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.
Tony Hill
Guest
At least you can see Armstrong for what he is now Zac. I am still worried it is still going on in cycling! Altough the Athletes are now being finally brought to book.
Tony Hill
Guest
Boy do all the Armstrong defenders look silly now! The man duped you with his lies and, due to blind bias, a load of people wanted to believe him. And still some idiots think he would have won those TDFs on a level playing field lol. The bloke could not climb a quarter as well as he did! without the blood doping.
zacbrygel
Roar Guru
Thanks for that Tony, I will look to get hold of that book.
Tony Hill
Guest
Fair do's Zac, You should read David Walsh's book the 'seven deadly sins'. Not the greatest cycling book ever written but, it does show what was going on at the time and how people, that were trying to expose him, were treated. The UCI comes out of it in a very bad light and i hope the people responsible for running the UCI at the time get busted more severly than even Lance! as they could have stopped it all in 99. Best Regards Tony
zacbrygel
Roar Guru
Tony, as a result of the evidence that has came out in the past few weeks I am now, and have been since the details of USADA's report came out, completely believing that Lance Armstrong doped and IS THE BIGGEST CHEAT IN SPORTING HISTORY. I deeply apologise for what I have written in this article, as it turns out that I, as well as many others was completely fooled into believing Lance's innocence when in actual fact Lance was a big, fat LIAR. I HOPE WE NEVER HEAR OF ARMSTRONG AGAIN, THE BIGGEST CHEAT IN SPORTING HISTORY, AND I AM SORRY TO ALL FOR WRITING THIS ARTICLE. I TOO, WAS FOOLED BY AN EVIL GENIUS.
Tony Hill
Guest
How you feeling now Zac? Lance is in hot water and his attempts to stop his own countrys drug agency from going ahead with their plans to ban him are in tatters. He is not trying to prove his innocence! He is trying to stop the USADA from exposing him with loads of ex team mates as witness & other evidence of drug use in his samples. We should support these agencies in their efforts to clean up all sports of cheats who have won dishonestly no matter who they are or where they are from.
Kim Hart
Guest
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.
Tony Hill
Guest
As for Landis taking 4 years to confess his guilt!!!!! we may find others have been lying for a much longer time than that?
Tony Hill
Guest
Pozzato was barred from this years Olympics due to his relationship with Dr Ferrari! Lance was still seeing the same Doctor after he had been black listed. It seems that some people want to excuse Lance because he is a fellow countryman! I am glad the USADA is protecting the rights of its clean sportsmen by exposing the ones who have cheated.If Lance has done wrong? he should be exposed so as to stop others following in the same footsteps.Its good to see the UCI being shown up for the 'blind' beggers they are and the hot air they spouted during the early years of this century about 'cleaning up their sport' now looking just that 'Hot air'.
Tony Hill
Guest
10 former team mates saying Armstrong cheated! I guess, according to the pro Armstrong camp, they are all lying! It looks to me that Armstrong is intent on stopping tUSADA proving his guilt rather than proving his innocence? Come on Lance..let them test your old samples with the new testing equipment they are now using to catch cheats from previous Olympics! After all...according to you, you have nothing to hide.
Tony Hill
Guest
It seems to me a lot of Armstrong supporters don't want him busted even if it is true he cheated! If you pay top dollar you get the best dope Drs like Ferreri.Most cyclists could not afford him even if they wanted to cheat.So the remark 'They all cheated' is a lame excuse for saying someone would still have won all their races if playing on a level playing field.
Tony Hill
Guest
There is also a branch of thought you can hide certain spiked help over a short period of time easier than a long period.As Pozzato has now just found out.
Tony Hill
Guest
So Armstrong lied about 'severing all contact with the dope guru Dr Ferreri years ago'. Armstrongs spokesman,Fabiani, has admitted that Lance met the dodgy Dr only last year and there have been other meetings with the Dr in Switzerland all this after Armstrongs so called 'severing of links'. The plot thickens...especially after another of Dr Ferreris cyclists he helps,Pozzato, was done for failing a test and has been charged.
mcbunsy
Guest
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.
maaah
Guest
Dear Author, Did livestrong inc. just send you a l.e. Madone? Or just a new kit? Such zeal :) As far as lance...he might have doped. I wouldnt care and still respect him as an incredible cyclist if he weren't such a jerk. As far as the USADA investigation...it's not about Armstrong, it's about going after the D.S.'s, soigneurs, consultant doctors and other management/infrastructure types that provided drugs during that era and are still in cycling. I think this time Armstrong's just getting flack for refusing to testify against his cronies.
sittingbison
Guest
furthermore Tony and zac, the lab had no idea the samples belonged to Lance. They were testing a new detection method, and used the 99 samples as a baseline because it was presumed that as there was no testing for EPO in 99 the athletes would not bother to mask it or microdose. It was not intended to bust anyone certainly not a specific athlete. The labs never have access to names, only codes supplied by UCI, for the very reason to avoid tampering. The LeQuipe journo completely independent of the lab managed to put several documents together, and aligned Lances name with the sample codes. The reason he did this was the lab techs were amazed to find so many of the samples (11) were full of EPO, but more importantly five came from one rider. They blabbed, and the journo saw a story. The funny thing is Lance has not tried to deny the samples are his, but they were stored incorrectly or spiked.
sittingbison
Guest
on the surface yes. However arthur that applies to every single athlete in the world who has not tested positive, which also makes Lances statement "I have not tested positive" to the question "Have you used drugs" completely disingenuous. arthur there are signals in front of everyones eyes that suggest PEDs - performance ENHANCING drugs - are being used. Such as enhanced performance. The reason Cadel (and others) is not considered as using them is because his performance does not appear to be enhanced. He has never had any dramatic improvements, he struggles. At this level of elite sport they are all already at their optimum performance level, they can only have micro improvements through changes in training and diet for instance, with science suggesting about 1%. Same applies to there physiognomy (sic) such as VO2max and power outputs, they cannot magically double their lung capacity. They can however have dramatic lapses like anybody. Compare this with say Ricco or guys like Schumacher, who comes from nowhere (I wont use Lance as an example, who had an approximate 8% increase in performance from when he was the world cycling champion). Like bones has suggested, Cadel has struggled at teams that have been revealed as systematic dopers. The signs are there he is clean, as opposed the signs that suggest otherwise.
JR
Guest
Suggested reading: http://dailymaverick.co.za/article/2012-06-14-lance-armstrong-200-the-bullet-dodger-is-once-again-on-the-block
Tony Hill
Guest
I am saying if George came out and said Armstrong cheated then,with his close background to Lance,it would really set the 'cat among the pidgeons ' so to speak. George knows what went on within that USP team.Its a question of whether or not he wants to tarnish his own name in speaking out or not?
Tony Hill
Guest
Even if they all doped???? It would not be an even playing field because some had better chemists at work than others.