ironpsych wrote:
Not an apologist. He was not convicted, found guilty of or sanctioned for anything until USADA built their case. That means he has been sanctioned once. Getting caught up in the "he tested positive but bought his way out" is going down the rabbit hole. He was never officially sanctioned for anything.
And please do not lump this in with the "He never tested positive so he is innocent" (oh god am I going to say it!) meme. I think he doped but needs to get the same treatment.
Facts matter. Emotions flavor.
There are many, many people who are very, very angry at LA and think he is disgusting but that does not mean that these "non-factual' factors should come into play.
I don't think anyone (Ulrich, Contador, Levi, VDV) deserves a lifelong ban unless they have been "convicted" several times and continue to violate the same rules (Ricardo Ricco anyone?) Doping and covering it up for years is just not getting caught. Not repeatedly engaging in the same behavior in the face of being caught.
this ignores the facts. A rider convicted for a single act gets 2 years, a second offense nets say 8 years, and the 3rd is generally a lifetime. So, you say "he was only sanctioned once". Except his conviction was for a career full of offenses. You have at least 2, and probably 3 blood doping offenses in just his blood profile year. Then you talk about a minimum of dozens of offenses of him doping that the teammates testified to. Then you talk about the procurement and distribution of PEDs. Those pieces right there show continued violation of the same rules. He was caught.