Lance

Not to mention all the lost sponsorship money to the 2nd place cyclists... assuming they weren't doing it as well. Never had one of those yellow "Live Strong" bands, but crazy to think the money he pocketed on that due to cheating.

 

Great point SC on the runner-ups financial losses. Maybe we can get RR (who is a competitive cyclist) to speak about that era, but it seems the media has characterized it as the 'clean' riders were in the vast minority during that time. I'll never lose sight on the amount of good he's done with Livestrong, since winning bike races bail in comparison to his work there. He doesn't owe the public an apology in my opinion, but if he did one it would be very cathartic and it would be well received. If he chooses not to do one that's fine, but I hope he tells the truth to ones that really matter and that's his own kids.

 

hmmm...Lance.

hey all!

So my take on all this, and this is from someone fairly deep in the sport and who races and runs a very competitive Amateur men's and women's cycling team that has national champions on its roster, its about time. I think, while some will deny it, it's been pretty obvious since about 2003 that Lance was deep into the doping culture of European professional cycling.

Lance was doping before he got cancer, and of course after, and while he made his comeback.

He was not alone by a long stretch, and during his reign of wins on the Tour de France, I would say everybody in the top 80 places each year were doping. There is nobody to give these records to because everyone around him was on a similar, but perhaps not as well perfected doping programs that included EPO, HGH, Steroids, blood doping, and substances like what Alberto Contador was busted for which helps promote lean muscles mass and eliminates fat in the body.

Lance's US Postal/Discovery team were just better at it than the rest.

From my perspective he is getting what he deserves and actually probably deserves some jail time just for the lives he tried to ruin for anyone who spoke out against him during those years.

I feel most sorry for Greg LeMond and Betsy Andreau and his ex-wife Kristen...and his children.

As HatterDon pointed out, Lance and his team were better equipped to stay ahead of testing by having advanced notice of tests (due to payoffs at the UCI) and eventually changes in practices that where they switched to micro-dosing EPO that would be out of the body, if taken before they went to bed, by morning, and it would not produce a positive. They also used masking techniques to help pass blood passport tests.

Anyway, the truly sad part of all this is the public was ripped off to some degree, although the racing was no less exciting while it was happening, and as I shared with HatterDon, Mrs. HatterDon, and Misfitkid, I am convinced that men I race against in the amateur ranks are emulating their professional counterparts and doping as well. Its sad. All to satisfy their ego's.

 

After dumping his wife who supported him during what must have been a grim fight against cancer, and then dating a glamorous pop star only to dump her when she ends up with cancer, I became suspicious that Lance was a jerk. My suspicions are now pretty much confirmed. And if what Ridge says is true and he really did do performance enhancing drugs before cancer, I'm stunned that he resumed the practice after overcoming such an illness. Any normal person would look at cancer in their 20s as a wake up call regarding the use of banned substances. Unfortunately, professional sports these days involve so much money, fame, and power that it often takes an extreme personality to rise to the top.

And then you have guys like Brian McBride. :bow-yellow: :happy-sunny:

 

:clap: Thanks RR for popping in and enlightening us on what was going on in that era, hopefully the athletes in the professional ranks (alarmed to hear some amateurs you compete against are doping) are cleaning the sport up. I had forgotten about the actions Lance reportedly did against anyone that dared to speak out, so the odds of him changing his tune and admitting anything is probably a pipe dream. You can certainly draw parallels with another tough, stubborn Texan that has always maintained his innocence in the face of implausibility, Roger Clemens. Lance will probably go to his deathbed saying the negative drug tests are the only proof he needs.

 

Lance will confess on Oprah in a two part interview, I can't imagine her hammering away with him ala Mike Wallace, but I hope if he does admit to doing PEDs she gets him to explain why he went after (through public forums and legal channels) former teammates who spoke truthfully about their and his drug use when he knew he was lying about it.

 

I have to imagine he did so because he felt betrayed. There is no way they engaged in all the doping without discussing and agreeing to keep their mouths shut and deny it. Lance simply held on to the lie longer than the rest. I'm sure they all realized it would come out so they fessed up. Plus who knows what type of tactics were used to get his teammates to confess. We've all seen the detectives at work on TV . Lance stubbornly held on to the belief that as long as they all denied it, no one could ever prove it, and was likely pissed his teammates werent stronger.

Didnt he/they pressure some teammates into doping. That's the worst part to me, but then again those teammates should've just left and reported the incident.

 

The big question is what do I do with all my Livestrong paraphernalia? Pitch in the trash or stash it away in the hope that it might someday be a collectors item the way stuff about Jesse James or Bonnie and Clyde is today.