The Armstrong Lie

[blazed]

[QUOTE 3974276, member: 45"]He's not the greatest cyclist. His drugs made him more than he ever could be.[/QUOTE]

Who is the greatest of all time then? All the greats were made better than they ever could be by doping.

 

[Hacienda71]

Beryl Burton.

 

[Big Dave laaa]

Who is the greatest of all time then?

Eddy Merckx!

 

[oldroadman]

Who is the greatest of all time then? All the greats were made better than they ever could be by doping.

There is/was no single "greatest". There are several in every era and discipline. For instance, Chris Hoy may have been amongst the greatest kilometre/sprint/keirin riders in his era. Whether he was the greatest in that era is a subjective opinion. Which is what Blazed is offering, and is entitled to feel that way, even if lots of others think that it's not a valid opinion.
In summary, the whole discussion is pointless, and I'm thinking that statements like "cycling was a backwater sport until LA appeared" can only be made by someone (maybe US based?) who has never looked into Europe or enjoyed a long connection with the sport. Then, that's just my subjective opinion, and what do I know after all the years? Maybe if I had given in to temptation and used certain help I would have made more money, but then looking people in the eye and being able to say "I was clean" is a lot better all these years later.

 

[mpre53]

The greatest cyclist of all time and one of the most famous athletes of all time will never be irrelevant.

I agree. Eddy Merckx will never be irrelevant.

 

[mpre53]

According to the US media, Lance Armstrong explained last month in the United States government case against him that general manager BMC Jim Ochowicz and former team-mate Phil Anderson orchestrated a $1m race win in 1993.


http://cyclingquotes.com/news/armst...owicz_helped_fix_1m_race/#Bm859YdFKSmELBGh.97

Old news. Lance himself personally delivered the money to Gaggioli. He "believes" that others knew and/or abetted it. But Lance himself orchestrated it.

And it's not the first time that a cyclist has paid a rider---or riders---from another team to go into the tank for him. Sometimes, it's done during the race itself at the front of a breakaway, on faith that payment will be made later.

 

[GuyBoden]

Worrying - you seem unaware that others seem to think they do.

Death of Knud Enemark Jensen

His use of amphetamines in 1960 was proven by autopsy, and the WADA quotes this as being a pivotal point in the introduction of drug testing in the Olympics




However if you wish to think post-mortem plays no part in the investigation of the use of drugs and "don't count" - feel free

WADA are wrong, according to the latest evidence, Enemark Jensen didn't die of amphetamines:
http://www.academia.dk/Blog/wp-content/uploads/VernerMoller_KnudEnemark.pdf

"an academic study in 2005 by Professor Verner Møller, who analysed all the possible situations and concluded it was unlikely Jensen took amphetamines. Møller concluded that his death was likely caused by a combination of dehydration, heat exhaustion and possibly the Roniacol tablets."