Lance Armstrong needs some attention

[TheoSqua]

If Armstrong doped, I don't really blame him. If he didn't dope and is tired of it, don't blame him there either. Of all the sports cheaters Armstrong is about the one I care least about cheating. His douchebag attitude is way more annoying.

[thrill]

So now Lance Armstrong and I have the same amount of Tour De France wins, some other cheaters have had his trophies Fed Ex'd to his house and all it proves to me is that cycling is a dumb sport.

[lukethedrifter]

Cycling is a cool sport. If they took away the trophies from every champion of every sport that had a drug cheat on it, pretty much every sport since the East Germans in 1968 would have a vacated championship.


/randomly made up starting point

[thrill]

Cycling is a cool sport. If they took away the trophies from every champion of every sport that had a drug cheat on it, pretty much every sport since the East Germans in 1968 would have a vacated championship.


/randomly made up starting point

I think cycling is a wonderful activity, like rock climbing or hiking or whatever. As a professional endeavor, it's a pointless follow.

[lukethedrifter]

I don't want to argue that with you at all since I really prefer cycling cross country solo to racing by a long shot. But the strategy involved in racing is fascinating to me.

[jim]

Cycling is a cool sport. If they took away the trophies from every champion of every sport that had a drug cheat on it, pretty much every sport since the East Germans in 1968 would have a vacated championship.


/randomly made up starting point

Cycling probably dopes more than any other sport on the planet. If you took away everything from every participant in major cycling races, then the Tour of France would not have even existed for the past 40 years because there would have been no valid competitors.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Cycling is a cool sport. If they took away the trophies from every champion of every sport that had a drug cheat on it, pretty much every sport since the East Germans in 1968 would have a vacated championship.


/randomly made up starting point

Cycling probably dopes more than any other sport on the planet. If you took away everything from every participant in major cycling races, then the Tour of France would not have even existed for the past 40 years because there would have been no valid competitors.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012 ... ef=cycling

The previous 14 years, 26 of the 42 Top-3 finishers have been busted.

[MrSaigon]

If the Tour de France wants anyone to take it seriously, at all, they need to only allow riders who will submit to a crazy amount of testing--or I don't know, maybe it's doing just fine in Europe. It will be a laugh riot if they try to award a winner for Amstrong's vacated trophies.

I think Armstrong has done a lot of good. I don't care much that he juiced--he dominated a level playing field. I don't like how passionately he lied about it. I'm not sure if there was another way for him to respond, though. At least now all the facts will never be revealed, which will help his legacy a bit.

[jim]

I used to ride with a guy that raced in Europe professionally in the late 70's early 80's, he was the one that clued me in to the doping. He doped for local races. From what I could tell it was just part of the cycling culture, everyone did it, and it was almost a macho thing. He told me that as far as he knew 100% of the top riders doped back then. Not doping would be like not training, and that would be crazy.

[Fat Strat]

What I don't understand about any of this is that the USADA (or whatever their acronym) and other international anti-doping agencies have been extremely successful in busting cyclists for a long time. As others have pointed out extensively, the number of cyclists who have been stripped of their titles or caught is staggering.

But, the biggest difference between all of those cyclists and Armstrong is that they were caught. They took drugs. They failed a test. They were punished.

Armstrong might have cheated. I have no idea. But, where's the proof? Where are the failed tests? Where are the DNA samples? Where are the testosterone laced needles? It seems to me that all they have on him is the testimony of his former competitors. And that's worth jack squat as real evidence.

I just don't like the standard that it sets -- you're guilty because we say so. You're guilty, even if you've prove yourself innocent hundreds of times by passing every drug test you've ever taken. And because we say you're guilty, you're stripped of your records and trophies, we're going to ruin your life and essentially destroy our own sport. What an absolutely brilliant plan.