Lance Armstrong

[Os Cangaceiros]

wooooo-boy...his fall from grace has been really something, don't think I've ever seen anyone go from so such a celebrated athlete to the butt of so many jokes. He kind of deserves it, though.

Anyone else been following the immolation of Lance Armstrong's legacy recently?

[Sasha]

nah, i have some bicycle nut colleagues who insist on keeping me updated through facebook but i cant really be bothered to care. of course everybody was doping in the tour, everybody still is, anyone who believed you can win that thing clean with so much ease, esp 7 times after beating cancer is as gullible as ppl who believe pro-wrestling is real.

[Os Cangaceiros]

The worst thing is that Armstrong bullied and threatened anyone who claimed that he was in fact doping. He pissed a lot of people off with just the manner in which he responded to those claims/criticism for all those years.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

The worst thing is that Armstrong bullied and threatened anyone who claimed that he was in fact doping. He pissed a lot of people off with just the manner in which he responded to those claims/criticism for all those years.

It betrays a very warped personality, very narcissistic bordering on psychotic...like the guilty as sin murderer who professes his innocence throughout their trial right up until the guilty verdict and beyond.
But I think that's a common trait among very successful professional athletes...no source, just a hunch.

[bricolage]

nah, i have some bicycle nut colleagues who insist on keeping me updated through facebook but i cant really be bothered to care. of course everybody was doping in the tour, everybody still is, anyone who believed you can win that thing clean with so much ease, esp 7 times after beating cancer is as gullible as ppl who believe pro-wrestling is real.
I don't think *everybody* is still doping, if you look at the times it takes them to do certain climbs compared to the 'glory days' as well as the output of most riders it's considerably less than before and much nearer to the levels of pre-EPO. the sport isn't 'clean' yet but it's not like it was during the heyday of armstrong.

[bricolage]

The worst thing is that Armstrong bullied and threatened anyone who claimed that he was in fact doping. He pissed a lot of people off with just the manner in which he responded to those claims/criticism for all those years.
I think the Simeoni case was the saddest,

At the 2004 Tour de France, Armstrong famously chased down Simeoni when he was in a breakaway group. Simeoni had testified against Dr. Michele Ferrari, who was Armstrong’s trainer.

“You made a mistake when you testified against Ferrari… I can destroy you,” Simeoni says Armstrong told him. Armstrong forced Simeoni back to the peloton, with a sinister “zip the lips gesture” that was replayed constantly on television, though at the time commentators claimed to have no idea what it really meant.

One journalist recalled Simeoni’s face — it was wet with both his tears and the spit of the peloton.

[bricolage]

but it is kind of strange to see some people get so up in arms about this as if they have been personally betrayed. if you were that interested in professional cycling that lance was some sort of inspiration to you then you must have been interested enough to know it was very possible he was doping. I think more to the point you shouldn't put so much faith and trust into professional athletes.

[teflon_john]

this shit is beautiful. i'm from Austin and i wish i was still there to see the Livestrong Cult crumble. i went to one of his gym franchises once and saw a huge poster of him with the quote:

"People ask me what I'm on all the time. What am I on? I'm on my bike six hours a day, busting my ass."

lol yeah okay dude, and the fucking juice.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

this shit is beautiful. i'm from Austin and i wish i was still there to see the Livestrong Cult crumble. i went to one of his gym franchises once and saw a huge poster of him with the quote:

"People ask me what I'm on all the time. What am I on? I'm on my bike six hours a day, busting my ass."

lol yeah okay dude, and the fucking juice.

Like I say, professional sports seem to draw the same kind of psycho you'd find in mainstream politics (Smile, wave, I can have you killed, thumbs up)

[Landsharks eat metal]

Honestly, I'm mostly just still more pissed off about Floyd Landis, even though I'd say what Lance Armstrong was "worse", but it's more a local thing of Landis being from Lancaster and everyone I knew here believed in him and wanted to support him, and his success had meant a lot more to me (meaning that I actually read the newspaper articles about him as opposed to when it was all about Lance Armstrong repetitively for years. Plus I think I watched a little since my father is really into cycling.) I doubted the allegations against Floyd Landis but once he confessed I figured if he'd doped, then Lance Armstrong must have too.

[bricolage]

in a way I felt bad for landis, he spent all that time keeping quiet for armstrong and the rest of US postal and then when he finally got his chance to win got busted for it.

[skitty]

His threats and lawsuits are unacceptable; but he didn't create the doping culture that was so widespread that you couldn't win a major race without participating. I'll bet he was the most-tested rider ever-did they ever get a positive out of him?

[Os Cangaceiros]

I don't think so, but he and his "co-conspirators" were really smart about it.

[bricolage]

if you get the time read george hincapies affidavit, it's mad.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444799904578048941010314364.html

[skitty]

I don't think so, but he and his "co-conspirators" were really smart about it.

That's the only thing about all this that rubs me the wrong way. If he submitted to every test and never gave them a positive we shouldn't be where we are now.

[I <3 short shorts]

Anyone at the elite levels of performance uses steroids, eop, HGH, insulin, some even go further and gene dope with experimental treatment in china, one boheamouth beat remy bonjosky after going to china and reportedly coming back with 40lbs more muscle than he came with.

Lance Armstrong is a legend. Anyone thinking you can do the tour clean is either insane or naive at best in my opinion.

[Niall]

but it is kind of strange to see some people get so up in arms about this as if they have been personally betrayed. if you were that interested in professional cycling that lance was some sort of inspiration to you then you must have been interested enough to know it was very possible he was doping. I think more to the point you shouldn't put so much faith and trust into professional athletes.
I agree with this and will still look up to Armstrong for coming back from cancer and helping raising so much awareness and money in the fight against it

[palson]

The redhead is a friend of mine. Its her first national commercial.