Doping claims on Lance Armstrong are ridiculous
Roar Guru By zacbrygel, 15 Jun 2012 zacbrygel is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Cycling, doping in cycling, Lance Armstrong, USADA
Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his Tour De France titles (AAP)
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Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong is once again in the public spotlight after the US Anti-Doping agency placed a fresh set of doping charges on the man.
The 40 year old, who is currently training in France for the world Ironman Championships, has slammed the charges and rightly so.
In an official statement on his website Armstrong stated “I have been notified that USADA, an organisation largely funded by taxpayer dollars but governed only by self-written rules, intends to again dredge up discredited allegations dating back more than 16 years to prevent me from competing as a triathlete”.
Armstrong accused them of trying to strip him of his hard-earned Tour de France victories.
“These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation,” Armstrong continued.
“These charges are baseless.”
I could not agree more with the American’s response.
Remarkably, in only February this year, a two-year criminal investigation into doping charges on Armstrong ended, with the jury dropping the case.
Yet it seems to the USADA that another fresh new case must be opened again in order to reveal Lance Armstrong as a drug cheat.
What most people fail to remember is that the two-year investigation on Armstrong, which ended in February, was sparked by comments from Armstrong’s former team-mate Floyd Landis.
Landis was a self-confessed drug cheat, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title and didn’t even admit to doping until 2010.
How can anyone trust a former drug cheat, who took four years to admit his actions on the matter of doping?
The thought infuriates and confuses me to the point of no end.
Armstrong has never failed a drug test.
As he pointed out on Wednesday, “I have never doped, and unlike many of my accusers I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance”.
“I have passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one.”
The real reason behind the constant probes into Armstrong is the fact that many people cannot comprehend what he has achieved.
This is completely unfair and extremely disappointing.
Armstrong’s clean record is underlying evidence of the fact that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs.
People have to realise how hard he has worked to win seven Tour de France titles and that he is a freak of nature.
We must not be fooled into thinking he cheated because his abilities are far greater than the average athlete.
My message to the USADA is to get off Lance Armstrong’s back.
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- Explore:
- Cycling, doping in cycling, Lance Armstrong, USADA
June 15th 2012 @ 3:40am
Darryl Kotyk said | June 15th 2012 @ 3:40am | Report comment
I am so with you on this one, Zac. I really don’t know why they have to continually bring this up again and again. Whether Lance is clean or not, I think all the countless tests and inquiries that have come up with nothing are more than enough. I am so bored with Lance doping allegations already.
June 15th 2012 @ 4:23pm
zacbrygel said | June 15th 2012 @ 4:23pm | Report comment
Thanks Darryl!
June 15th 2012 @ 8:19am
LeftArmSpinner said | June 15th 2012 @ 8:19am | Report comment
Wow, I am amazed by the article. Surely, you let due process continue and let the facts speak for themselves.
At stake is the very credibility of the sport of cycling.
June 15th 2012 @ 1:02pm
Aware said | June 15th 2012 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
Agreed leftarmspinner. It’s not ridiculous to acuse Armstrong or anyone else in a sport tainted with drugs for decades of cheating. Armstrong is in the sights of the officials and rightly so. If Contador can be caught, anyone can.
June 15th 2012 @ 4:31pm
Big Steve said | June 15th 2012 @ 4:31pm | Report comment
Lefty the point of the article is what is due process. They just finished a 2 year investigation and now another government funded body is starting another one. How many attempts at due process will there be?
I fully agree with the article, if there was any direct evidence to support the charges you would expect it should have been uncovered in the last 2 year investigation. Im not saying he hasnt cheated but where is the evidence going to come from and how much are they willing to spend on finding it? How many investigations do there need to be before we change due process into harassment?
June 15th 2012 @ 5:15pm
jameswm said | June 15th 2012 @ 5:15pm | Report comment
Steve the previous investigation was related to tax fraud, and using US tax money for doping. Different kettle of fish.
This is a straight drug doping investigation.
June 16th 2012 @ 3:56am
JR said | June 16th 2012 @ 3:56am | Report comment
“This is a straight drug doping investigation.”
And the burden of proof is different.
June 28th 2012 @ 7:33pm
mcbunsy said | June 28th 2012 @ 7:33pm | Report comment
Surely in any investigation you should be innocent until proven guilty? To ban him from racing Ironman France over allegations from unnamed witnesses, and about something that is alleged to have happened 7 years ago and beyond, is wrong. In my view.
August 19th 2012 @ 7:27pm
Kim Hart said | August 19th 2012 @ 7:27pm | Report comment
These are the rules of the World Triathlon Corporation which they plan to get rid of at the end of the year.
In regards to no spike in performance – have a look at his swim splites for his full and half ironman career.
June 15th 2012 @ 5:19pm
zacbrygel said | June 15th 2012 @ 5:19pm | Report comment
Thanks Big Steve!
June 15th 2012 @ 9:10am
The High Shot said | June 15th 2012 @ 9:10am | Report comment
The fact that the allegations keep coming up against the best ever (?) exponent of the sport must be a nightmare for cycling fans, sponsors and for every athlete from any sport around the world – there are a lot of them – who claim Armstrong as their athletic hero or role model. The point is if Armstrong is innocent he should be making the process as clear, quiet and painless as possible. Alleging conspiracies looks desperate and unlikely.
June 15th 2012 @ 9:26am
jameswm said | June 15th 2012 @ 9:26am | Report comment
“How can anyone trust a former drug cheat?”. This is the classic line from Lance and his followers. Of course if someone has not been found guilty, they’re not going to fess up, are they? Only the guilty ones do, and then their comments are ridiculed as those of a drug cheat. It’s after they’re caught they fess up and say yeah I did it, as well as X, Y and Z.
“Armstrong has never failed a drug test.” Here is another classic line and completely misses the point. Marion Jones never failed a drug test either. Remember her? The drug users were way ahead of the drug testers back then. we all know that.
Also, some of Armstrong’s samples were subsequently tested and found positive, a few years later when the testing had caught up to where the using was a couple of years earlier. However, the rules did not allow for this retrospective evidence to be relied on to form a drug case.
“The real reason behind the constant probes into Armstrong is the fact that many people cannot comprehend what he has achieved”.
Nah, that’s rubbish. In fact the reverse is true. Everyone (myself included) would prefer to think he never cheated, and admire his achievements. However, I am more of a cynical type than a faith one, and with the number of people who have accused him, the retrospective testing, and the record of his team-mates, you’d have to be incredibly naive not to have some suspicions.
Armstrong, as a cancer survivor who became one of the greatest sportsmen ever, has an incredible legacy which means a lot to a lot of people. He enjoys an almost religious following. I understand that.
However, if he cheated, then he deserves to get busted. Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire, and there’s an awful lot of smoke around Armstrong.
Those chasing Armstrong aren’t jealous of him or his achievements. They have evidence of him doping, and want him to pay the penalty.
It’s that simple.
I’m afraid you can’t just sweep it under the carpet.
And as I said, you’d have to be incredibly naive to believe 100% he was always clean.
June 15th 2012 @ 10:18am
midfield general said | June 15th 2012 @ 10:18am | Report comment
Agreed, I think the evidence against Lance, Brunyeel and doctors involved are overwhelming. The clincher for me was the fact that a lot of his old teammates have been caught/or fessed up to the culture of drug taking at US Postal: Landis, Hamilton, Heras, Andrieu and one or two others whose names escape me, and when someone like Le Mond speaks up against Lance, you gotta listen. I think the man is going down this time. I believed in his fairytale for a few years, but in the end he just turned out to be a bully with ego the size of Texas .
June 15th 2012 @ 4:26pm
JR said | June 15th 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
You can add Beltran, Hugo Pena, Padrnos, and Joakim to your list.
June 15th 2012 @ 9:28am
JR said | June 15th 2012 @ 9:28am | Report comment
“Armstrong’s clean record is underlying evidence of the fact that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs.”
Not to sound like a jerk, but that isn’t true at all. Dozens of cyclists had “clean” records for years or their entire careers yet we now know they doped. Barry Bonds and Marion Jones never failed drug tests yet were dirty as can be. Getting past drug tests is an art form that cyclists have been perfecting for decades. And that doesn’t even get into the fact that there are several ways to dope that can’t be tested.
I enjoyed watching Armstrong race, but there is a mountain of evidence to suggest he was heavily involved in illegal doping activities.
June 15th 2012 @ 10:39am
sittingbison said | June 15th 2012 @ 10:39am | Report comment
Sorry Zac, this article is factually incorrect and severely misguided.
The funniest line trotted out by Armstrong is that he never failed a test. He failed a test in 1999 for cortisone steroids. His excuse was that he used cream for a saddle sore, and then retrospectively got a doctors certificate. This was the year after his first miraculous win after cancer in ’98, the world was in love with him (even the frogs) and none of his less delightful personality traits or drug allegations had come to the fore. Interestingly it was also the year that 5 of his frozen urine samples were subsequently found to be positive for EPO when used as a baseline for new testing techniques (before I get flamed I do know these are not legitimate tests).
The criminal investigation carried out by Food and Drug Adminstration’s Jeff Novitzky was not dropped by a jury, it was canned by United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. in a move that many believe was premature (this criminal investigation was based on the premise of fraud by team USPostal through federal funds being used for doping programs).
These latest charges brought against Lance are based on sworn testimony of more than 10 cyclists not just Landis, but more importantly include positive results from re-testing his 2009 samples.
June 15th 2012 @ 2:05pm
damos_x said | June 15th 2012 @ 2:05pm | Report comment
Factually incorrect & severely misguided- could be terms used to describe the never-ending hunt for the scalp of Armstrong ?
June 15th 2012 @ 7:19pm
sittingbison said | June 15th 2012 @ 7:19pm | Report comment
nope
June 15th 2012 @ 11:19am
Bobo said | June 15th 2012 @ 11:19am | Report comment
This is the most misguided article I have ever read on this site.
It parrots the PR release put out by Armstrong’s media team on his behalf. It’s factually incorrect and full of irrelevance.
First, and most importantly, it’s not just about Lance Armstrong: http://inrng.com/2012/06/usada-charges-armstrong/#more-9189
Further,
*The charges are different to the criminal investigation by the FDA. The respondents are different, too. While some of the conduct and evidence may well be parallel, neither I nor the author, nor Armstrong himself, can know what was heard by a secret Grand Jury last year.
*The USADA always indicated that it would commence investigation. Armstrong himself welcomed the investigation in January.
*USADA’s letter to the respondents states that it relies on the evidence of more than 10 cyclists. Floyd Landis is one cyclist. If the evidence is not strong enough, then that will emerge at hearing. The hearing is the proper time to test the evidence.
*Other cyclists who never tested positive to PEDs: Valverde, Rasmussen, Riis, Millar, Pantani, Moreau, Jaschke, Zabel etc etc etc. Does anyone really believe that they weren’t doping? (Hint – half of them have admitted to it). The tests don’t catch the cheats.
Armstrong’s risk in fighting this is that if his testimony contradicts sworn evidence already given by the Grand Jury, he’s facing perjury charges and gaol time, just like Marion Jones did.
June 15th 2012 @ 1:22pm
jameswm said | June 15th 2012 @ 1:22pm | Report comment
Here’s a twist.
What odds Armstrong will plead guilty, saying “I didn’t cheat, but I just want the witch-hunt to be over and myself, my family and close friends left alone. I owe it to them to plead guilty (without admission) just to end this.”
June 15th 2012 @ 2:36pm
nick said | June 15th 2012 @ 2:36pm | Report comment
not a chance.
His team got Federal funding to race. If he admits doping he’ll be on the wrong end of severe jail time
June 15th 2012 @ 3:33pm
jameswm said | June 15th 2012 @ 3:33pm | Report comment
Yeah but I thought the Govt had dropped their charges, and this was a USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) thing? The USADA don’t send you to jail, do they?
Maybe he could do a deal and avoid jail time anyway?
June 15th 2012 @ 3:35pm
hamleyn said | June 15th 2012 @ 3:35pm | Report comment
correct, USADA has the ability to strip results and ban you but not the power to take criminal legal action.
June 15th 2012 @ 5:16pm
jameswm said | June 15th 2012 @ 5:16pm | Report comment
On second thoughts, I don’t think Lance would allow his 7 wins to be stripped. He’ll fight it.
June 15th 2012 @ 6:47pm
nick said | June 15th 2012 @ 6:47pm | Report comment
whatever new evidence they uncover would go straight to the federal authorities and the case against him from their point of view would be on again. All they did was abandon it because they couldn’t find what they wanted.
Make no mistake, if you’ve received federal funding to race and then you’re caught:
a) Lying to the feds
and
b) to have been taking illegal drugs while receiving funding.
You will go to jail.
June 15th 2012 @ 7:18pm
sittingbison said | June 15th 2012 @ 7:18pm | Report comment
Marion Jones – jailed for perjury.
The other thing to consider is Lances personality type and ego. There is not the slightest chance of him giving in, he will contest every single word ever said against him, he has consistently used lawyers to terrorise threaten and bully ordinary people who have made accusations against him, people that have no hope of fighting million dollar lawsuits.
June 15th 2012 @ 10:50pm
Zak Pollak said | June 15th 2012 @ 10:50pm | Report comment
Yes but why would he want to risk his 7 tour de france titles
June 15th 2012 @ 10:48pm
Zak Pollak said | June 15th 2012 @ 10:48pm | Report comment
no because then he could be stripped of the 7 tour de france wins, that is what he worked so hard for and was his lively hood for most of his life
i could agree with you, Zac any more. Great article
June 15th 2012 @ 10:54pm
zacbrygel said | June 15th 2012 @ 10:54pm | Report comment
Thanks mate!
June 15th 2012 @ 1:28pm
arthurw said | June 15th 2012 @ 1:28pm | Report comment
There is a famous Australian cyclist with a very squeaky voice (if and when he ever talks) who has relatively recently competed and won at the highest level. If he is not a drug cheat how does he beat all the ones that are?
June 15th 2012 @ 1:53pm
jameswm said | June 15th 2012 @ 1:53pm | Report comment
The testing has caught up a lot now Arthur.
June 15th 2012 @ 3:37pm
hamleyn said | June 15th 2012 @ 3:37pm | Report comment
Testing is much better now than it used to be. Combine that with the biological passport program (which has seen a few strong cyclists get suspended) and the doping controls are much much harder to get around than they used to be.
However, given all the corruption allegations that have been levelled at the WADA and UCI over the past few years, it wouldn’t surprise me if you could still “pay to make it go away”, like a few people allege Armstrong of doing.
June 15th 2012 @ 5:49pm
sittingbison said | June 15th 2012 @ 5:49pm | Report comment
if you are talking about Evans, he has not beaten the drug cheats such as Contador, Rasmussen and Vinokuorov et al. He beat Contador for the first time last year when AC was clearly struggling (perhaps from non-drug use as he was in the middle of his own due process)
June 15th 2012 @ 10:31pm
MooseMum said | June 15th 2012 @ 10:31pm | Report comment
All cyclists are drug cheats!
June 16th 2012 @ 10:05am
hamleyn said | June 16th 2012 @ 10:05am | Report comment
Do you know this for a fact, eh? Get a grip mate. Not everyone is a drug cheat. All you do by saying this is slander the sport.
June 19th 2012 @ 9:40am
Bones506 said | June 19th 2012 @ 9:40am | Report comment
I am a cyclist and I still race. Are you saying I am a drug cheat?
Are you saying Anna Meares is a drug cheat?
Be extremely careful how you respond.
You have absolutely no place or busness making such comments. You highlight a wonderful term: ‘Blissful Ignorance’.
June 19th 2012 @ 1:41pm
zacbrygel said | June 19th 2012 @ 1:41pm | Report comment
Exactly right. I can’t believe someone could be so ignorant.
June 15th 2012 @ 2:16pm
hamleyn said | June 15th 2012 @ 2:16pm | Report comment
A few good points put up in the comments and in the article.
Zac, you make some good points, particularly in relation to why USADA is reopening a case that was shut by the US Federal Government earlier this year. It just seems to me like a big waste of money reopening it.
However, I think you have to be incredibly naive to think Lance never doped. Landis was on his team, he doped. Hamilton was on his team, he doped. Yes, they both lied and, hence, we can’t trust their testimony. But the sheer number of drug cheats that we know about from that era (Ullrich, Zabel, Basso, Zulle, Mancebo, Virenque, Vinokourov) means that he must have been on the gear.
That being said, given the number of people who were doping, you still have to be the best rider in the bunch anyway because it essentially acts as a playing-field leveller. Armstrong was still the best all-round cyclist out of all of his rivals, which is why he beat them despite their performance enhancement.
However, the overarching thing is that this has been going on far too long. I am sort of in agreement with jameswm here. He should just plead guilty without admission, refuse to testify and move on. We just need this to end so we can stop worrying about the past and focus on the future of cycling which is looking much more rosy. Even if he does beat these charges, doping will always hang over Armstrong like a spectre.
Oh and if you’re interested, check out the graphic at the bottom of this post by CyclingTips. Gives a run down on who would win the Tours if Armstrong and all the other cheats were taken out (http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2012/06/what-a-mess/)
June 15th 2012 @ 4:18pm
JR said | June 15th 2012 @ 4:18pm | Report comment
“particularly in relation to why USADA is reopening a case that was shut by the US Federal Government earlier this year.”
USADA has been investigating for two years. They actually wanted the evidence collected by the Feds, but apparently didn’t get it. Not surprising considering the one-man decision to drop the case against Postal/Tailwind Sports in the middle of the night. Numerous reports claimed that nearly everyone involved in the Feds case were expecting indictments to come down before Birotte mysteriously took it upon himself to drop it. Plus, the Feds’ case was about financial fraud, not about finding Armstrong guilty of doping.
June 15th 2012 @ 4:26pm
hamleyn said | June 15th 2012 @ 4:26pm | Report comment
If the thing was about financial fraud, why did they get Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie in front of a grand jury? What would they know about that kind of thing. It was about systematic doping in US cycling and trying to find who was responsible for it.
June 15th 2012 @ 5:52pm
sittingbison said | June 15th 2012 @ 5:52pm | Report comment
Because the “fraud” was using federal funds to run a drug program when the money was being supplied to enhance public awareness of cycling with all its health benefits etc