Pay back for LeMond

[mattr]

MTB racing is littered with failed tests as well. On the plus side, it tends to be a one day affair, rather than 1, 2 or 3 weeks straight. And it's also somewhat less professional (don't get part timers doing the big road races, but we still have part timers doing world cups/championships in MTB).
So overall the drug taking is *less* significant.

 

[mattr]

Re: Re:

Sure this will put LA in an early grave... :cry:

Nah, he's a sociopath, still doesn't actually seem to realise what he's being hammered for. Same as many of his fans.

Just hope they retest and nail every cheating champ cyclist then. Strange they havent given his 7 Tour Titles to the next rider on the podium.

They are trying (not very well, but tahts another story) and the reason for not re-awarding the positions was covered at the time. insufficient confidence in other positions being correct. Didn't point the finger, but they knew what was going on.

IMO they were ALL at it and always have been using amphetamines etc LA knew that and was just the best doping prepared of the bunch and still the best rider. People forget he did all this with one testicle, having lost the other to C in his youth. On a level playing field with both nuts he would have smoked the rest of them drug free. Still a hero in my eyes despite his brutality to those who crossed him.

Nah, he got utterly destroyed in his early, non-doping days (or when he was just bad at doping). Even by non-dopers, and even more so by the known dopers of the day. And whats only having one nut got to do with it, it's not like you actually sit on it.

And i can assure you they aren't all at it, and never were.

For me it was an "interesting" experience going through what was in his books and comparing it to the evidence that was published when he was dragged through the courts. Lots of lies. Half truths and utter garbage. To this day, they are only books i've actually used as firelighters.

 

[al-onestare]

Re: Re:

I read a few books about Lance Armstrong and about this period in professional road cycling in general and I think there will be fair few that would like to see Lance get his comeuppance. By all accounts Lance was vicious and would go to great lengths rubbish the reputation anyone that spoke out about doping.

Christophe Bassons - who tried to race clean.

Betsy Andreu - the wife of his teammate Frankie.

Emma O'Reilly - his soigneur.

I've read all of those and I had to pick one, Christophe's is the most essential read. Emma's is a bit too 1 dimensional; not her fault, it was what she saw and experienced (plus her style is a bit short).

 

[xerxes]

Re:

I haven't read Christophe Bassons' book, or Emma's, I might check those out, but they featured significantly in a couple of the books I read.

The ones I read were:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... &psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... &psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Racing-Through ... 9MY33PC284
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... &psc=1
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... &psc=1

 

[M-Power]

Re:

Wheres the outrage over Tommy Simpson, a known Amphetamine user and lets not forget the now shady victory of Wiggo ? who else ?....they must be treated ALL with total contempt. No one rule for one

Although the male body adapts to 'some degree' for the loss of testosterone when loosing a testicle, it must have had a massive effect on his T levels and physical capabilities racing at that level, not to mention surviving chemo and C. Lemond was impressive winning after having so many toxic lead shot in his body but LAs achievements are beyond comprehension imo, drug enhanced or not.

I blame social media for facilitating the 'aggregation' of huge numbers of people into paraxisms of unbridled hysterical hatred of somebody they dont really know. Its a very powerful new social phenomenon, which will no doubt lead to more destruction, intolerance and eventually war.

Apols i was thinking of LAs US Amateur Champion win in 91, i remember reading about his amazing VO2 Max test results at the time in a bike mag.

Carry on

 

[KermitGKona88]

Re: Re:

Wheres the outrage over Tommy Simpson, a known Amphetamine user and lets not forget the now shady victory of Wiggo ? who else ?....they must be treated ALL with total contempt. No one rule for one

Although the male body adapts to 'some degree' for the loss of testosterone when loosing a testicle, it must have had a massive effect on his T levels and physical capabilities racing at that level, not to mention surviving chemo and C. Lemond was impressive winning after having so many toxic lead shot in his body but LAs achievements are beyond comprehension imo, drug enhanced or not.

I blame social media for facilitating the 'aggregation' of huge numbers of people into paraxisms of unbridled hysterical hatred of somebody they dont really know. Its a very powerful new social phenomenon, which will no doubt lead to more destruction, intolerance and eventually war.

Carry on

You have your opinion and you are entitled to have it.
















However wrong it may be

 

[M-Power]

Re:

And you have carte blanche to be forever 'outraged'. I hope they keep testing samples using evermore advanced detection measures to find out who else was cheating. I suspect like increasing breaches of IT security, it will only ever get worse

Yours

A not quite so judgemental realist

 

[xerxes]

Re:

To some extent, I think the public outrage or fans feeling cheated is a secondary issue. The real tragedy, is for those competitors that would have liked to have competed clean, like Christophe Bassons. Riders that either succumbed to the pressure to dope, just to keep up and keep their jobs, or who didn't and were forced out of the sport and lost their livelihoods to the cheats.

Imagine being a keen young cyclist, runner, weight lifter, or whatever, you do well in all the predominantly clean junior events, placing consistently in the top 3. As you get older and perhaps turn professional and start competing against other professionals, some if not many of which are doping, and you suddenly find you're at the back of the field, or finishing in the bottom 3. You're then faced with the choice to dope, just to stay competitive, or give up on your career, because if your not achieving results in the top of the field, you won't get the necessary sponsorship, funding, coaching etc. to continue.

Thus the cheats and the system itself perpetuates the problem and creates more cheats.

 

[Mike Muz]

Re:

For me it's more to do with the lengths to which he went for his need to prove himself. Physical threats against anyone who questioned his performances, antagonising Bassons on a stage of the Tour because he could. Remember that?
Not to speak of the threats within family members of his own team, including Emma O' Reilly, the team masseuse.

All cheats are bad. Simpson, Millar at al. Same rule for all. I am also against those involved in doping playing any part in sport. How can someone who admitted winning the Tour doped, become a manager? What message does that give to young neo pros?

Mike

 

[mattr]

Re: Re:

Wheres the outrage over Tommy Simpson, a known Amphetamine user and lets not forget the now shady victory of Wiggo ? who else ?....they must be treated ALL with total contempt. No one rule for one

Ah, someone else who hasn't twigged as to why they came down so hard on Armstrong.

:roll: