USDA v. Lance Armstrong
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- TheBlueOne0
It's like when Pluto was stripped of being a planet.
Pluto will always be the 9th planet to me, and Lance will have always have his titles.
Raw deal either way.
- lol_niko
- ...And both are American.
Jus sayinpig - Pluto is American. 'splain Lucy.TheBlueOne
- i miss pluto.sea_sea
- calculator0
If you were innocent, you'd keep fighting wouldn't you?
- d_rek0
@calculator
As a matter of principle, I think most of us agree with that sentiment. However, the US Justice System as it exists today honors not principle but the ability to continue arbitration by fiscal dependancy. In otherwords... who has the deepest pockets. I'm sure Lance would rather blow his fortunes on something other than courtcases for the remainder of his life.
You are also forgetting an important factor of the US justice sytem: Innocent until proven guilty.
- TheBlueOne0
Lance Armstrong has now proudly earned his Sports Asterick.
- mikotondria30
What it will take is for the professional cyclists to just ignore the usda. Ignore every instruction from every official at every race, every letter, every request for a test, don't answer the phone, just carry on as usual; they're just men and women that go to work in offices or in cars, and talk to people and type things or talk on the phone.
Ignore them.
- Presta0
USADA must spend as much taxpayer money as possible in order to maximize it's budget for next year. So they put Lance on the cross and spend our money charging him. They are all baseless accusations from shady and untrustworthy individuals, and without evidence. You'd know if you followed cycling.
- mg330
It's actually making me kind of angry that he may get his titles taken away. If I were him, I would fight that with a vengeance. It's totally clear - USADA - a fucking anti-doping agency - has no regulatory or penalization authority in international events they don't manage. They're even going after things beyond the time period they can penalize within to do exactly that. Would love to know how sizable Travis Tygart's bank account is on account of money from French cycling to destroy Armstrong. See what I just did there? Made up my mind about someone with no fucking proof.
- Did you know property seizure in the US is on the rise? most are not criminal. they use civil law to try to take your shyt.yurimon
- UKV0
I used to race road in Europe (mid 90's). Crazy dirty and corrupt sport. Walked away and haven't looked back.
If you are open minded, there is a pretty hefty pile of evidence to be considered. http://www.rte.ie/sport/player/7…
- Presta0
UKV, that knob babbling in the link you gave is clueless about cycling.
He says that after the drug-riddled 1998 Tour, Lance in the 1999 Tour set the fastest time for the Tour de France.
The Tour is not the same route every year. There a huge amount of variables that play into the speed of a race, especially one that lasts for 3 weeks and is 1000's of KMs long... like wind speed, elevation gains and descents. The hours minutes and seconds of a Tour de France mean absolutely nothing. One can beat the previous year's winner's time by 5 hours, yet it says nothing about if that winner was better or worse than the other winner.
99% of commentary related to this story come from people completely ignorant about cycling and it's inner workings.
- UKV0
Presta, that "knob" is Paul Kimmage. The former professional cyclist and author who wrote a stunning curtain lifter on the sport and its drug infestation. The book is called "A rough road". It's a blunt look at the inside of the sport, and its worth a read.
And believe it or not, despite the varied courses, they do keep track of cumulative average speeds from year to year. Despite your assertion that they mean nothing, they actually mean a LOT to a lot of people who use analytics and trending for kicks of it, as well as for the betting side of the business.
Think twice before you label contrary opinions and commentary ignorant. There is pretty severe disconnect between the pressure to NOT use in the US, and the pressure TO use in Europe. A lot of my buds, and myself included, grew up racing in a very clean system, and holy shitballs does that change when you race in Europe.
- Cumulative average speed also means nothing and is affected by the terrain.Presta
- Kimmage as a pro cyclist knows this, but evades the point. Many pro cyclists have a vendetta against Lance for one reasonPresta
- reason or another. Again average speed is nothing. They could make a Tour route will all mountain stages...Presta
- and their average speed would be 17mph instead of 27mph. But that 17mph average doesn't mean they are riding clean.Presta
- clean.Presta
- ChrisKeegan0
They say they have evidence of two positive tests and TEN people willing to testify against him...Wow.
- then show the fucking evidence. put it on the news. do something.mg33
- MG, I'm sorry. They have a case and Armstrong knows what they have.waterhouse
- It was Lances decision to not face the evidence in a court of law, not the USADA's.UKV
- "retested samples" that means they slipped something in the second time.lambsy
- UKV0
I'll also ad that most people on the outside of the sport simply do not understand what it's like to do 600+ mile weeks with three to seven days a week of racing. When I say outside, I mean those who are not on the amateur world cup circuit or higher. Its brutal and punishing. When riders do dope, they typically don't do it for super stardom. They do it just survive. The sport at that level is just insane. Riders who use the juice are sick of injuries, loosing your hair, emotional breakdowns and not being able to eat or sleep because of the physical stress. I experienced all of that. Not a lot of folks on the outside actually know what that's like in a season that rolls for 11 months of the year. Most people understand that the guys who make that level are a very select and gifted group, but going from even elite amatuer to the pro's its just a total shock to the system. The speeds are unreal and pretty much everyone rides dirty just to make it work. The saying goes that "the rising tide lifts all boats", and its certainly true with cycling.
- Most people don't care as long as you don't cheat.waterhouse
- I mention this to simply paint the picture that drug abuse is multifaceted.UKV
- Cheating AND not cheating is not multifaceted. Drug cheating is!ChrisKeegan
- UKV0
It's hardly something new to the sport.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lis…
- robotron3k0
LieStrong
- severian0
This day, millions clad in spandex weep.
- exador10
looks like a witch hunt to me.
- _niko0
hard to believe they tested him 100's of times and not got a positive result.
Then again, it's claimed that they paid doctors to hide the positive tests.
- Doctors? You mean lab technicians. Anyway, they do not know who's test belong to which riders. At that stage, they are onlyPresta
- (the samples) are only identifiable by a number.Presta
- The number and positive samples are given to the race organizers. And then organizers connect the number to the rider's name.Presta
- name of the rider.Presta
- The claim is whether Lance paid the organizers (Tour officials or UCI) to hide positive result(s).Presta
- My belief is that the French organizers would have loved to catch Lance as a cheat. But they never did.Presta
- SrSamaurai0
i'd like to remind everyone that he won 7 titles in a row. let the guy take enhancers it really enhanced the sport of cycling.