Lance Armstrong interview on tv

[Grannygrinder]

.

So what is the result of all this going to be?
Apart from all the offences relating to the sport has he not lied before a court on numerous occassions?
Will he go to prison?

 

[Pyro Tim]

Apologies, but I don't understand why him admitting it has hit you hard..

Really?

I watched it and felt gutted, sick to my core... why?

Because Armstrong admitting he did it is the final nail in the coffin, not just for him, but for the sport that I hold so dear. The final, irrefutable truth that the riders that I looked up to and who motivated me to 'get out and ride' were cheats and liars.

I felt emotional and sad not for Armstrong, but for the sport and because of the shitstorm facing cycling as a result of this admission. This is just the beginning.

I'm watching it as I type and it's sickening, yes, but I always knew he was cheating. I also knew that so were most of the peloton back then. They never inspired me to get out and ride. In fact it did the opposite. I rode in the ninties, and stopped riding in 2000-1. I wasn't a roadie, still not. I admit I wanted to get into it, with Chris Boardman etc at the time, but the blatant drug use made me turn the other way. I couldn't stand it, and never watched the tour. Only in the past 3-4 years have I started watching the tour again. I still have my doubts about them being clean, even Sky and Wiggo and Froome. I think now though they are at least doing it in times that are vaguely believable. Cycling is in a shitstorm because it deserves it. It is a sport I love, but I cannot feel any sympathy towards it. Why? Because the culture has been there, and may still be for all I know. It would be more believable now if the answers given now didn't all sound the same as LA's throughout his career. That is true, and that maybe the real crux of it. However I don't think there has ever been a clean winner of the tour, nor will be in its current guise. Look at what they have to do. Look at the route for this year with the Alpe-d’Huez twice in one stage. In a race. It's a joke. I want them to be clean, really I do. I tried to convince myself that Wiggo is clean, along with the rest of the Brits, but I can't. I will be gutted if he is proved to be a fraud, as I really hope he is clean and I was proud that he won it, and the gold medals, and SPOTY.

 

[FSR-Si]

Excuse my ignorance but what actual harm does doping do?

 

[Pyro Tim]

Apart from destroying the lives of those involved, it is cheating. If not each other, then us, the fans. I want to know what is the limit of a human being. not a super human

 

[FSR-Si]

Thanks for the reply Tim, I understand it is cheating but i meant the physical harm. Its not something ive ever followed/looked into.

 

[Pyro Tim]

EPO for one has killed several riders, due to blood clotting. There is also psychological damage.

 

[David B]

Apart from destroying the lives of those involved, it is cheating. If not each other, then us, the fans. I want to know what is the limit of a human being. not a super human

And those of us who race without recourse to dodgy practices, even ones like me at the bottom of the ladder, invariably get tarred with the same brush as the cheats, especially by folk who don't know much about the sport at grass-roots* level.

Erwann Mentheour (once of Festina IIRC) is on record as having listed the short term effects of EPO use somewhere - kidney problems, migraines, etc., etc. Doesn't sound like a barrel of laughs.

David

*No cyclo-cross pun intended. Honest.

 

[highlandsflyer]

I was not certain he was a cheat back then. Of course when there were all those found cheating it made one wonder, but I was never sure.

 

[red_riviera]

I'm gonna watch Spongebob Squarepants instead... as it's less scripted and more true-to-life.

 

[Russell]

the culture has been there, and may still be for all I know... however I don't think there has ever been a clean winner of the tour, nor will be in its current guise... I tried to convince myself that Wiggo is clean, along with the rest of the Brits, but I can't.

And as a (I'm guessing) person passionate about cycling this doesn't make you sad?