According to USA Today "The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has accused Armstrong and five former members of his support staff — three doctors, a trainer and a team manager — of engaging in a massive doping conspiracy from 1998 to 2011. Armstrong, 40, who retired from cycling last year, could see his Tour titles get stripped as a result."
The last probe was dropped back in February without any charges being filed. According to the same article quoted above, this new case will be based more on testimony than evidence, kinda like when they got Marion Jones to break down in tears and confess to everything.
These proceedings could be interesting (at least the highlights will be), but before they begin, I would like to pose the following, simple question: Is Lance clean? The defense and the prosecution both make interesting claims.
Defense Point of View: Lance has passed more than 500 drug tests over the 13 years in question. All this at a time when hundreds of cyclists have been busted and Tour de France winners have been stripped of titles after failing drug tests. How could Lance have been the only one not to have gotten caught?
Prosecution Point of View: Lance won 7 Tour de France titles at a time when doping was rampant. In a sport where a 5 second lead can be insurmountable and races can be decided by hundredths of a second, how could someone who is not doping beat so many riders who are doping?
Call me a pessimist, but I personally believe Lance to be guilty. I cheered for him in every one of those 7 Tour de France titles, but, looking back, I just can't make myself believe that he did it clean. Maybe it's the magnitude of the feat. Maybe it's jealousy. Maybe PED's in baseball and the Olympics have cast a negative shadow over all of sport. Maybe I'm just a total hater. Whatever the case, I would love to hear what you think. Please share your thoughts below. Thanks in advance for your contributions!
The last probe was dropped back in February without any charges being filed. According to the same article quoted above, this new case will be based more on testimony than evidence, kinda like when they got Marion Jones to break down in tears and confess to everything.
These proceedings could be interesting (at least the highlights will be), but before they begin, I would like to pose the following, simple question: Is Lance clean? The defense and the prosecution both make interesting claims.
Defense Point of View: Lance has passed more than 500 drug tests over the 13 years in question. All this at a time when hundreds of cyclists have been busted and Tour de France winners have been stripped of titles after failing drug tests. How could Lance have been the only one not to have gotten caught?
Prosecution Point of View: Lance won 7 Tour de France titles at a time when doping was rampant. In a sport where a 5 second lead can be insurmountable and races can be decided by hundredths of a second, how could someone who is not doping beat so many riders who are doping?
Call me a pessimist, but I personally believe Lance to be guilty. I cheered for him in every one of those 7 Tour de France titles, but, looking back, I just can't make myself believe that he did it clean. Maybe it's the magnitude of the feat. Maybe it's jealousy. Maybe PED's in baseball and the Olympics have cast a negative shadow over all of sport. Maybe I'm just a total hater. Whatever the case, I would love to hear what you think. Please share your thoughts below. Thanks in advance for your contributions!
RSS Feed
