BREAKING Report: Lance Abandoning Fight vs Doping Charges, TDF Titles Gone

This is worse news than learning there is no Santa Claus.

Nike has another building to re-name.

I'm a former bike racer, both road and mountain. There are two possibilities: either Armstrong doped or he didn't. If he did, then he was still the best, because there's quite a bit of evidence that doping was going on all around him. If he didn't, then he is a genetic anomaly, for the same reason.

For those reasons, I'm opposed to divesting him of any title or anything else unless the emolument can be given to someone who can be shown beyond any lingering doubt not to have doped himself. There are undoubtedly professional cyclists who did not dope, but identifying them may be difficult.

I'm another one of those who believed that as a cancer survivor Armstrong wouldn't have taken anything that might have jeopardized his health. I still don't know what I believe about him. A sad result no matter what.

CaitlinT wrote:

I agree-

Wouldn't Lance have received EPO and testosterone as a consequence of having chemotherapy and radiation for testicular cancer?

Why doesn't the media address this?

Brooklyn George wrote:

Epo, the blood doping drug used by cyclists, is intended for use by chemo therapy patients to increase red blood cell count. So obviously, Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor, should be given a little leniency here. Is is an unfair advantage or does it allow him to perform up to his natural abilities? I say the latter

I'm a championship winning motorcycle racer who never used drugs and never needed them to win.

All of the testing done at the time did not pick up any doping. And he was probably the most tested athlete in the world in his time. I'm tired of associations/test labs who have an agenda coming back years later and making claims against an athlete. I understand that testing on old samples did not show any doping. He is now accused by other athletes who now complain that he was cheating. What threats have these associations made against his fellow athletes to get them to testify against Lance? Lifetime ban versus a shorter period if they testify?

He was not caught at the time with the best test methods then available. He is still and always be a champion in my eyes.

CaitlinT wrote:

An individual who has accomplished more than most could in 10 lifetimes, and whose legacy has been recklessly tarnished. Armstrong is an incredible human being, in my eyes, and hopefully many more. He is a cancer survivor who has raised millions to empower those affected by cancer and will continue to serve as an inspiration.

Even if he used performance enhancing drugs? Not saying I think he did or didn't, but would your opinion of him change?

During that era you had two choices: dope up or get your ass dropped from the peloton. Was there anyone in the top 10 (30? 100?) at the TdF in that era who wasn't doping? I am tired of all his BS denials, but see no reason to strip him of titles. The whole sport was doping, and he was the best of the dopers. That was how the game was played and everyone on the inside knew it.

San Jose Cyclist wrote:

I'm a former bike racer, both road and mountain. There are two possibilities: either Armstrong doped or he didn't. If he did, then he was still the best, because there's quite a bit of evidence that doping was going on all around him. If he didn't, then he is a genetic anomaly, for the same reason.

For those reasons, I'm opposed to divesting him of any title or anything else unless the emolument can be given to someone who can be shown beyond any lingering doubt not to have doped himself. There are undoubtedly professional cyclists who did not dope, but identifying them may be difficult.

Hopefully they will now set their sights on Paula Radcliffe and all the other gainsayers. Clean this mess up!

Random lake wrote:

He was not caught at the time with the best test methods then available. He is still and always be a champion in my eyes.

That's like saying that O.J. Simpson was not found guilty of murder by a jury of his peers. Therefore, he will always be innocent in my eyes.

I do think that Lance Armstrong is the Ben Johnson of bike racing though e.g. the scapegoat that the media focused on, even though most of the other top competitors were also dirty. It's likely that if every rider in those tours, including Lance, was clean that he still would have won multiple titles. Likewise for Ben Johnson in the 100m.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. No different from people stoning a woman in the middle east. Read again Shirley Jackson's The Lottery. Someone has to be condemned for your sins, don't they.

What do you mean? Santa is real- he gives me presents every Christmas!

Eddy Merckx wrote:

During that era you had two choices: dope up or get your ass dropped from the peloton. Was there anyone in the top 10 (30? 100?) at the TdF in that era who wasn't doping?

I am tired of all his BS denials, but see no reason to strip him of titles. The whole sport was doping, and he was the best of the dopers. That was how the game was played and everyone on the inside knew it.

definitely not in the top 10. there was at some point a great chart in Bicycling Magazine but i couldnt find it online. i found this:

i think the guy is a total jerk. and that he clearly doped. but he beat dudes who doped too. the whole peloton was doped. he won those tours. he should keep the titles. there is a reason andy schleck wasnt calling for his title after contador got stripped. these guys are all doing it...

gonchar wrote:

Come on Brooklyn. Lets cut the nonsense.

No competitor with an ego like Lance just gives up and caves in- unless he is about to be nailed by dozens of respected colleagues, teammates, coaches, physios, etc. Nope, if you've been wronged, you fight. You fight to the death.

He's guilty as hell.

Unless you have to go through an "arbitration process" where court is hand-picked by the prosecutor, you have no right to see the evidence against you, and your rights are less than what they would have been in the Soviet Union. This is a quasi-legal agency set up the way it is so that athletes are denied the rights they would have under the US Constitution if they got a traffic ticket.

I'm not arguing that Lance is clean, but we have a process here that simply should not be allowed in the United States.

Lance would have had a better chance for success if he'd hired a hit man instead of a lawyer. And I think he should.

Random lake wrote:

He was not caught at the time with the best test methods then available. He is still and always be a champion in my eyes.

thats cool

it just means you're a retard though

Eddy Merckx wrote:

During that era you had two choices: dope up or get your ass dropped from the peloton. Was there anyone in the top 10 (30? 100?) at the TdF in that era who wasn't doping?

I am tired of all his BS denials, but see no reason to strip him of titles. The whole sport was doping, and he was the best of the dopers. That was how the game was played and everyone on the inside knew it.

So if everybody is cheating it is okay to cheat? Wow! glad to see you have morals. Whatever happened to good honest hard work?

Kira N wrote:

I'm another one of those who believed that as a cancer survivor Armstrong wouldn't have taken anything that might have jeopardized his health.

Me too!

By the way, I'm the son of an extremely wealthy Nigerian monarch and I'm in a bit of a bind. If you can just bail me out of jail ($5,000 cash bond) I promise to pay you back 100-fold once I can get to an ATM in Lagos.

Clearly he no longer has the balls to fight these allegations

The bottom line is that an innocent man never stops fighting for his innocence. The US is not Nazi Germany and the USADA is not the Gestapo.

Tonight he just admitted what everyone knows: GUILTY!

JimmyMcJimson wrote: Will be stripped of Tour de France titles..

Not quite. Travis T. Tygert, Attorney, USADA CEO and future politician, will recommend Armstrong be stripped of his titles. The USADA cannot officially take the titles, but T^3 thinks he can force the Tour Authorities to do just that.