Lance Armstrong - A Lifetime Sporting Tribute

[ianshearin]

Whilst I agree in principal with the nature of your view, I cannot accept in this particular case that Armstrong was a symptom of a wider problem within the sport and its officials.

Armstrong used his power, wealth and force of personality to vehemently deny and even pursue anyone that dared to accuse him, that has nothing to do with the culture of the sport and its failings but in the man himself, he believed he was above the law not a victim.

His only regret is being caught.

Ian

[jags]

would have been a much deeper interview if david walsh had done the interview.as paul kimmage says on the evening news he needs to name all the officals that turned a blind eye as these guys are still running cycling.
oh lance boy you sure done wrong big time

[Andre Jute]

It's a bit of a rollerball world!

Shh, Jim, you're telling everyone our age: only the middle-aged remember that movie! -- AJ

[Andre Jute]

I posted the same piece above to RBT, where Andrew Muzi (a wellknown bike shop owner in Madison, Wisconsin), added this:

***
Doping in sport is not a "magic pill". It's a small help to
recovery and VO2 capacity in our sport, a small help to
other factors in other sports. It's not a secret and we can
read history to get some idea of how 'pure' The Ancients rode.

'Jacques Anquetil, the first cyclist to win the Tour five
times, once said, “Leave me in peace; everybody takes dope.”
The relatively quaint drugs of choice back then were cocaine
and amphetamines, among others. Before Anquetil, Fausto
Coppi, the first superstar of cycling, when asked whether
riders took drugs to survive and win, replied, “Yes, and
those who claim otherwise, it’s not worth talking to them
about cycling.” '

from http://thedailybanter.com/tag/jacques-anquetil/

Here's a very nice overview with bibliography:

http://www.abcc.co.uk/drugs-and-the-tour-de-france/

--
Andrew Muzi
  <www.yellowjersey.org/>
  Open every day since 1 April, 1971

***

Posted without any intention of implying that Muzi approves of my article, of course. But Mr Muzi makes it sound as if, in the present climate of lillywhite perfection and sanctimonious outrage, there is a leaden inevitability about the cycle (sorry!) of the rise to fame by any cyclist, followed swiftly by his exposure as a drugs fiend and dispossession of his prizes. In short, Andrew makes this whole Armstrong tragedy sound unstoppable from the day Lance Armstrong climbed up onto his first bike. "Son, it grieves your mother and me that you want to be a cyclist. Do you really want to stand exposed one day as a drugs cheat?"

Andre Jute