Bottom line, LA didn’t respect anyone or anything (probably not even himself) that had even the most remote ties with the sport which gave him all of his fame and fortune, thus zero respect.
No. I’ll save respect for Greg Lemond. Armstrong attempted to destroy anyone who questioned his lie.
Best comment in here!!! Greg lemond a true cycling hero who deserves respect. He beat death to come back and win the tour! Then has his business destroyed by some dirt bag.
Glad there are so many self righteous folks on this forum!
I don’t think that’s the case at all. There are many people that have absolutely zero respect for him as an athlete or a person. What he did throughout his career was wrong, he knew it was wrong, those around him knew it was wrong, and he continued to deny any wrong doing until 2012. How can that command any respect? Doug Ulman of Livestrong learned of his doping through USADA’s report, not from Lance himself, and it took a further three months before Lance apologised to Livestrong staff. How can that command any respect?
There are probably aspects to this story that will remain untold, and because of the litigious US legal system will likely go to the grave with him and those that do know.
All the more reason to share a drink with him, what an interesting and colourful person! 
LA taught us well.
@AndyGajda Based on the text of mine you quoted, I think we are saying the same thing:
- Lance is not respected as a person
- There’s not much debate whether he should be respected as a person (i.e. people, at least on this Forum, aren’t debating it; they are stating that they disrespect him)
Oops, yes! My bad!
No worries 
. My sentences sometimes have too much in them to read quickly (and I could have said things wrong as well ).
BTW: I have had the discussion with a really good friend who I respect a lot. And he (similar to others on the Forum) can’t get past Lance as a [terrible] person to consider whether Lance was a great athlete or has made any contributions to the sport or elsewhere. That’s actually my only real point - trying to separate the topics and where he has influenced the sport(s).
Of the TDF winners (1961 - 2010), Hinault & LeMond supposedly never came under suspicion. Doping has been in cycling since competition began. Jacques Anquetil admitted to doping and was quoted saying “Everyone in cycling dopes himself. Those who claim they don’t are liars.”
There are times in the history of the sport that people would brag about the amount of (then not banned) substances they would need to take to get through some of the punishing races/stages. One only has to read some of the books about the history of the TdF. Taking exogenous substances to improve performance will never go away. The issue is when it crosses the line of what’s allowed.
Have to pass on admiration of Hinault I’m afraid.
Can’t be caught for doping if you refuse to take the tests, like he was known to do on occasion, as you could back then.
Doesn’t inspire confidence.
Nice try, Lance.
I can’t help but like him and I find him a real interesting personality. He seems to recognise and accept his mistakes from his past and has tried to put right his wrongs.
He does everything but accept his mistakes or try to right his wrongs.
A-hole aspects aside, to pull off 7 TdF wins is amazing, I’ll give him, the team, and Johan that. Cycling was, is, and always will be dirty, enjoy it for what it is, and it was pretty damn enjoyable watching them on the road.
He tried to right his wrongs? When, Where, WHO? Did he reimburse greg lemond the 20 million he lost in one year because of LA killing his business? Did he help the Andreases or apologize? I would be interested in knowing where he chose to make things right without a court order.
When you put it like that… Erm… Maybe its not a case of liking him, I find him an interesting character.
Oh boy.
Lance is a terrible human being and sociopath. He’s also extremely charming and a very capable cyclist. He doped like many of his time and I believe he can be forgiven for that. The fact that he was willing to destroy the lives of several people to save his cheating a§$ makes it impossible for me to respect him. I do however appreciate his insight and sense of humor and don’t mind listening to his podcasts now and then either.