Given the swirl of controversy surrounding Armstrong’s Tour victories we have to assume the greatest Tour rider in histroy will not remain silent on this development of riders being ejected en masse from the Tour de France.
I wonder, will Armstrong release a statement or comment on the Spanish Inquisitiion?
What would he say?
I thought he said he wasn’t commenting on anything like this anymore.
If he was smart he would remain silent. Somehow I think we will hear from him at some point. When are the ESPY awards anyway? Isn’t he hosting?
Styrrell
I agree. He has little to gain from commenting right now, other than to perhaps re-iterate his commitment to racing drug free during his career.
Regardless, he certainly lucked out in that his wins were from 1999-2005, and the big doping scandals hit in 1998 and 2006.
I am NOT saying that there is a reason for this; it’s just coincidence. I believe that Lance is clean, clean clean.
But I think it would have been even harder on him (if that is even possible) had any of his wins come during scandal years.
On the opposite side, had he been riding this year and not made the “dopers/pussies” list, then I think he would have been further vindicated, as the rest of Team Discovery has been. So in that sense, maybe he was UNlucky.
I dunno. But this whole thing is shameful. Cheaters suck.
mm
right, doping only took place in 98 and 06. since there weren’t any major busts, the years in between were clean. and all the riders just busted only started doping this year. they were all clean the last few years when lance beat him. wtf?
why do people want to believe so badly that some guy was clean? it just doesn’t add up.
Lance must have known this was coming and retired before it all went down.
Clean or not, at least one can’t really make the argument that his opponents were any less guilty. I remember people arguing bitterly that Ullrich and Basso were clean.
why do people want to believe so badly that some guy was clean? it just doesn’t add up.
To keep their little “American boy does good after battling cancer” fantasy alive. Also, they would have to now pry those rubber bracelets off now.
Plus, it would make all of those hours spent watching the tour on the boob tube from 99-05 seem pointless.
Its been a one guy slam on this board for awhile. Now that the bubble has burst for Basso, Ulrich, and others lets slam them all. The one thing is there actually looks like a lot of physical evidence against Basso and Ulrich and there really doesn’t seem to be anything concrete against Armstrong. I actually think this puts Basso, Ulrich and the rest in a worse light.
I’m waiting for Frankie and his wife, or Lemond and his wife, to suddenly have some flashbacks, remember something and say that Basso, Ulrich, Mancebo, et. al confessed to doping in their presence…
He won’t say much of anything. As I said before in another thread:
"You know, we were talking at lunch today about this, and a friend repeated something he had read that made sense to me. You can guess at the depth of use in the cycling world by the deafening silence from the rest of the riders when someone else is caught or tests positive. Look at baseball, someone gets caught and a bunch of guys hammer them publicly, Curt Schilling gets really riled up. Wasn’t it Paula Radcliff who used to run races in shirts saying NO EPO CHEATS when in races with others who had tested positive?
All this sport is going to need is a Jose Canseco. A guy who gets busted, whose career is over, who needs money, and knows enough to write a compelling book."
If I was Lance, I’d just steer clear of this whole thing. Even if he is completely clean, which he may very well be, the more he talks about it, the more people will suspect him, and the more he will be investigated by jealous hack euro journalists and possibly more (possibly BS) stories will come out. He is “retired” now, and he is doing some really important and outstanding charity work. I’d hate to see that damaged because he feels the need to say something about this.
why do people want to believe so badly that some guy was clean? it just doesn’t add up.
Why do people want to believe so badly he was dirty? He’s been through things that, on a global scale, relatively few people experience and survive, and it made him mentally tougher and less willing to compromise. I also find it hard to believe that he’d take risks like that with his body after going through cancer. Do you also disbelieve the many, many stories of him training day in and day out when nobody else was willing to? Don’t you think that makes a difference as well?
Do you also disbelieve the many, many stories of him training day in and day out when nobody else was willing to? Don’t you think that makes a difference as well?
So you’re saying that Basso, Ullrich, Mancebo, etc don’t get out there and train their asses off every day??
I noticed at least three former postal/disco riders on the list. Some who may have been on the team working with the good doctor and supporting Lance all at the same time.
why do people want to believe so badly that some guy was clean? it just doesn’t add up.
Why do people want to believe so badly he was dirty? He’s been through things that, on a global scale, relatively few people experience and survive, and it made him mentally tougher and less willing to compromise. I also find it hard to believe that he’d take risks like that with his body after going through cancer. Do you also disbelieve the many, many stories of him training day in and day out when nobody else was willing to? Don’t you think that makes a difference as well?
because he was dominant in a sport that is clearly dirty. he was crushing riders who were on drugs. guys like jonathan vaughters say you can’t compete with someone on epo when you’re clean. but lance is the exception? because he had cancer?
believe the hype about training all you want. there are plenty of guys in the peloton training as hard or harder, making the same sacrifices, demonstrating the same commitment. so no, i don’t think there is a difference there. and what is it that allows one to train harder? drugs.
i doubt he saw it as taking risks with his body. people can go round and round on this all day and none of us no for sure. but when you look at the situation as a whole, it’s pretty hard to believe that a rider, who worked with dr ferrari, was dominant in cycling over the past 7 years and wasn’t using drugs. don’t care who it is.
“we have to assume the greatest Tour rider in histroy will not remain silent”
I haven’t heard if Eddy Merckx has made a statement or not. Seems he wouldn’t since this is way past his time…
~Matt
I am way behind on the cycling stuff…
Who is out?
Well I don’t know about Basso or Mancebo, but Jan was well known for letting himself go out of season. I fall into the camp that wants to believe that he is and was clean. All we have is innuendo, no facts, at least none that haven’t been discredited.
I look at it two ways. Option one, he was clean. He had a very good support team, he trained and prepped extraordinarily well, and he didn’t blow the competition away. Yes he won seven times, which is amazing, but he wasn’t an hour ahead, it was minutes or seconds over the course of 1400 miles. Which brings me to option two. Either he is an accomplished actor and unblievably precise so that he could time each stage to allow him the eventual yellow jersey but not win in an obscence way that would cause all the speculation that is already happening to increase a hundredfold, or everyone else is also doping in which case, while dissapointing, levels the playing field.
I don’t believe that everyone dopes. Because of that I believe that he may not have either, either that or doping does not provide much more than a slight edge, the races have been too close, and so he is still an extraordinary athlete.