Tour de France

[social]

Lance Armstrong doping case by USADA needed to be above criticism but too many questions left unanswered - Telegraph

Pretty balanced article

USADA has no evidence or authority plus he's never failed a drug test and a 2 year Federal investigation didnt turn up a thing

And if they somehow manage to strip him of TDF titles then the chief beneficiary will be Jan Ulrich, a guy that has already had all his results since 2005 extinguished as a result of a doping conviction

Whole thing is a farce

 

[Spikey]

does a bunch of team-mates saying they took drugs count as a thing

 

[uvelocity]

does a bunch of team-mates saying they took drugs count as a thing

not the two who have said it so far, no

 

[BoyBrumby]

armstrong has basically never given up. he has now. that says it all

My god, I'm agreeing with Spikey on something other than music.

I don't buy that he's calling it quits because he's fed up for a second. Armstrong's defining characteristics, agreed by his friends & foes alike, are his absolute iron will and determination to succeed. If he truly was innocent he'd fight with the last breath in his body.

Whatever one thinks of the doping, there's no doubt that no-one comes back from metastatic testicular cancer to win seven Tours without an unbending resolve.

 

[benchmark00]

Only has a never say die attitude when he's on the juice imo.

 

[Spikey]

pretty good joke. you've still got it skidmark

 

[uvelocity]

came from:

 

[Furball]

Armstrong should grow a set and fight the charges.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Armstrong should grow a set and fight the charges.

Had them removed, tbf.

I'm here all week...

 

[ripper868]

Armstrong should grow a set and fight the charges.

I claim you ate poop and then fed the poop from the poop you ate to small children. I have no evidence to back this up but someone who begrudges you said you did it and so did his wife. I'm now going to throw this at you for the rest of your life until you admit guilt or at lease bow out of the fight - or you can continue to fight this claim taking away time from your family, your charity and your life and tie you up in courts every second day of your life.

Your move Furball.

 

[social]

does a bunch of team-mates saying they took drugs count as a thing

You mean a bunch of dopers who were bribed with amnesty in return for "evidence."

Anyway, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary (and the only thing we know is that he never tested positive), Armstrong may be guilty but why is he the only athlete being pursued in this fashion?

Why arent any other former TDF riders being targetted?

Why isnt Carl Lewis, who actually tested positive 3 times, being pursued?

Why arent the East German and Chinese women being hammered when everyone knows that the majority were on the juice?

You only have to read a few of the USADA's releases to know that this is a vendetta against one man

 

[Spikey]

i mean it seems a whole bunch of former american tdf riders have been targeted. hence why armstrong has given up

 

[social]

i mean it seems a whole bunch of former american tdf riders have been targeted. hence why armstrong has given up

All of them gave evidence to the federal inquiry that targetted Armstrong for 2 years

That inquiry found that Armstrong had no case to answer

What's changed between then and now?

 

[Spikey]

i dunno know. you should probably ask armstrong. he's the one who doesn't want the testimony of his right hand man for all those years to be released

 

[social]

i dunno know. you should probably ask armstrong. he's the one who doesn't want the testimony of his right hand man for all those years to be released

Sorry mate but that doesnt wash as:

a. Cycling's world governing body (the UCI) requires USADA to provide it with all evidence before making sanctions (they have already told USADA to get well and truly ****ed on their demand to strip him of his titles without evidence); and

b. His coach has elected to fight the charges against him which are totally based upon Armstrong being a doper.

As such, it will all come out anyway

Far more likely is that Armstrong has elected not to engage in a bs hearing where he is considered guilty until proven innocent and not even allowed to cross-examine "witnesses."

He will then have the option of suing the USADA in a court of law where very little weight will be given to the testimony of coerced witnesses

 

[benchmark00]

It's absolutely inconceivable that everyone in Armstrong's team took drugs but Lance decided not to.

Looks like a duck to me.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Yeah, I mean it's possible (at least theoretically) he didn't take drugs, just very, very unlikely.

If anyone really believes he's innocent I've got this tower in Paris I'm currently accepting offers on.

 

[Neil Pickup]

I find it very, very hard to buy the idea that he's innocent. My take on it is that everything thus far has been fighting against the process, and not the evidence, and now that it will come down to the stage where actual facts will be revealed, he's better off without the laundry being aired in public.

Lance Armstrong drops this fight « 3 Wire Sports

Stripping him of the 1999-2005 titles, however, is not the solution. It's been commented on already, but what do you do with them? Leave a blank in the history books? Award them to Ullrich/Zulle/Beloki, all of whom have been implicated in/convicted of/admitted to doping? There was institutional drug use amongst the whole peloton, as Miller's book and Vaughters' interview this week clearly indicate, and if you look back into the earlier years of the tour, every other Maillot Jaune has a positive test somewhere or other in their history. Keep the history books as they are - and keep the sport ever cleaner now the omerta has been broken.

I'm heading to France tomorrow for a week... it will be interesting to see how this is all handled in L'Equipe...

 

[social]

It's absolutely inconceivable that everyone in Armstrong's team took drugs but Lance decided not to.

Looks like a duck to me.

It may well be but fact is that he didnt get caught and has been banned for life

Gatlin got caught - penalty 4 years

Carl Lewis was caught 3 times - penatly zero

Eddie Merckx was caught 3 times - penalty zero

Persecution much?

 

[benchmark00]

It may well be but fact is that he didnt get caught and has been banned for life

Gatlin got caught - penalty 4 years

Carl Lewis was caught 3 times - penatly zero

Eddie Merckx was caught 3 times - penalty zero

Persecution much?

Are you arguing that their penalties are too light or Armstrongs is too hard?