The New York Times is reporting that Lance Armstrong is close to admitting publicly that he used performance enhancing drugs during his career. That he cheated. That he lied for years and years and let the world think he was winning clean. The sport is dirty, but he always came across all high and mighty and that he was somehow able to do what no one else was able to do clean. I'm not taking anything away from any of those bikers to complete that Tour and do what they do to their bodies everyday. It would be interesting to see though what the race would be like if everyone was clean. I'm sure that one of the reasons Lance is doing this is because he sees a money making opportunity. A book and Kneepads cover where he comes clean. Speaking engagements. A movie perhaps. Definitely triathlons which he could do with a reduced sentence. It is all about making money.
i really don't want to hear one word out of his mouth. he lied about this for YEARS.
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ReplyDeleteTrying to stay relevant, eh?
ReplyDeleteI cant stand this self centered prick. Somehow he will make himself look sympathetic, and people will fall for it. He just cant go away quietly with class.
ReplyDeleteI read somewhere this morning that if he comes *clean* (no pun intended), it is ONLY because doing so will allow him to compete again.
ReplyDeleteNot in the Tour, but other races (such as triathalons). He was banned from all sorts of competitions because of the Doping Agency's findings.
I don't get it. If you have all this scandal swirling around you, why would you compete in any sport? How will anyone take him seriously? Who would let him compete? It just sounds delusional to me. I get the book deals and speaking engagements (even though I wouldn't show my face anywhere if I were him).
DeleteI really can't stand him. For years he lied. Gave kids hope. Then it was a lie. They will find out. Wow. P-ick
ReplyDeleteSo yeah, if this is true, it is totally self-serving. Not that we would expect anything different from him.
ReplyDeleteI read his book years ago and he became my personal hero. What a missed opportunity to shine light on the GREAT things he did in regards to fighting cancer. His lies overshadowed all of that.
ReplyDeleteHe had blood transfusions done to appear clean on the tests, right? It is such a slap in the face to those who actually were drug free and lost to him. I really hope this doesn't mean we have to hear more from him.
ReplyDeleteNot a lot of people that lost to him were clean either, which is why they aren't re-awarding the titles that Lance had stripped. It's a tacit agreement that the entire era is tainted.
DeleteReally late to the party with this one but the Aussie Cadel Evans is clean! He always came 8th etc during that "tainted" era and he finally won 2 years ago and IIRC correctly his time was similar to that during those tainted years.
Delete(Aussie point of pride) :)
It's the only viable option for him if he wants to be able to look people in the eyes again because the case and testimony against him is truly overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteBut he Said he was Clean!
ReplyDeleteI'm in shock! Must drink gin now.
Even if he's allowed to compete the USAT and ITU won't permit him to race. Triathlon is one of the few sports that has stringent rules against doping and zero tolerance.
ReplyDeleteand bridget, he's largely responsible for that fact. they felt like they HAD to do it if anyone OTHER than him was ever going to win. not saying it never went on before, but what he did kicked it into overdrive.
ReplyDeleteMeh. He doped just like all the other elite cyclists of that period. It's only interesting because Armstrong held himself up for years as being 'above' doping and chemical enhancements, and made an awful lot of money off of it. Ironically, even doping, what he accomished is still an amazing athletic feat.
ReplyDeleteBut doping or not, the guy's still a dick.
DeleteYep. I remember Ben Johnson (finally) admitting that it IS a level playing field, because everyone was using.
DeleteYep. I remember Ben Johnson (finally) admitting that it IS a level playing field, because everyone was using.
DeleteThat reasoning doesn't fly with me. Even if all of them were doping, the cyclists with the largest sponsorships and money can afford better drugs to win.
DeleteBut those with more money can also afford the best gear to train...so the reasoning stands. (Equating doping to gear since it was as common an accessory as medical tape)
DeleteI'll bet he's actually a diagnosable narcissist who is freaking out without his narc "supply" of adoration and admiration, and the specter of a future without performing and as a pariah is scaring the hell outta him. This is as much about that as it is about money.
ReplyDeleteCK76 - word. My hatred of this man is well-known (I go on and on every time his name comes up here), and you just hit the nail on the head.
DeleteImagine if he WAS innocent, never doped up, and had to "admit" just to continue competing and making money?
ReplyDeleteAri, that scenario would be straight out of a fairy tale. The evidence that Armstrong doped is indisputable. His admitting it is just a formality.
DeleteDisgusting. I hope no one hires him if he comes "clean"
ReplyDeleteHe's always had such a cold calculating, dirty, guilty far away look in his eyes, see above picture.
ReplyDeleteRegular folks who run into him here in Austin don't have very positive things to say about him either....I just hope his foundation doesn't suffer too badly from this. Folks with cancer need all the help and support they can get. I hope donations don't take too big a hit because of him...I know he's stepped away from the foundation to try and take his taint away from it.
ReplyDeleteTaint....
Lol, donner!
DeleteI think the just thing to do would be to remove his name from the foundation. Name it something else.
DeleteThey did that flirtychick74 it is now just the livestrong foundation
DeleteBen Johnson's coach, Charlie Francis, passed away a couple of years ago, and Ben was able to be much more upfront about what went on.
ReplyDeleteI live in his home town of Austin and we can't stand him. He is honestly one of the meanest people on earth. Drugging to win is the LEAST of his big issues. He is straight up a the meanest human being alive and always has been.
ReplyDeleteSuzie, I'm from San Antonio, and have friends and family in Austin. I've never met or heard about a local who likes the man. And he likes to pretend that Austin is his home town, but he grew up in Plano.
DeleteHe has a shitload of money that would easily allow him to live the rest of his life without competing. No, he likes to compete and can't live without competing. He has done many marathons and triathlons since retiring.
ReplyDeleteStupid ass, if he'd never tried to make his "comeback" and form a new cycling team, he wouldn't have pissed off Floyd Landis, who vowed to take him down. Ego and hubris always gets you in the end.
@donner I agree I live here in Austin too and its like saying his name out loud here is taboo now. No one wants to be associated with him they even changed the name of the foundation. I don't think admitting anything will change the public's perception, he's done.
ReplyDeleteAuthorities started to get suspicious when the average mph he went increased so dramatically over others. Climbing some of those mts like he did was also a sure sign. Level playing field? He made the entire sport dirty. Thanks Lance!
ReplyDeleteUSAT would LOVE for Armstrong to be able to compete again. There have been a number of races that have been willing to forgo their USAT qualification so they could have Armstrong in the field because his presence drives registrations way up.
ReplyDeleteI was a big Lance Armstrong fan and the way this has all come out has sucked. I wish he would have just admitted he doped when it became clear the jig was up. I lost a lot of respect for him because of the way he stayed on the attack and refused to concede he was guilty. And as I understand it he is a HUGE asshole in person.
USAT is definitely zero tolerance. They've banned a few extremely well known pros for dirty tests. The races Lance participates in are sellout races with or without him. WTC isn't going to ever give up USAT and ITC affiliation just to have him race is a sold out race, and he's too much of an asshole to do smaller races. REV3 doesn't want him, and I'm pretty certain HITS doesn't want him either.
DeleteIt's a freaking BICYCLE RACE. Get over yourself Lance. Let me repeat a BICYCLE RACE. Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteYes, park your tricycle in the garage, and come on in for some milk and cookies. Lol
DeleteWhat an arrogant douche. He probably still believes he deserves all those wins.
ReplyDeleteIf he's going to pull this self serving trying to get back into the good graces of the public stunt-- he needs to offer a full refund on his stupid book. Was one of my favorite reads, now I want my money back. Jerk.
ReplyDeleteI recommend the book, 'the secret race,' by tyler hamilton, who was on lance's team and who later competed against him.
ReplyDeleteits not just that lance lied about his own doping - over and over and over again. its that he threw others under the bus. tyler won a race once after he left lance's team and lance contacted the authorities to say that tyler was doping. and I believe that for that race, tyler wasn't doping. however, lance was doping.
lance had the authorities under his thumb and would give them large donations so they wouldn't go after him.
if the us attorney had prosecuted him, they had about 12 witnesses who were going to testify against lance. that included sheryl crow, who dated him for a few years. there was pressure from the top - lance was also chummy w/alot of politicians - to drop the case against him.
lance had the best doping doctors and his body responded well to the doping. the book is a great read and I'm not a bicycling fan.
but holding lance out as some kind of hero because he won while everyone else was doping as well is naive. he's no hero. he had no reservations about ruining people and their careers and calling women whores and women and men liars and jealous when they refused to lie on his behalf. hardly heroic behavior.
Completely agree. Every article I have read about him paints him as extremely vindictive. He sued EVERYONE!! and threatened to sue tons more that he felt were getting in his way.
DeleteWith his grimy personality aside, I've often wondered if there is too much pressure on athletes to not just be winners but extraordinary winners? If you're extraordinary in one race then you have to out do yourself in subsequent races.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder Sheryl divorced his ass!
ReplyDelete@Egyptian, she was never married to him. He broke up with her then married the next woman he dated.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding me-don't know why I thought they were married?! Lol. Must be more hungover than I thought...
DeleteI dont GAS about the whole bike crap, I've hated him since he ran off and left his wife w 3 babies to do Sheryl Crow, it was some obvious fame hoing to ppl in the biz who said his ex was a saint for putting up w his crap.
DeleteThere was a link to an article, on here possibly, that forever changed my mind about him. He is a self-serving, arrogant pr*ck!
ReplyDeleteJust imagine if his doping docs focused in cancer research. I do wonder if all that doping had a hand in his cancer.
ReplyDeleteWhen you're so sleazy that the foundation you started asks you to leave... yeah, you're scum.
ReplyDeleteNice plugs, though.
@CK76:
ReplyDeleteI'll bet he's actually a diagnosable narcissist who is freaking out without his narc "supply" of adoration and admiration, and the specter of a future without performing and as a pariah is scaring the hell outta him. This is as much about that as it is about money.
Comment of the day!
True, well said.
DeleteI'm on the fence about the whole thing.
ReplyDeleteI think he's an asshole of a human being who treated people poorly on his way to the top and should have expected nothing less from those same people on his way back down. Having said that, doping aside, he IS a great athlete. Sure, the doping enhanced that but it's not like he was a shit athlete and doping somehow changed that. And it DOES make a difference that everyone was doping...as someone above said, it was a level playing field.
He should have been punished. He broke the rules and like it or not, he is (was) a role model. But to pretend that his accomplishments are nonexistent now is wrong.
Did I mention he's a dickwipe?
@JoElla...IIRC, most of the hardcore doping was post cancer diagnosis/recovery.
ReplyDeleteSCUM
ReplyDeleteHere is my problem - he was never once tested positive. He passed every test and has been proven guilty from hersay. His team mates all testified he was using, and they were using..but if the official means to test someone are used and you pass and pass and pass...how are you guilty? It's like being convicted of using coke even though you have never failed a drug test because all the other coke users said you used coke.
ReplyDeletethe fact that he had to use drugs to enhance his performance makes me question his ability at any time. There is no actual way to tell when he started cheating or just doping that way versus other tricks he may have had up his sleeve. It's not like you can ask and get an honest answer.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/road-biking/My-Life-With-Lance-Armstrong.html
ReplyDelete@Egyptian: that's okay. I'm hungover too.
ReplyDelete@Egyptian: that's okay. I'm hungover too.
ReplyDeleteI would bet good money that if there is a confession it will be along the lines of O.J.'s "If I did it" crap. I've read for years about what an ass he is and how he used Sheryl and others (who were the guy friends Jake and Matt?) for fame and just to get his picture in tabs. Back in the day I was a huge fan of his and loved watching him compete. Now I just wished he'd go away and STFU.
ReplyDeleteI used to like him but it started to go downhill when he left his wife & kids for Sheryl Crow, then started acting like he was a miracle. I mean, surviving cancer and starting a foundation to fight cancer = awesome. Acting like a demi-god because you did those things = not so awesome. Lying, cheating, and abusing people = db level.
ReplyDeleteDisgust was sealed forever when he posted a picture of himself relaxing on his couch under all the framed Tour de France jerseys hanging on the wall. Subtext being you can take my title, but you can't take my jerseys. Ego much?
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ReplyDeleteUnknown who wrote that he never once tested positive. Not true, fantastic piece of investigative sports writing by David Walsh lays out the truth regarding Lance's positive drug tests and subsequent donations to the Testing Agency (can't remember the name now).
ReplyDeleteI had no idea he was such a tool.
ReplyDeletePaul Kimmage another sports journalist had a longstanding feud with him over doping allegations going back some time. Paul is also close friends with David Walsh mentioned above. Very interesting read. Lance is vile.
ReplyDelete@Suzie P.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember specific incidents from your local area or is he just a generally rude ass?
Tuxedo - one I heard from my brother, a long-time Austin resident: Lance refuses to comply with water restrictions - as in when and how one's yard can be watered during the summertime months, which is a very big deal in the recent drought conditions in most of Texas. Lance feels he should be able to use as much water as he pleases, since he can afford to pay for it and the fines and penalties he's incurring. Austin, if you're not familiar with the area, is into resource conservation on a California-type scale. I think he could burn the Texas flag in his front yard and incur less wrath than squandering water in the summertime.
Deletedidn't he leave Sheryl Crowe when she got cancer? Nice guy. Despise him and the photo with the jerseys was his true colours on full display.
ReplyDeleteToo little too late, fucktard. Take your ill-gotten millions and go invest in some Chinese factories staffed with small children...just about your speed.
ReplyDelete@Frufra
ReplyDeleteGod, I know the type. As long as their lawn gets watered who cares if there is enough water in case of a fire?