Lance Armstrong doping ?

polaris_x · January 2013

pdalowsky wrote:

Ah im only taking the piss guys, and do Note im in the UK. I dont know anyone here who watches people bike up and down hills, but im aware they do.

Yet - i would say the sports popularity was boosted massively by having Lance be part of it.

that's a shame ... the most recent winner of the tdf is from the UK ... in fact, the top 2 are from the UK ... arguably, cycling's best ever sprinter is from the UK and one of the strongest teams in the world is a UK based outfit ...

pdalowsky · January 2013

Yeah Wiggins was big news here for doing so but honestly very little actually watched him do it

Hoy leaving Sky will make a few things change but on the whole cycling hardly grips the nation

musicismylife78 · January 2013

polaris_x wrote:

sports popularity is misleading ... i think most people would not know that cricket is the second most popular sport behind football (soccer) ... cycling is more popular than one thinks ... it's especially in huge in europe ...

I dont think its misleading at all. As someone else said, lance boosted cyclings ratings as well as the hype and attention cycling got. And thats an understatement. Few if any americans were watching cycling prior. it just wasnt big. Lance changed all that, and suddenly football fans and moms and grandparents knew what the Tour was and knew Lance was part of it. To say that wasnt a huge, if not the motivating factor behind the coverup by UCI and the other officials is ignorant on this issue. Prior to Lance, i wasnt a huge sports fan, Jordan had retired, or was with the Wizards and wasnt as good, and no other sports interested me. Suddenly, people like me, who dont give a damn about who wins the Super bowl, started to be interested in the Tour and how Lance was doing in each stage of the Tour. That isnt a unique story. Cycling as a sport, and everyone employed during that time period, all reaped huge economic benefits as a result of the ratings, the marketing, the hype and the attention cycling was getting as a result of lance. Journalists made money off him. Every single other rider kept their mouth shut, as did every other head honcho and suit wearing UCI and cycling official. They knew if they spoke up, they would not be making as much money, the sport would be exposed, and no one would care about cycling again. The same exact thing, down to a t, happened in baseball.

The other interesting aspect was how Lance turned alot of people onto bike riding as a fun way to exercise. I know im not the only person who when riding my bike during those years would imagine I was lance. Livestrong.com and Livestrong.org are all about being healthy, active, doing athletic things and keeping in shape. As recently as a few weeks ago Lance continues to post often about bike riding on his twitter. he often rides 70-100 miles a day. Turning people onto biking to me is good, and theres no question he did.

To me, the coverup by UCI and team managers, officials, and doctors deserves more than just an acknowledgement. A criminal proceeding needs to happen. And those people need to be brought to justice. Its not enough to just say, "

And as far as riders not doping past 2005, vande velde admitted doping flat out in his affidavit into 2007. His results from 99-2007 were erased, so he obviously continued to dope. Look at the punishments of most of the 11 teammates. Nearly all had results voided into 2006. They told what they told the investigators not because they wanted to clean up the sport, but because they were forced to by subpeonea. Thus they werent going to say a word had a subpeona not been given. Few if any of the 11 in the reasoned decision had admitted they had doped prior to the investigation. Thats why they were stripped of their results when it was published. They hadnt admitted it before. Otherwise, they;d have been punished prior. And they werent. And a fair amount of the 11 only came out and admitted it maybe 6 months before Lance did. Hincapie sure as hell didnt admit to doping prior to a subpeona, as most people viewed him as clean. Hamilton admitted maybe a year before the reasoned decision on 60 minutes. These arent guys who had long been advocates of clean sport. For one, you cant be an advocate for clean sport if you arent admitting your role in it. Vande Velde wasnt some activist for the cause, because he wasnt out there in 2002, 2004, 2006 or whenever saying, "you know what, I doped, and its time to clean up the sport". Most if not all 11, testified to save their own skin, otherwise why admit it?

musicismylife78 · January 2013

plus you cant tell me you say Lance is a liar about everything, and you say he's lying about doping in 2009-2010. But then you say some of the 11 teammates are clean now. Why would we believe anything anyone of them said? They lied and cheated just like Lance did. None were forthcoming until a subpeona was given and they saw the chance to get a deal out of it. Many of them wrote books just like Lance did. To tell me Landis or Hamilton havent made bank off the 99-2005 Tours, and then when they admitted they doped they also made alot of money doing press, and writing books. Hamilton is ALWAYS on some tv show talking about this stuff.

The news about Arod this week to me was the least surprising thing ive ever read. We knew he doped. And now we know he continued to dope and lie about it. And his doping was supposedly from 2002 or so, thats when it was argued he used, and then he came out a few years ago and said he doped. Now we see he's continued to do it.

I dont think his behavior is unique. Just because someone says they stopped doping doesnt mean they actually have. And thats across sports lines.

Its silly to believe some people but hold lance up as some example of unique bad behavior. Thats what Tygart does. Lance is the cheater. he's the main problem in cycling. US Postal doped but as long as we have them exposed then we are ok, no need to discuss how rampant and common doping was.

Focusing on Lance is naive and petty when its at the expense of exposing the larger problem in cycling and inside sports as a whole.

I can think of 10 more officials or cyclists, or ball players or commisioners who need to be hauled in front of a jury and fined and punished.

Thats not going to get done any other way other than dealing with these issues in real ways. And first of all that means admitting doping in cycling involved 80 percent of the peloton, that it was just as lance said-it was like putting air in your tires it was so common, and that officials, managers, bosses, and doctors all willingly covered up widespread doping in the sport.

The next step of course is bringing those people to justice

Wobbie · February 2013

tomorrow's a big day, lance

:corn:

Wobbie · February 2013

hmmmm :think:

http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/sto ... -cooperate

Hugh Freaking Dillon · February 2013

imalive wrote:

hmmmm :think:

http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/sto ... -cooperate

how old is he now? if his ban was even reduced to 10 years, how old would he be then? would it even be worth it?

Riverrunner · February 2013

I think Lance is 40 or 41. The deadline was extended by USADA for two weeks. Also, Birotte, the DA for Southern California district made an announcement that he would not be reconsidering his decision to prosecute Lance. if you remember last year he made the announcement that the investigation would be dropped and there would be no prosecution. After Lance's so called confession the talk was that charges would now be pursued. However, after Birotte's recent announcement of no prosecution, there was a leak that another jurisdiction was preparing to file charges. Ha!! One of the headlines was "Birotte doesn't speak for the federal government" or something like that.

polaris_x · February 2013

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

imalive wrote:

hmmmm :think:

http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/sto ... -cooperate

how old is he now? if his ban was even reduced to 10 years, how old would he be then? would it even be worth it?

he is seeking the reduction to 8 years which is the standard for his case if he co-operates ...

the delay is probably related to what the wada/uci "truth and reconciliation" commission is going to go through ... i believe the only reason why this thing hasn't been blown right open is that there are still powerful interests who continue to want to protect this lie ... mainly the UCI and probably sponsors like Nike ...

Hugh Freaking Dillon · February 2013

imalive wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

kinda like american baseball. I only watched when McGuire and Sosa were chasing the record. Other than that, you even see people in the stands falling asleep, never mind watching it at home on a comfy couch.

you are so wrong about that, hugh freaking dillion :nono: :fp:

about what? I've seen people sleeping in the stands.

Hugh Freaking Dillon · February 2013

polaris_x wrote:

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

imalive wrote:

hmmmm :think:

http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/sto ... -cooperate

how old is he now? if his ban was even reduced to 10 years, how old would he be then? would it even be worth it?

he is seeking the reduction to 8 years which is the standard for his case if he co-operates ...

the delay is probably related to what the wada/uci "truth and reconciliation" commission is going to go through ... i believe the only reason why this thing hasn't been blown right open is that there are still powerful interests who continue to want to protect this lie ... mainly the UCI and probably sponsors like Nike ...

so he wants to compete again at 50 years old? is there a senior tour de france?

Riverrunner · February 2013

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

so he wants to compete again at 50 years old? is there a senior tour de france?

He wants to compete in triathlon. One can be more competitive at an older age in tri than in road racing. Although 50 will definitely be too old to be a winning pro or even a pro maybe. However, supposedly his life revolves around competing. As it now stands he cannot compete in sanctioned running events which would include most of the marathons in this country, most of the triathlons, etc. The only way he could compete at all - even as an age grouper - would be some small events here and there that are not sanctioned by the governing bodies of the sport.

I have to say that it would suck not to be able to compete. I am an old competitor and can sometime get a trophy in my age group. I usually compete in 5-10 events per year - triathlon and running events. I'd say only a couple are not sanctioned, and I live in a rural area. It would hurt not to be able to do those events that I usually do or want to do in the future.

Wobbie · February 2013

Riverrunner wrote:

I have to say that it would suck not to be able to compete.

Riverrunner · February 2013

imalive wrote:

Riverrunner wrote:

I have to say that it would suck not to be able to compete.

Yeah, it pretty much sucks for Lance now. Not enough..... but hopefully that is coming. I'm not sure what sports he will be able to participate in while incarcerated. I guess he can run around and around the track during his hour in the yard.

polaris_x · February 2013

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

so he wants to compete again at 50 years old? is there a senior tour de france?

further to riverrunner's post ... he basically is banned from any event sanctioned by USADA ... i also think part of this is he feel's he got a raw deal because the riders who testified against him only served 6 month bans ... but like everything else - he just doesn't get it ...

polaris_x · February 2013

Riverrunner wrote:

Yeah, it pretty much sucks for Lance now. Not enough..... but hopefully that is coming. I'm not sure what sports he will be able to participate in while incarcerated. I guess he can run around and around the track during his hour in the yard.

dude does have some powerful friends ... as indicated by the dropping of the investigation into him abruptly despite agents pushing for prosecution ...

if he ever does do a tell-all ... you can be sure that he's gonna bring down A LOT of people ...

gotta remember also that this is a guy who typically tried to bribe first ... the reason for that is cuz it works ...

Bathgate66 · February 2013

Facing jailtime?

http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/more_spo ... ewyorkpost

Likely motivated by a potential jail stint, Lance Armstrong will now cooperate with the USADA, according to an ABC News report.

The disgraced cyclist’s about-face came after ABC reported that he was facing a federal investigation for witness tampering, obstruction, and intimidation and just hours before the USADA was set to permanently ban Armstrong for life from sport.

The USADA, the agency that investigated the cyclist's performance-enhancing drug use, banned Armstrong from sport for life but set a deadline of last night for Armstrong to cooperate with their cleanup effort. The agency has said cooperating in its cleanup effort is the only path to Armstrong getting his sporting ban reduced and he now has till Feb. 20 to officially decide. It appears now he is willing to cooperate.

The news reports came after a statement by U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte, whose office conducted a criminal investigation of Armstrong, closing the probe a year ago without bringing any charges. Armstrong subsequently admitted to the drug use he long denied after USADA went ahead with its own investigation.

Birotte said that "we've been well-aware of the statements that have been made by Mr. Armstrong and other media reports. That has not changed my view at this time. Obviously, we'll consider, we'll continue to look at the situation, but that hasn't changed our view as I stand here today."

Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler declined to say whether any other component of the department is investigating Armstrong, who admitted in an interview with Oprah two weeks ago to doping after he had been stripped of his seven Tour De France titles.

With AP

Riverrunner · February 2013

Although Birotte has said that HE will not be filing charges, the rumors are that another US Attorney in another district may. Birotte only controls his district in So. Cal. But the US investigators who handled the initial investigation were supposedly furious with Birotte's decision not to go forward with criminal charges. The experienced investigators thought there was plenty of evidence. There was a lot of political pressure put on Birotte by a couple of California senators supposedly. There was some sort of tobacco issue on the ballot in California and Lance agreed to support it and then somehow charges were not brought. BUT, there is still plenty of evidence and lots of other US Attorneys in other districts who can still go forward.

PJ_Soul · February 2013

Not sure if this has been posted already - if so, sorry.

Lance Armstrong: US firm sues disgraced cyclist for $12m
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/21359550

musicismylife78 · February 2013

polaris_x wrote:

Riverrunner wrote:

Yeah, it pretty much sucks for Lance now. Not enough..... but hopefully that is coming. I'm not sure what sports he will be able to participate in while incarcerated. I guess he can run around and around the track during his hour in the yard.

dude does have some powerful friends ... as indicated by the dropping of the investigation into him abruptly despite agents pushing for prosecution ...

if he ever does do a tell-all ... you can be sure that he's gonna bring down A LOT of people ...

gotta remember also that this is a guy who typically tried to bribe first ... the reason for that is cuz it works ...

I dont think it was just him who had powerful friends. the UCI and everyone else hid the doping of ALL the cyclists. from US Postal and Discovery to other countries teams. Its absurd to believe the UCI or anyone who had major power in cycling or has power in cycling would want the rampant doping in the sport to be exposed. All those guys had major powerful friends. How was Hamilton able to keep his doping hidden for 15 years? Or Hincapie? Especially Hincapie. There were guys who the public suspected of doping but Hincapie wasnt on ANYONES radar in this respect. He had people who kept his secret for him as well

Lance Armstrong doping ?

Comments

Categories