We have already answered that….we “need’ the content of these vitally important influencers, so we must therefore accept the associated risks included with their behaviors.
The onus is on US to avoid the dangers, not on them. 
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It’s not my original idea but the point has been raised that cheating is breaking the rules to gain an unfair advantage, which in the case of systemic doping across the whole peloton means an even playing field and thus no advantage. Remember none of his victories were reassigned to anyone because it was not possible.
Lance is unlikely to have been the first rider to use PEDs and turnabout is fair play.
Your rationalization breaks down when you understand that not all riders in the peloton during the 90’s and 00’s were doping.
Doesn’t matter if it was 1 or 1000 who didn’t dope.
I don’t accept “they were all doing it” as rationalization for my daughter’s mistakes so I’m certainly not gonna accept it from a multi-millionaire bully.
YMMV.
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Right not to get personal here but if my fictional daughter was the only one not to get into college because she didnt cheat on the final while the other 999 did… well you can see that the definition of cheating breaks down when it doesn’t confer an advantage as I said.
As for riders in the pro peloton and doping, I happen to have a very close friend who told me that it became impossible to do TDF without doping by 1992. This is coming from a man who rode multiple grand tours in the late 80s. But even if they weren’t all doping, everyone in the GC for sure was to various extents. Lance is mostly know in the professional world for his affiliations with the doctors who perfected it, there have been guys taking low octane products with mixed results for decades.
Anyways I just don’t like people bashing on lance like as if we can hold him to the same standards as a human being, that goes completely out the window when you are a public figure on his level and doubly so when you are an animal who’s only skill is ride bicycle.
I’m not an advocate for Lance’s behavior or for doping, but I’m also not dumb enough to not take benefit from the insane rides he did. He is one of the most inspirational chracters of all time with a character arc that would make shakespeare blush. Nothing to do with moral compasses more to do with perspective.
So we should hold public figures to lower standards?
Regardless most people don’t hate lance purely for doping, they hate him for being a horrible human being and treating those that rightfully called him out for doping in a deplorable manner.
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Yeah I understand the attitude and yeah he was a public figure with billions of dollars on the line. We might be posting on a model train enthusiast forum if lance didn’t carry the cross for us all and grow the sport in north america to the level that he did. He did his time imo.
Google “false equivalency”
I’m out….
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Since when was lance paid billions?
He grew the sport in NA yes, then promptly destroyed any progress he made.
Not sure what time he ever did? The only consequences he ever suffered was deserved public ridicule and a loss of some of his $ he got by cheating.
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Hi everyone, this thread has strayed off-topic and is no longer productive. Please take a moment to review the forum guidelines, especially the section about being excellent to each other. Thank you!
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