I can’t ignore you. I need someone to constantly point out how stupid I am.
Plus, I have this hanging on my wall.
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Hard to believe how many feel the need to make excuses for this type of behavior. Had some pretty shite bosses myself. But shite is shite. There is no excuse. Even less of a point to excuse one.
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I’ve reflected on this a bit, and came to a (semi-rhetorical) question: is Lance actually still relevant enough to be a figure of much interest or concern?
That has nothing to do with forgiveness, or relative guilt, or anything like it. But this was all established, prosecuted, done and dusted many years ago, and outside his podcast, has no involvement in the sport today.
I’m much more concerned with various aspects of current cycling and LA seems quite a long way removed from it. Just my 0.02, anyway.
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We are between the Giro and the Tour and there isn’t much to talk about in cycling!
The relevant thing about Lance to me is how many people still love his cult of personality. He’s always been a larger character to the public compared to Lemond, Hampsten, or any other American cyclist. He looms a lot larger than the european cyclists that don’t speak English well.
I never cared for him back them, never wore a yellow band on my wrist, and never bought anything with his name on it. I don’t care about him at all but it’s interested to see how many defenders he still has.
If anyone wants a trip down memory lane, this is a fascinating article (have to scroll down a little):
As j was reading this I was brainstorming the cycling version of Godwin’s Law. Seeing it in real time here 
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They didn’t have what they were tested for, and if they did, they were ‘dealt with’ accordingly (mostly).
Having a motor wouldn’t need a ‘gear box’, just two conical gears and a way to lift the motor to clear the driven gear. We put men on the moon with computers less powerful than our current calculators. The biggest thing the primitive technology of that day would have to deal with is weight (and noise). Does that mean he did it? Only he and his staff know. That video of the bike crashing and the rear wheel spinning furiously does look extremely suspect. (shrug) Ride on…
This is one thing he addresses during the Attia interview. It’s pretty funny, actually.
The bribes, witness intimidation, conspiracies and general racketeering went pretty far beyond the garden variety topping off of hematocrit most other riders were doing.
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But everyone else was doing it right? 
It was also never confirmed whether he was an alien and/or used top secret anti-gravity technology, but maybe we could restrict ourselves to the plausible and further note that having admitted to doping, being banned, and losing his titles, he’s been punished and we can move on.
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Not really punished. The US President at the time was afraid of the backlash he might get from the cancer community if he allowed justice and law enforcement to go after Lance. Therefore LA was allowed to keep the 10’s of millions he made off of fraud and purjury.
The people he hurt and the companies he ripped off will never get justice. It is no coincidence that LA coming clean happened after time limits had expired on people going after him.
When the 2018 Tour of California finished in our city, I went to the UCI meeting to volunteer as an anti-doping chaperone. I correctly answered the question on how much LA paid Floyd Landis for his court fees in the settlement the US Government filed against LA for defrauding the government.
For correctly answering the question I was picked as one of the anti-doping chaperones and was given a yellow Amgen Tour of California jersey.
Was I dreaming?
Nope, thats WindWarrior chaperoning TJVG on TV. Pretty sure it was real.
Or is paying $6.65 million not some form of punishment? You can argue the government should have demanded more, or not settled, but I think LA did take some lumps.
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Thank you. I stand corrected. It has been reported that LA’s net worth was around 125 million. 6.5 million is 5.2% of a penalty on his net worth. 6.5 million on a 100 million dollar tab is a nice walk in the park. Sure shows that crime is worth it.
Also found this.
I had no Idea he had to pay SCA back. I wonder if he did.
So maybe 16-17 million on a 125 million dollar pay day… Shows how f’d up the world is when people go to jail for shoplifting groceries as they cant afford it.
Anyways I was wrong. He took his lumps. No near what he deserved in my opinion.
Not sure you need to include “the cycling version” part. We’re seeing the real thing - my prediction is IF this thread gets to 200, we’re there.
Agreed re: hurting a lot of people, though I’m not sure which companies he ripped off.
The likes of Oakley and Nike raked in tons of money because of Armstrong’s influence on the sport. The entire cycling industry grew substantially as a result of Armstrong, starting with Trek, but spreading to all the other brands.
The voicemails left by Stephanie McIlvain of Oakley on Betsy Andreu’s phone prove that the executives at these companies knew Armstrong was doping but turned a blind eye. He was simply making them too much money for them to care.
Not defending Lance at all. His downfall was deserved and like you said, he got off too easy. Just saying that a lot of others who benefited never paid the price and certainly don’t deserve any sympathy, IMHO.
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It’s the internet. Everyone can do and say exactly want they want here. One member said people thought Greg Lemond was an asshole. 
Member never said who those people were. But he said it so it must be true. I am not American but I am an Obama fan. I remember reading about some pressure being put on various justice departments at the time to drop things. (I might of made this up in my own reality! 
Hard to believe what happened to Barry Bonds and other baseball players at the same time as LA skated by… But then who knows… Everything is fake news
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You should read the espn article. I know I am full of crap but this article seems to jump to the conclusion that some people much more in the know are full of crap to.
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Hamilton’s co-author made an implication in the footnotes that there were political considerations in the US Attorney’s decision. That is still a far cry from President Obama being directly involved.
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Sure. So Obama may have not been directly involved. His administration seems to have been at very high levels. Lets just use that great term PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY… Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman and there was yellow cake uranium in Iraq.
Doesn’t matter. If I was American and he was running I would most likely vote for him.
Good grief. If he was publicly flogged and exiled to a desert island, there would still be people who would insist he wasn’t punished enough.
People seriously underestimate the degree to which taking someone’s career and reputation away is a punishment. Armstrong committed his entire being to being the best cyclist alive, and having his reputation permanently tainted, being barred from competition, losing the titles he spent his entire life earning, losing his sponsors and any potential for future sponsorships, and becoming an international cautionary tale was a hell of a punishment.
The fact that he invested well, and has, over the past decade or so, managed to somewhat rehabilitate his reputation is testament to his drive and determination. He’ll always be “that guy who cheated”.
It is worth noting that his foundation is part of that rehabilitation, and has done a lot of good for people. His podcast and his company continue to raise money for charity and donate bikes to kids who might not otherwise have them, and he provides insight and perspective on racing that very few people can.
So take your pound of flesh and rest easy knowing that there will always be an asterisk by his name. But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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