Lance Armstrong

[london_red]

guilty or not, stripping him of his 7 TDF titles isnt going to do much though is it. Are all the riders who placed second in all those TDF's going to have massive celebrations now?

Doubt it, as all 7 of them have doping question marks over their heads as well

http://www.brettluelling.com/post/3435612945/armstrongs-tdf-victories

[Boeta]

the 'he never failed a drugs test' argument is the biggest load of shite.... ummm... what about the one he failed in 1999 which they then covered up with a doctors note?

[Sippo]

Having read his book, the bloke is a legend no matter what. He was on his death bed at one point then came back to achieve what he has today.

[Summerof69]

WADA said prior to the Olympics, that they retested samples going back to 2004, and they found a number of positive drug tests, and they have subsequently banned the people involved.

Maybe the USADA has done exactly the same thing with Armstrong's samples.

[thedarkprince]

Oh hang on, he never failed one, did he.

That we currently know of. USADA have said they will make their evidence known shortly. Prepare for another round of shit throwing.

[Bewster]

The guy is a legend and what he has come back from and achieved not only the TDF victories but with Livestrong and cancer awareness is quite simply amazing.

I hope that he is innocent and this is just a witchhunt.

[Nemo]

Looks a lot like a set up, but it may well not be as Cycling during the period was murky at best.

Either way I don't really care. To come back from what he came back from and achieve what he did was fucking superhuman either way, and the money he's raised for charity (nearly half a BILLION dollars) is far more important. And he was in Dodgeball.

[RedRag]

.....everyone took drugs in that era except Lance who beat all the drug fuelled cheats fair and square and clean and despite his illness and there is a conspiracy by jealous cyclists and professional bodies against him

If I was also conspiring with the rest of the world against Lance, I might say he was a self deluded twat who needs to grow up

[jonny72]

Looks a lot like a set up, but it may well not be as Cycling during the period was murky at best.

Either way I don't really care. To come back from what he came back from and achieve what he did was fucking superhuman either way, and the money he's raised for charity (nearly half a BILLION dollars) is far more important. And he was in Dodgeball.

I'd agree except he's now made himself look a twat by not fighting the charges. Reminds me of a 5 year old saying I'm not playing anymore and taking his ball home as his side is losing and can't win. Not exactly in keeping with his image.

If he's innocent he should fight it, if guilty he should admit it. Otherwise history will remember him as a cheat who got caught and nothing more.

[Abrahammer]

What if that 5 year old has been playing that particular game for the past 5-10 years?

Don't blame Armstrong for throwing the towel in, too many agendas being played against him for too long.  Cant be enjoyable having to spend half your time defending the same accusations over and over again.

[thedarkprince]

Don't blame Armstrong for throwing the towel in, too many agendas being played against him for too long.  Cant be enjoyable having to spend half your time defending the same accusations over and over again.

He's essentially never quit at anything in his life.  Ever.  Yet is throwing in the towel on this one.  Seems a bit strange?

No smoke without fire... and there's been a chimney stack full of smoke.

[jonny72]

Cant be enjoyable having to spend half your time defending the same accusations over and over again.

It's part of the sport. Accusations were being made about Bradley Wiggins during the TDF and they continued in to the Olympics against Team GB. You've got to deal with it, besides if he is guilty then what the fuck has he got to complain about?

[Bewster]

Always a bit of a legend in my eyes - but you cannot deny the evidence against him.

The irony of the Armstrong debacle is that everyone else was doping too - and none of them won the Tour de France seven times.

Still think his cancer work has been great though.

[jonny72]

So it appears Armstrong has decided to come clean and admit to the cheating.

I know some stick up for him especially for his charity work, but to me the bloke is a twat and shouldn't be let anywhere near competitive sport ever again. This wasn't just a bit of cheating; it was spread over many years, bringing others on board, followed by years of lying about it including taking people to court and accepting damages from them.

He's had plenty of chances to admit to it. Why wait until now? Sounds like he's only done it so he can compete in triathlons (or whatever he does). No doubt the choice of using Oprah was made due to the fat pay check he'll be getting for it.

[Sippo]

But you can't take away his charity work though. He has raised so much money and awareness - cheat or not, it has probably helped thousands of people.