Lance Armstrong deserves faith: Anderson
Related coverage
Australian cycling great Phil Anderson, a former teammate of Lance Armstrong, says the seven-time Tour de France winner deserves the benefit of the doubt in his latest fight against doping allegations.
Anderson rode with Armstrong on team Motorola in the early 1990s and said he’d be surprised and disappointed if the American had changed his strong stance against drugs.
He said Armstrong has had to deal with “sceptics” his entire career.
The US Anti-Doping Agency has levelled fresh allegations against Armstrong, despite the 40-year-old being cleared by a separate federal criminal investigation earlier this year.
Anderson, the first non-European to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour, said Armstrong needed to take the latest accusations seriously but sees no reason at this stage to lose faith in one of the greatest athletes of all time.
“It’s hard to tell between the lines, he was cleared by the federal court earlier this year … it seems like people just couldn’t come to grips with how a person can survive cancer and come back into top competition, let alone come back to competition and win seven Tour de France’s,” Anderson told AAP.
“There’s a lot of sceptics out there and the French have been after him his entire career post-cancer.
“(USADA) are digging up some evidence that was thrown out in the federal enquiry, so it’s hard to know exactly where it’s going to go, but obviously Lance has to take it seriously because he has a lot at stake – his reputation, his foundation and all of his followers.
“It’s got to be proven and we’ll have to see.”
Anderson, 54, said he never saw any evidence of Armstrong being a drug cheat.
“We rode together for three years and we were very close and I never saw any signs,” he said.
“He felt very strongly against drug cheats at that time and I can’t believe he would have changed his position.
“But he’s been on his bloody death bed and people do change, but I’d be very disappointed if that was the case.”
© AAP 2013The Crowd Says (17) | Page 1 of Comments
Have Your Say
- Explore:
- Cycling, Lance Armstrong, Phil Anderson
June 23rd 2012 @ 8:10am
vitalyg said | June 23rd 2012 @ 8:10am | Report comment
No, he doesn’t deserve faith. What he deserves is to be left alone after all these years. With the Olympics coming up, the USADA has better things to do with its resources than to dig up what Armstrong did 1999-2005.
“despite the 40-year-old being cleared by a separate federal criminal investigation earlier this year” – This isn’t an accurate statement. He wasn’t cleared, rather the assistant district attorney investigating the case determined he did not have enough evidence to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt; however, this by no means should be equated with innocence.
I believe he doped. Period. I also believe that some things should rest in peace and this is one of them. However, if he is stripped of all of his titles, and they are awarded to runners-up who haven’t yet been busted for doping, Cadel Evans will be declared the winner of the 2001 TDF – he was 8th that year.
June 23rd 2012 @ 2:17pm
Mat Coch said | June 23rd 2012 @ 2:17pm | Report comment
Aren’t we all innocent until proven guilty?
“…he did not have enough evidence to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt; however, this by no means should be equated with innocence.”
Isn’t that exactly what it means? There was not enough evidence to prove he was guilty and therefore we must assume he is innocent.
Whether that changes in future remains to be seen but for now Lance is innocent.
June 23rd 2012 @ 5:08pm
Bobo said | June 23rd 2012 @ 5:08pm | Report comment
There was no finding of insufficient evidence. That was not the reason given for shutting down the Grand Jury. No reason was given. No evidence considered by the Grand Jury was released, and it was not asked to consider charges or make any finding. We don’t know what it heard and what its members thought about what it heard.
No-one can draw any conclusions about the Grand Jury process, as the only people who actually know anything are the prosecutors and the Jury itself. Certainly, when Anderson suggests that Armstrong was cleared by a Federal Court, he making it up.
June 23rd 2012 @ 10:26am
Terence said | June 23rd 2012 @ 10:26am | Report comment
The key issue shouldn’t be whether or not he doped, it should be whether or not the fact that his teammates have admitted that they doped, and that as team leader he directly benefitted from their doping, means that he should lose his titles. Here’s an article that discusses the issue in more detail: http://youkantbeserious.com/2012/06/14/it-doesnt-matter-whether-or-not-he-doped-armstrong-should-lose-his-titles/
June 23rd 2012 @ 11:28am
zacbrygel said | June 23rd 2012 @ 11:28am | Report comment
Please read my article on the issue: http://www.theroar.com.au/2012/06/15/doping-claims-lance-armstrong-ridiculous/
June 25th 2012 @ 10:24am
jameswm said | June 25th 2012 @ 10:24am | Report comment
Interesting use of the word “faith”. That’s a bit how I see it with Armstrong’s disciples, they have faith in him as some sort of deity.
June 25th 2012 @ 1:02pm
Bones506 said | June 25th 2012 @ 1:02pm | Report comment
He is a testament to the human spirit that you can overcome adversity and achieve things.
June 25th 2012 @ 1:32pm
jameswm said | June 25th 2012 @ 1:32pm | Report comment
A cynic would say thousands of others have also beaten cancer. After beating cancer, where was the adversity?
June 26th 2012 @ 2:22pm
Bones506 said | June 26th 2012 @ 2:22pm | Report comment
And how many of those have gone on to win 7 TDFs? Do not underestimate what he has achieved. Not many other people can atest to such achievements.
He has also put in place the Livestrong foundation and is extremely active in pushing for more givernment funding and awareness.
He is arguably one of the top 5 greatest sportmen of all time as he has transcended sport and has touched the lives of millions of people – many of which have no interest in the actual sport of cycling.
I find it humourous people try and piss all over him b/c they are either jealous of his achievements or cannot fathom how one man can achieve so much. Either way I care little to such people’s points of view – he is who he is and has achieved what he has.
June 28th 2012 @ 10:51am
jameswm said | June 28th 2012 @ 10:51am | Report comment
Most people who beat cancer are normal people, rather than super-athletic ones. Armstrong is a super-athletic one who beat cancer.
One lady was nearly dead from graves disease, then 2 years later went on to win gold in an Olympic track event.
I’m not saying winning 7 TDFs isn’t a great achievement, whether or not he doped. But with the cancer, thousands of people beat cancer every year and once it’s gone, it’s not a factor physically. He was obviously a top cyclist before the cancer, and became one again afterwards.
I don’t think he’d be in anyone’s top 5 list without an asterisk though, with the amount of innuendo over his performances. I wouldn’t have him there also because of how few people the world over take cycling seriously. How many in Asia, Africa or South America?
June 27th 2012 @ 8:39pm
Maria Szczerba said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:39pm | Report comment
I have to agree with both Phil Anderson and Bones506 and a person is who they are and others should not be so judgemental or pass judgement if they do not truly know that person or for that more, what they truly have been through without reasonable doubt and substantial evidence or furthermore hearing both sides then come to a conclusion and if it is clear, why put Lance put through after he has had cancer and bought awareness and created he livestrong foundation and furthermore, his treatment and the way he came back from his treatment and his family and the fact he come back and rode with Motorola and was training and was sick at the time he trained , it takes a far greater man to come back from being sick and train then sit at home and do nothing and let the odds beat him, which he did not! Good onya Lance and keep going!
June 27th 2012 @ 8:39pm
Maria Szczerba said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:39pm | Report comment
I have to agree with both Phil Anderson and Bones506 and a person is who they are and others should not be so judgemental or pass judgement if they do not truly know that person or for that more, what they truly have been through without reasonable doubt and substantial evidence or furthermore hearing both sides then come to a conclusion and if it is clear, why put Lance put through this after he has had cancer and bought awareness and created the livestrong foundation and furthermore, his treatment and the way he came back from his treatment and what his family went through and the fact he came back and rode with Motorola and was training and was sick at the time he trained , it takes a far greater man to come back from being sick and train then sit at home and do nothing and let the odds beat him, which he did not! Good onya Lance and keep going!
June 27th 2012 @ 8:42pm
Maria Szczerba said | June 27th 2012 @ 8:42pm | Report comment
And why do people drag such issues and everyday issues on and on and on! Let people live! and leave people alone~!
June 28th 2012 @ 10:52am
jameswm said | June 28th 2012 @ 10:52am | Report comment
Issues like systematic cheating you mean? I really can’t fathom why anyone would consider that relevant, go figure…
June 28th 2012 @ 1:36pm
Bones506 said | June 28th 2012 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
It is the manner in which he placed himself – he used his position of ‘fame’ to help benefit and aid others. Whether he did that intentionally or not doesn’t matter – the fact is it happened.
The TDF is the largest annual sporting event in the world. The chemo limits your lung capacity and Lance went on a very high dosage of Chemo in a specifc way that did not hamper his ability to perform.
Many people in Asia, South America and Africa don’t have the exposure to international sports like Boxing, Cycling, car racing etc. For many of them it is just soccer.
June 28th 2012 @ 1:39pm
Bones506 said | June 28th 2012 @ 1:39pm | Report comment
If he has cheated Maria I think it is important that this is addressed though as it goes beyond just lance and into the coaching and administration and also doping controls. We want clean sports. Unfortunately cycling has the worst doping tag of them all.
If he has doped then who he is and what he stands for is a castle made of sand that people will tear down without mercy or second thought.
July 1st 2012 @ 11:32am
Lroy said | July 1st 2012 @ 11:32am | Report comment
I read somewhere that Lance Armstrong was tested twice a day during his comeback race after his retirement…
The results at the time came back negative right?
Regarding the recent justice department case, there was not enough evidence to convict lance in a criminal case…
“not enough evidence = innocent” the whole point of a trial is to connect evidence to a defendant… if there is no connection… the guy is innocent… end of story.
Floyd Landis is a liar and a drug cheat… so is one of the other guys that came out against Lance.. one of his accusers owes Lance several millions of dollars in a business deal that went wrong.
Have a good look at the evidence, or lack thereof, then have a good look at all the individuals involved. An administrator at USADA could end up with book deals, appearances on Oprah etc if he was able to become “the guy that took down Lance Armstong”
People forget that Armstrong was on the US Olympic team prior to getting cancer, (he helped pioneer their altitude training programs) and had raced the tour 3 times before getting sick, he had also won 50 odd triathlons and was the youngest ever rider to win one European race, and the first American to win another one.. the guy was very good before he had cancer… he didn’t just wake up one day and start winning races.