Lance Armstrong

  1. Daniel Nestlerode
    Daniel Nestlerode
    You know, in that black helmet and that grim countenance on the road I hear Darth Vader's theme when I see him. Possibly that's also because I'm routing for Vande Velde and Wiggins. I like underdogs.

    But Armstrong is an amazing athlete nonetheless. His performance in stages 16 and 17 this year has been crazy good. I tip my cap to him.

    Daniel
  2. evanreilly
    evanreilly
    I hope he wins the TT tomoro & pips Contador!
  3. Steve-o
    Steve-o
    Leadville 100 going on today. Lance is predicted to win. Having lived in Gunnison, I'm kind of partial to Mr. Wiens (no, not Jamie). ...

    [Later that same day]...Okay, not surprisingly, Lance won and bettered the course record by more that 15 minutes. He rode the last 10 miles on a flat tire!
  4. mandroid
    mandroid
    Well does seem that Pro Cycling , like drag racing needs a top fuel , and a natural gas, better thru training effort, class.
    since blood doping has become so commonplace, as the way to get to the front of what is arguably
    the best riders money can buy..

    Just wonder if the sponsorship money would stay with the win at any cost group,
    that leads the field now, until tested and DQ'd,
    or the mr. and ms. Natural, racing folks .. that I expect to be largely left to the Amateur status.

    maybe the component companies will go in with a durability improvement simplicity division
    in addition to the bling and gadget dominated gear they pay those kids to ride fast with their
    unnatural abilities, and make joe Tifosi think they will be as fast , if they just buy the stuff the racers ride on.

    a modest proposal ...
  5. JH Murray
    JH Murray
    Lance's sponsors are continuing to endorse him, and donations to Live Strong actually jumped up over the past few days. Doping is part of the landscape. Of all the top ten finishers in Lance's seven winning Tours, 41/70 have tested positive or been banned for performance enhancement. Not sure what it would take for things to change. Maybe if somebody died?
  6. Steve-o
    Steve-o
    Agreed. And let's not single out cycling. Most if not all professional sports are tainted. It seems to me that regular testing and constant improvements to testing methods are the best we can hope for. I hope the USADA goes away now and Livestrong continues serving the cancer community.
  7. Scott Tichenor
    Scott Tichenor
    Ahem...
  8. Steve-o
    Steve-o
    Yes, it's a sad day for Lance admirers and the sport of cycling. To put it in perspective, according to the API report, the USADA said 20 of the 21 riders on the podium in the Tour from 1999 through 2005 have been "directly tied to likely doping through admissions, sanctions, public investigations" or other means. It added that of the 45 riders on the podium between 1996 and 2010, 36 were by cyclists "similarly tainted by doping."

    Sadly, the sport we love is in bad shape and just got another huge black eye. I feel for the Livestrong community and hope that it continues to garner strong support for cancer research, despite this negative publicity.
  9. JH Murray
    JH Murray
    I wonder if the leadership of the UCI will take this to heart and finally clean up the sport. It looks bad that they have not found anyone worthy to give Lance's victories to. I wonder if Livestrong will be able to survive. It looks like Lance is going to be spending a lot of time in court being sued by his sponsors who want their money back.
  10. Beanzy
    Beanzy
    I often hear the phrase "why not let then all just take what they want?"
    As a previously serious racing cyclist I find it really depressing to contemplate what that would do to any sport.
    I have been friends with and raced against a good few pros in the bunch in the late '80s and they were haunted by the number of premature deaths of their ex-colleagues passing away in their '40s and early '50s. These weren't the big men but the domestiques just doing it to cobble together a 30 week contract on rubbish money.

    I remember standing with one very well known Spanich cyclist friend as, with his confidente/ mentor of many years, he discussed jacking the whole game in because he was being seriously pressured to take stuff to 'help him recover' during the stage races. This was a guy who rode the Giro, Tour and Vuelta every season for many years. In his words "Id rather p*** my life away on the beach with my girlfriend than live with that crap" He did give up two or three years later sick of "racing robots" as he put it.
    I've found discarded syringes at the start of amateur races in Ireland years ago.

    How many races have not been won by those who were the better riders? How many gave up in dispair? It's been made into a game for reckless fools who don't understand risks, ethics or the concept of sportsmanship extends to how you prepare as well as what you do on the road.

    For me road stage racing been a hollowed out husk of a great idea for many years. I want so much to be able to care about it, but it's been eaten by the vampires and their needles.
  11. Steve-o
    Steve-o
    Thanks for sharing your personal insight, Beanzy. I'd like to hear what you think about JH's comment about the UCI getting more serious about cleaning up the sport. Are they more lax than the governing bodies in other endurance sports? And is it realistic? Do they have the tools, test methods, and wherewithal to keep pace with cheaters?
  12. JH Murray
    JH Murray
    So is Scott Tichenor's avatar of a t-shirt a comment on this thread?
  13. mandroid
    mandroid
    Lance, Alfred E Newman as his stand in, made the cover of Mad Magazine..
    http://media.dcentertainment.com/sit...rmstrong_0.jpg
  14. JH Murray
    JH Murray
    Well I guess Mad Magazine was the last straw. He went to the Oprah confessional and finally admitted it all. He's been stripped of his Olympic bronze medal. Will this be enough for the UCI to launch an inquiry as to how they missed something this big for so long? Maybe the government of France should launch their own inquiry?
  15. mandroid
    mandroid
    http://www.wsj.com/articles/lance-ar...ons-1424109980

    Lance Armstrong must pay a prize-insurer $10 million as punishment for lying under oath about doping,
    according to an arbitration award decision filed in a Texas state court.

    seems they want their Money back ..

    hope His Mellow Johnny bike shop, in Austin can earn him some Bucks & hire a few Mechanics..
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