AmaDablam wrote:
Paddywhack wrote:
This was a very carefully crafted and managed charade designed to do one thing and one thing only; get the USADA off Lance Armstrong's back thereby allowing him to get his ass back on a bike. Lance admitted he took PEDs. Whoopdefrickindoo. Charlie Sheen admits he bangs porn stars!
Lance told snippets of the truth to paint the picture he wants you to see. Oprah gladly assisted.
I don't think getting back to racing has much to do with it. He would not swallow his pride with an admission if it were just to race. He offered to turn on his long time backer, Thom Weisel. That would not happen simply so he can race a few age group triathlons. He is running scared. Whethe it is financial issues or fear of criminal charges I don't know.
Lance could quite easily have thumbed his nose at the world and ridden off into the sunset (not in a sanctioned race) to spend his ill gotten gains. He would have lost his tour titles, the Olympic medals, perhaps even his god like status with the yellow bracelet brigade, but his money was 100% safe. He as not going to fail any tests and he had won every civil case relating to drug accusations. Nobody would ever challenge him again in print or in a court room.
Lance, as things stand today, has complete immunity from any criminal charges. Of course new evidence might come to light of crimes we don't yet know about, but right now he is safe; which is why he was very careful not to answer any potentially incriminating questions. His biggest potential threat is a RICO charge, or wire fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking. If the feds go after him on a racketeering charge, he could be in deep doodoo which is why he was adamant that he didn't force anyone else to take drugs and that he wasn't the boss.
He was, until yesterday, in the same boat as Barry Bonds rich and retired. The very best in his day at what he did, a hero to many, but a doper; and as the years go by fewer and fewer people believe the bullshit stories anymore. He was rich beyond the dreams of everyone on this site, homes in half a dozen beautiful locations, jets, cars, champagne. Lance had it all, but it wasn't enough. Lance wanted to compete. He wanted to compete so badly, he put all the money on the line to get back in the good graces of the USADA.
He will now lose all of his tour victory money, he will have to repay several successful lawsuit settlments, and he will find his mailbox today filled with lawsuits from every other person who crossed his path in the last 20 years. I suspect this is 100% about his desire to compete in triathalon and nothing else.