Armstrong charged and banned

[Herzog]

If (and that's a massive if) the 7 tours were taken away, it poses a bit of a problem. Some years (e.g., 2003, Ulrich 2nd, Vino 3rd) how far down the food chain would we have to go to find a credible winner? The 1999 victory probably could not got to Zülle (2nd), but to Escartin (3rd) for example.

The sport would be in trouble. However, that's assuming anything actually comes of it...

 

[montage]

This means Wiggo came 3rd in 2009!

 

[Alun]

This means Wiggo came 3rd in 2009!

Not yet it doesn't !
"There's many a slip twixt cup and lip" as they say.

 

[MichaelM]

[QUOTE 1889615, member: 76"]Every time this comes up I am left with the same confusion. At present Armstrong is not a proven drug cheat (this may change obviously), and is vilified.

On the other hand Millar is a proven drugs cheat, and yet some of you advocate Olympic selection on the basis he has atoned and worked tirelessly against doping in the sport. When the reality is only that he has not failed ANY other drug tests.

The hippocracy doesn't stop there though, in the other thread there is a suggestion that Millar be allowed to ride as he thinks doping is quite bad now, obviously only since he has been caught, he thought it was a reasonably good idea while he was doing it. Chambers on the other hand should be banned for life though for doing exactly the same as Millar

Armstrong though, I don't know if he is innocent or guilty, we'll have to wait and see won't we?[/quote]

 

[BikeHoond]

Just thinking back to happier days when lance won the boston marathon!



What a weird co-incidence though with Big George announcing his retirement this week.

 

[slowmotion]

Paul Kimmage's take a little while back, on Dutch TV, NOS....

....." a total fraud"

http://nos.nl/video/210777-lance-armstrong-gebruikte-doping.html

 

[Crankarm]

There are a lot of people who would like to seem him humiliated regardless of whether he is actually innocent or not of the charges. It might be difficult for him to get a fair trial. If he was stripped of his 7 TdF titles, then they would have to void these years' results as pretty much everyone else was zombied up to the eyeballs, Festina et al, Pantani who died from a cocktail of drugs.

I think they are going to need a bigger boat ..........................

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Maggot, if you can't tell the difference between someone who has admitted what they did, accepted the allotted punishment and totally changed their behaviour, and someone who has consistently denied doing anything wrong and more than this has actively attacked almost anyone who tried to provide testimony to the contrary, then I would suggest that it's you have rather questionable ethics.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Let's not forget too, that this is not just about Armstrong but about several others who are still working in pro-cycling, most notably Radioshack-Nissan manager, Johan Buyneel, and Pedro Alcaya, who is a doctor to several top cyclists including most notably... the brothers Schleck.

And, it might be simple coincidence but you have to wonder at the timing of big George Hincapie's retirement announcement and the non-selection of Chris Horner for the Tour this year.

 

[raindog]

He clearly had wind of this as he said he wouldn't fight any new revelations and accusations a few weeks ago.

Absolutely - that gave us the hint that everything was about to go pear shaped.

I hope they can nail McQuaid for the Swiss lab hush-up too.

 

[Noodley]

Oh, okay....I suppose it would be rude not to:

 

[Boris Bajic]

I think this will run and run. The timing amuses me.... There are 52 weeks in a year and this managed to happen (and to generate a press release) in the TdF build-up. Is it a story any longer? I think not.

I remember on 'Porridge' the Home Secretary visits Fletcher's prison and asks "What are you in for?"

"I got caught" says Ronnie Barker.

Many of us have 'favourite' riders who would simply never cheat and 'baddies' who we imagine getting EPO in their bottle as a baby. I always assumed LA was riding on blood he found in a fridge.

The truth is that pro-cycling was absolutely filthy with drug cheats for decades, but quite electrifying and captivating despite the mire.

At some levels it is still a slough of cheats, yet my elder son and I (amongst millions) cannot wait for the Depart this year.

I've been quite astounded by some sporting achievements I've seen.... but few rival the insanity, courage, guts, skill and dedication of some of the climbing and descending on the TdF.

Perhaps we should accept that many of the winners of the past few decades were drug cheats and the people they denied a win were simply less successful drug cheats.

For all we know, current winners are the same, but their tipple is currently undetectable.

Did speeds drop when the sport was cleaned up? Witness D Millar saying how the speed of the peloton is now insanely fast in comparison to the (drug-fuelled) days when he started out.

It is ugly and mired in filth, but it is spectacular and beautiful and wonderful.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Storm in a tea-cup, according to R4 this morning, the biggest story in sport today is Harry Redknap leaving Spurs ....

 

[thnurg]

Storm in a tea-cup, according to R4 this morning, the biggest story in sport today is Harry Redknap leaving Spurs ....

Yeah. I had a double take on that too. "Biggest sporting story is..." they said and I thought "Here comes the Lance Armstrong bit. Eh? What? Harry who? Oh, football. Meh!"

 

[totallyfixed]

The Tour is a behemoth which will rumble on regardless of the participants, it is a wondrous spectacle but underneath what you and I see is a darker world that dabbles with substances designed to keep the human body performing at levels above and beyond what should be possible.
I love to watch the grand tours, but not so much as I used to, the cynic in me has been brought to the fore and when I see an attack in the mountains from an unlikely candidate I immediately think he is doped. This has soured my viewing and I nurture a hatred for LA and his ilk, but especially LA who has cheated for so long in so many different ways.
There may well be more than a little ducking and diving by a lot of people in the coming weeks and months including retirements and strange drop outs from Le Tour. If the net result is a long overdue clean up of this great sport then I couldn't be happier. If this is to have legs though the rules need to change, the biggest one for me is that if you are caught doping and you don't admit everything including your sources, then you are out for life.
Oh and get rid of those bloody radios that enable a director sportif to manipulate the race and as often as not force the riders to go at a pace that can only be sustained in an unnatural way. Climbs off box.