that they care.

The event is such a joke though. IMO they have to drop the hammer of Thor on the cyclists wrt testing.

[stlouie_lipp]

Circumstantial evidence is a [expletive]. If people can go to jail for life because of it, this fraud can lose [expletive] trophies because of it. And, based on what I've read, there is more than enough of it (along with some blood samples that support it).

In a sport that is one of the dirtiest there is, he dominated for 7+ years. He is either Superman, or a cheater.

[cardsfansince82]

I just think he's an attention whore who needs the "spotlight" and is a PED user.

I don't disagree, but he's done more for raising cancer awareness and funding research than any other person I can think of, so I give him a pass.

I read the other day that his foundation has raised $470 million dollars in 15 years. Mind boggling.

It's a little odd the way this story has been covered by the media. Everywhere you look the story is presented as him getting tired of the fight and giving up, rather than an outright admission he cheated. He still seems painted in a somewhat positive light as opposed to anyone else implicated for PEDs that are immediately vilified. Maybe it's because it's dragged on so long or maybe he's popular enough and done enough good that people don't really care what he did. I just found it interesting how seemingly all media outlets have reached a consensus to not completely trash him.

[ghostrunner]

As greenback noted before, it seems to still be in doubt whether the USADA has any authority to strip away the titles. From what i can see he still has them. International Cycling Union has asked for the evidence from the USADA and hasnt gotten it yet. How can it be that nobody knows who can strip the titles though?

They also don't know who to award the championships to.

Doping accusations have plagued Armstrong and the entire sport of cycling during his career. So it's unclear if the Tour could even award the yellow jersey to a new champion.

Germany's Jan Ullrich finished second to Armstrong in 2000, 2001 and 2003 and was third in 2004. But he stopped riding after he was implicated in a blood-doping scandal that rocked the Tour in 2006. That same scandal also forced a suspension of Ivan Basso, runner-up to Armstrong in 2005.

Ullrich said he doesn't want Armstrong's titles. He told the German news service Dpa: "I know the order in which we crossed the finish line. I have closed out my professional career, and I have always said that I am also proud of my second places."

Spain's Fernando Escartin, who finished third to Armstrong in 1999, told Reuters: "It's 13 years now since this all happened; it seems completely illogical and unreal. I don't want to even think about it. How far back in time do they want to go?

"Once they have done all the doping tests, then that's as far as it should go," Escartin said. "In Spain, after five years a legal case is dropped and for me, Lance Armstrong is as much a champion now as he was yesterday."

[lukethedrifter]

http://www.usnews.com/news/sports/artic ... -armstrong

[sighyoung]

When Armstrong was at his peak, the crowd (and I cant believe anyone goes to watch this event, you stand for hours for what, a 5 minute payoff?) always shouted 'cheater' and 'doper' at him. Of course there was some bitterness about an American doing it, but it would appear that they care.

The event is such a joke though. IMO they have to drop the hammer of Thor on the cyclists wrt testing.

Better yet, pack them into tiny cages like veal, feed them performance-enhancing drugs for several months, then let them loose on bikes in the French countryside until the farmers slaughter them and feed their livers and meat to high-paying customers in the finest restaurants in Paris.

[stlouie_lipp]

[BW23]

I really want to bring myself to care about this, but I just can't.