Lance Armstrong cheater?

Laces_0ut

the rumors have been around forever but now the USADA is bringing doping charges against Armstrong. his 7 titles are in jeopardy of being revoked.

should be interesting to see how this plays out.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/armstrong-charged-with-doping-by-usada

BAMFMeredith

Honestly, I think it's BS.

When you see these MLB players get accused of doping and they immediately get SUPER defensive about it and are constantly speaking out about it, it's pretty much always comes out that they're guilty.

Lance Armstrong has been really level about the entire situation. As if he's not worried because he has nothing to hide. I don't think he'll be found guilty.

Laces_0ut

its just hard to believe he's 100% clean when so many in that sport arent.

like with the baseball players...they would deny, deny, deny and then finally have to admit to it.

johnlatv

i don't think he has cheated since the cancer, but before yes. Cycling has always been a very dirty sport. I don't see why they aren't letting him race in tri's now....

Pedal_Pusher

Justice Dept chose not to pursue it. *kitten* the USADA.

focus4fitness

I think its BS and they need to leave him alone.

BAMFMeredith

Lance's official statement (I follow him on twitter, and just saw this)

Lance Armstrong Responds to USADA Allegation

AUSTIN, TX -- June 13, 2012 -- I have been notified that USADA, an organization largely funded by taxpayer dollars but governed only by self-written rules, intends to again dredge up discredited allegations dating back more than 16 years to prevent me from competing as a triathlete and try and strip me of the seven Tour de France victories I earned. These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation. These charges are baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity. Although USADA alleges a wide-ranging conspiracy extended over more than 16 years, I am the only athlete it has chosen to charge. USADA’s malice, its methods, its star-chamber practices, and its decision to punish first and adjudicate later all are at odds with our ideals of fairness and fair play.

I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one. That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence.

AggieLu

I'm looking forward to learning more. It sure is interesting.

BostonMatt

Hard to believe he didnt when so many were but with that said, he's never been caught. Until he is, you have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Laces_0ut

fwiw i wouldnt blame him if he is guilty. when everyone around you is cutting corners sometimes you need to too.

GasMasterFlash

Sure takes balls, er.. ball to face up to such sharp criticism.

Jadzea42

They will never convict him. Lance was the Man! Thunder UP!

ItsCasey

No athlete in the world was tested for drugs as often as Lance Armstrong, and he never failed a single test. I am not a huge fan of his as an individual, but as an athlete, that guy has earned everything he has won, as far as I'm concerned. This is a witch hunt.

LauraMacNCheese

I thought you were going to say it's because he only has 1 ball & is, therefore, more aerodynamic...

akaporn

I'm an American and I pay tax. And that's how they want to spend my hard earned money? That's BS. I bet by the time this thing is over... They will be spending enough money to send at least 100 kids through college.

By the way, it's Tour de FRANCE! why the American has to have their foot in every thing in the world!

Jadzea42

One ball but plenty of testosterone!

BigDaddyBRC

WHO CARES. He beat Cancer. I could care less about the rest of his achievements.

mdbs2004

I think he's a cheater. But I dont care. The sport is as dirty as WWE. He was just the best cheater. And if most are cheating, then is it really cheating?

ls_66

it's a shame I used to love the sport but it's very true that drugs/doping are integral part of the sport I got the gut feeling that Lance has enjoyed a little extra help like the majority of the riders

bstamps12

I think they all do it, even Hamilton said so in his interview where he accused Lance Armstrong of using EPO, masking agents, etc. But if they all do it, then why strip him of his seven Tour de France titles...why even have a Tour de France? But yes, my TV will be glued to Versus in July either way.

Another thing, I don't understand why certain drugs are considered doping but other actions such as sleeping in an altitude chamber every night are not. They're both intended to have the same effect. Further, as Lance's statement notes, why does the USADA feel the need to keep him out of tri's now when the feds decided to drop charges based on the exact same evidence?

As mdbs2004 said, if they're all cheating, is it really cheating? Come on, they're riding 120ish miles per day for a month at insane speeds with insane climbs...we think they're doing that with NUUN and Clif bars? Let's be honest with ourselves.

Melanie_RS

I think it's total BS too.....

trijoe

My opinion:

Cheating is cheating is cheating. It doesn't matter if one is doing it or all are doing it. It's still cheating.

With that said, I'm tired of it all. It's time to turn out the lights, and call it a night. Either you didn't try hard enough to catch him, or you tried to hard to nail an innocent person. Either way, just end it. Pro cycling (at least seems to be) working hard to clean up it's act. Let this one go. He's retired for pete's sake.

What's next? Are we going to see x-rays of Fabian Cancellara's bike, hiding the mysterious elusive motor he's accused of using every year?

I say bust 'em when you catch 'em, then move on. But lay off the witch hunts.

Sister_Someone

All right, cycling fans! I thought I was beginning to think I was the only one on MFP!

RE topic, personally I want to believe he's not. He's been through hell with his cancer and subsequent treatment, and I want to believe that a person who survived that and lived to brag about it wouldn't intentionally put harmful drugs into their body just to win a stupid race.

Besides that, there's something about his behavior that makes me really believe him. Whenever asked about the vast tests and accusations, he answers like a man who knows he has nothing to hide.

I'm actually not a huge fan of Lance Armstrong's person, in fact, I think he's full of crap in some other aspects, but you gotta give praise where it's in order.

wolverine66

I want to believe he didn't cheat. I think America wants to believe he didn't cheat. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Barry Bonds used steroids (he says unknowingly). But no one wants to believe him. Roger Clemens has never been caught using steroids. But no one wants to believe him. So in the public eye, these 2 are guilty.

Big Papi (Junior Ortiz of the Red Sox) and Andy Pettite (Yankees) both got caught but both have pretty much gotten a pass.

Sometimes it comes down to just how likable someone is publicly.

As far as Armstrong is concerned - I think to sway the public's opinion on him, there will need to be concrete, irrefutable evidence and, ultimately, admission by Armstrong.

Reedern

He needs to be left alone. The man has been tested over 500 times and been clean EVERY time. Why are they still after him? Let him be, sheesh.

grimm1974

There entire premises for believing he cheated is that he outperformed a bunch of other cheaters. They never proved it through a drug test. Now they are using 'eye witnesses' as proof. I could really care less about the sport of cycling, but I still believe you are innocent until proven guilty. He has retired, so unless the miraculously turn up a urine sample from his Tour de France days they should just let this die.

ilovedeadlifts

It's only cheating if you're competing against other competitors who aren't doing the same thing, and the majority of those guys have used some type of anabolics, or used blood doping. To compete at a professional level in any sport, a lot of athletes use.


In cycling there are different "legal" and illegal ways for them to achieve the same results.
Some of the guys sleep in decompression chambers that simulate high altitude, causing the body to produce more red blood cells. That's okay.
But if they add their own blood back into their bodies (blood doping) then it's cheating.
Both do the same thing.

ilovedeadlifts

There entire premises for believing he cheated is that he outperformed a bunch of other cheaters. They never proved it through a drug test. Now they are using 'eye witnesses' as proof. I could really care less about the sport of cycling, but I still believe you are innocent until proven guilty. He has retired, so unless the miraculously turn up a urine sample from his Tour de France days they should just let this die.

This. Everyone in the sport is "cheating".

jamfan

What baffles me is there on more of a witch hunt against Lance than they were against Michael Jackson who "ALLEGEDLY" molested children. There is no doubt the dude is a freak of nature & his body works much more efficiently than even most athletes & his body doesn't produce the amounts of lactic acid that make you sore. This has been tested and documented. He's the Michael Jordan of his sport, you don't see a bunch of naysayers trying to strip MJ of his titles. Cycling is a team sport he didn't get those victories on his own despite the perception. Just let him be. If Obama want's to get re-elected he should squash this to save the tax dollars.