cycling USADA To Strip Lance Armstrong Of 7 Tour Titles

[Shane Nokes]

Oh, please! Innocent people don't tend to stop contesting the charges against and it's a typical strategy for guilty people to run to the media with a conspiracy theory. I find it hard to believe that a major US agency would decide to make up charges against one of the most famous and successful US athletes just for the sake of it. Also, we're talking about 10 of his team mates willing to testify against him; if he's innocent and those people are all lying then it raises much bigger questions about the integrity of US professional cycling.

Could the accusations against Lance Armstrong be false? Of course. But that doesn't seem likely.

He's been fighting the allegations for years. Every test has come back clean, every single time they've checked his results have been beyond reproach. Also he isn't going anywhere with a conspiracy theory. What he said is that he's been fighting the allegations for years (True), and that he wants to focus on his family and his charity work (True). He's already retired...

The guy who initially accused him? Oh yeah, he's someone that has committed fraud. His word is definitely worth something...right? *crickets*

[Ryoken]

As I said before It wouldn't surprise me if he did dope.. but him giving up is not a sign of guilt..

Innocent people give up all the time.. everyone has their breaking point, and if he is innocent, he could have just reached his.. been tired of being pursued all the time since his first wins.. It has been never ending, he's been hounded almost every day since the beginning.

Guilty or not I feel bad for the guy.. there's never been any PROOF, yet his career has always been followed by a * listing the controversy..

Until there is undeniable testing that proves it, or several witnesses with nothing on the line themselves, they should just keep their thoughts to themselves.. Same thing with that Chinese girl during the Olympics, where it was mainly the US Olympic Committee saying she must have been doping with Zero evidence.. or the former US runner who said the same thing about the Jamaican team..

[theyarecomingforyou]

He's been fighting the allegations for years. Every test has come back clean, every single time they've checked his results have been beyond reproach.

It's well known how athletes are consistently able to get around doping tests, so all that tells us is that he wasn't sloppy about it.

What he said is that he's been fighting the allegations for years (True), and that he wants to focus on his family and his charity work (True).

And that's exactly the same thing that sleazy politicians say when they have to stand down after a scandal.

There is certainly doubt and - as I stated - it's possible that the charges against him are bogus. But it's all too common for guilty people to put on a defiant defence in the media yet accept the charges against them by refusing to contest them. It just seems more likely that he is actually guilty, especially given his paint-by-numbers response. Either he is lying, or the USADA has a vendetta against him and dozens of witnesses are lying. Given the propensity for doping by professional athletes I just don't find it credible that everyone is out to get him.

[HawkMan]

Tests are kind of irrelevant here as at the time there was no tests able to detect that kind of doping, even today the reliability of it is fairly low in detection. And tests done long after are even more irrelevant.

So what they have is his team admitting to doping and that he was part of it.

But hey, maybe, he was the single un-corruptible person on the team, who also happened to be the winner and the cancer survivor....

[Ghost5525]

Innocent until proven guilty, anyone?

guess not according to liquidcrystalmeth

[Guest LiquidCrystalMeth]

guess not according to liquidcrystalmeth

As mentioned, the rest of his team outed themselves (and him), and there was another (albeit anonymous) source.

And its not uncommon for cheats not to be proven cheats until years later. Normally they do the right thing, admittedly under a lot of media pressure, and confess, but i guess its a further sign of Armstrongs corrupt character that he wont do the honourable thing......

[Praetor]

if this is true, then for me professional cyclism is dead; everytime i hear someone won a tour i think to myself "waiting for the drugs results"; i still had some hope that a small bunch like Lance were true winners but that hope is now completly shattered.

just a bunch of cheaters on bikes.

[Rudy]

As mentioned, the rest of his team outed themselves (and him), and there was another (albeit anonymous) source.

And its not uncommon for cheats not to be proven cheats until years later. Normally they do the right thing, admittedly under a lot of media pressure, and confess, but i guess its a further sign of Armstrongs corrupt character that he wont do the honourable thing......

Do you have a source for that?

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

Do you have a source for that?

The CEO of USADA has said this is the case - they have something 10 or more ex team mates who are all saying they saw him doping but who are all remaining anonymous!

It's hard to know what to make of this to be honest and if it's true it's pretty sad - the guy is pretty inspirational. Ho hum :(

[leesmithg]

Lance Armstrong has done nothing wrong.

All he has done is take legal substances given to him by his coaching staff.

He passed all the stringent drug testing tests at the Tour De France so he is innocent.

Athletes take all kinds of supplements and drugs which are synthesised and improve their ability, that is cheating as it is enhancing their performance also.

Leave the d00d alone he is the best ever tour winner.

[CG-88]

If he has been clean and has passed all tests but the accusations have pretty much driven him out of the sport he loves and excels at that is extremely unfair!!!

I'm sure he knows by doing this alot of people will automatically think "he gave in so he is guilty" which is quite a big decision to make.

He is a legend

[briangw]

The USADA is NOT a government organization.

And the judge in charge only said his court did not have jurisdiction. Which seems to happen a LOT when a given court...doesn't have jurisdiction...ahem.

OK, it's not a govt. organization, but you can bet they have their coffers full of govt. subsidies and funds. Still, he never missed a test, so you would think the Govt. would at least hear this. But oh well, what's done is done. At least he won the court of public opinion for a lot of people.

[ahhell]

AHAHAHA.

Live Strong, you jackass!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[XerXis]

they just can't stand that a texan won frances little bike race.

that would make sense if it were the french doing an investigation and threatening to strip him of his titles. But as far as I know the US in USADE stands for United States. Or are you saying that texans are looked upon in the rest of the states? :p

[qdave]

I still think that us agency has no authority to take his titles away...there is international cyclist federation which could but not them.

[Astra.Xtreme]

As mentioned, the rest of his team outed themselves (and him), and there was another (albeit anonymous) source.

And its not uncommon for cheats not to be proven cheats until years later. Normally they do the right thing, admittedly under a lot of media pressure, and confess, but i guess its a further sign of Armstrongs corrupt character that he wont do the honourable thing......

Are you kidding me? What exactly makes you believe he actually cheated? There's not a single bit of proof out there for it, so stop being like the rest of the butt hurt crybabies that can't admit that an American could fairly dominate cycling.

Armstrong is an American icon and it's sickening how badly they harassed him for years and years.

[MDboyz]

USADA can just kiss his azz.

No worry, you will be always the winner to us.

[matt4pack]

The lance worshipers are pathetic and all because he had cancer. Guess what just because someone had cancer doesn't mean they were a good person.

It's like some kind of cult where he's some incorruptible figure and reality doesn't exist to them.

[KingCracker]

that would make sense if it were the french doing an investigation and threatening to strip him of his titles. But as far as I know the US in USADE stands for United States. Or are you saying that texans are looked upon in the rest of the states? :p

Who started the whole drug conspiracy? Christophe Bassons wrote some articles in a French news paper claiming doping was going on and it dragged lance armstrong into it. This is a perfect example of hear say being taken as fact especially when all the tests he's done has came back negative. You get enough people that don't like you to say bad things about you eventually it will become true. Lance probably just said F it I tried and tried and proved myself innocent but they keep talking so i'm just giving up.

[Astra.Xtreme]

The lance worshipers are pathetic and all because he had cancer. Guess what just because someone had cancer doesn't mean they were a good person.

It's like some kind of cult where he's some incorruptible figure and reality doesn't exist to them.

Actually the people that are pathetic are the ones throwing out accusations without any proof... Get over yourself...

[HawkMan]

I don't think all the people who go on about how he passed the tests understand how recent certain blood doping techniques would be detected at all, much less be detected reliably. especially when he did fail one of the recent tests and paid off to get out of it.

Actually the people that are pathetic are the ones throwing out accusations without any proof... Get over yourself...

Yeah, his whole team admitting they doped, and he did it to, totally irrelevant. those 10 guys who took the same tests and passed obviously lied while he is telling the truth.

yup that seems like the likely scenario

[Astra.Xtreme]

I don't think all the people who go on about how he passed the tests understand how recent certain blood doping techniques would be detected at all, much less be detected reliably. especially when he did fail one of the recent tests and paid off to get out of it.

Yeah, his whole team admitting they doped, and he did it to, totally irrelevant. those 10 guys who took the same tests and passed obviously lied while he is telling the truth.

yup that seems like the likely scenario

Innocent until proven guilty... If you have proof, then either put up or shut up.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Innocent until proven guilty, anyone?

I haven't kept up with this Lance mess because I honestly don't care enough, but that being said... If he decides to stop defending himself that is an admission of guilt in the American system (even if the US ADA isn't a government agency and isn't required to follow US Jurisprudence).

If you were arrested and subsequently charged with a crime and decided to take a plea bargain instead of going through with a full trial and verdict you will have admitted guilt...

Also, just because "evidence" doesn't come up on a "Google search" doesn't mean such evidence doesn't exist. I'd like to hope that my fellow neowinians are smart enough to know that everything isn't on Google...

[simplezz]

It's like body building, no one speaks about it, but they all take performance drugs. The testing only has a limited spectrum, and so some drugs get through.

[CG-88]

Yeah all athletes do, but if the tests only look for "some" or ones that arent allowed and he passed them all then he is OK.

I just think it is unfair, he has giving out this image of him being guilty now that he has given in, its like he has given up and doesnt care anymore. :(