http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » Tag: Lance Armstrong doping - Recent Posts en Tue, 26 May 2026 12:43:56 +0000 http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-132345 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:48:38 +0000 EddieD 132345@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I have to agree with Weiss on this one, particularly his attacks and destruction of people like his masseuse - the hallmark of a bully being merciless attacks on people weaker than them.</p> <p>Many years ago, on Question Time iirc, the late Linda Smith was asked about the wisdom of giving the BNP the oxygen of publicity she replied "I don't like giving them the oxygen of oxygen".</p> <p>I feel the same way about Armstrong. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-132343 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:08:42 +0000 PS 132343@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>since his crass comments about rider who was dragged under a left-turning bus last year</em></p> <p>To be fair to Wiggins, I don't think his comments were directed at the guy killed by the bus - they were more the usual sports-cyclist's "banning ipods and requiring helmets would make cyclists safer" ill-informed pavlovian response to a road safety question. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-132239 Tue, 12 Nov 2013 03:11:00 +0000 Focus 132239@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-24900159">Armstrong: Doping justice 'not consistent'</a></p> <p>Still harping on about a level playing field and being a scapegoat. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131957 Sat, 09 Nov 2013 16:00:33 +0000 weiss 131957@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I would have a lot more time for Lance if his only "crime" was that he was a major drug cheat. He and many others were all doing it, so he wasn't alone. For me, the main reason I struggle to feel sympathy for him was his attacks on people who said he was taking drugs. If he'd just said he wasn't and kept his mouth shut thereafter, fair enough, but he went way overboard, suing people and whatnot, so that's where my sympathy stops. Which is a shame, because he is indeed an amazing cyclist.</p> <p>Can't disagree re: Wiggo either; that guy is one of the most selfish riders on the tour. His pathetic display at the 2013 world road race championships was yet another example of him not trying for a team-mate. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131885 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 18:11:12 +0000 Dave 131885@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I treat pro cycling as entertainment, a bit like the wrestling. Maybe they're dirty, maybe they've just not been caught yet. It's sort of part of the fun.</p> <p>I must admit, since his crass comments about rider who was dragged under a left-turning bus last year, I've secretly hoped that Wiggo will be outed. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131870 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 16:58:47 +0000 Focus 131870@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>I agree that it was a surprise to hear him call himself a jerk (I think that was the actual term he used with Oprah) and that was a bright spot in that interview.</p> <p>And no, he was far from the only one cheating. But when you're at the top you're going to attract more attention (which he was never shy of) and you're going to become a target - the biggest target - when it appears you've done wrong.</p> <p>Before the allegations began, I was an admirer of his achievements but not of his personality. I remember him as a young pro before his cancer scare and he was brash and arrogant as much as he was talented. Who knows how good he could have been clean (ok, in a clean sport)? </p> <p>The same can be said for David Millar who was already a big talent before the drugs an lost a lot of momentum after them. But he will be ending his career looking very strong and I feel he would have been a far more consistently high finisher without the drugs scandal.</p> <p>But that can only ever be conjecture because we never got to see all the world's top cyclists ride clean at the same time in their respective eras.</p> <p>Ironically, because it seems so many riders were cheating, it actually seems easier to look back at old races and enjoy the spectacle without thinking "that person shouldn't have won" because there's a fair chance nobody else in contention had any more right to win! That's where some people get the twisted notion that drugs should be allowed because it would make for an even playing field though. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131863 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 16:14:51 +0000 minus six 131863@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><em>He clearly feels aggrieved he's been made the poster boy for doping but is it any wonder? Can he really be surprised.</em></p> <p>He just thinks (understandably in my opinion), that the omerta already existed, everyone else was also on the juice, and he was still a damn good rider despite it all.</p> <p>I was never a Lance fan during his reign, but at least he's now putting his hand up to being a long time jerk. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131849 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 15:04:59 +0000 Focus 131849@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/lance-armstrong-exclusive-interview-part-4">Part 4</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-sports/cycling/cyclist-lance-armstrong-posts-twitter-1430955">That picture</a> for those who need a reminder.</p> <p>There's still an undertone (and only barely under) that he's far more sorry for being caught ad having to confess than he is about being a cheat in the first place. Sorry how he handled it. Embarrassed. But still finding it hard to say sorry for being a jerk, a cheating jerk.</p> <p>He clearly feels aggrieved he's been made the poster boy for doping but is it any wonder? Can he really be surprised.</p> <p>Finally, if the interview has been published in chronological order, it seems to end quite abruptly and on almost a cliff-hanger as though there was more to come. I wonder if Armstrong cut it short once things became uncomfortable? </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131805 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 11:39:54 +0000 Focus 131805@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Recently retired Dave Zabriskie's interview from <a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/zabriskie-reflects-on-his-past">a few mnths ago</a> make an interesting parallel. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131800 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 11:27:39 +0000 Focus 131800@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>The only thing I partly agree with is that nobody should get away scot-free if they were involved in cheating. Those (Lance fans) who say his titles should be reinstated are deluded and I understand why his removed TdF titles have no winner. Nobody knows who the "clean" winner was! I can sympathise with the organisers refusing to award them to anyone else because it would only look increasingly pathetic to keep changing the result every year or two when someone was either outed or confessed to cheating down the line.</p> <p>I hope Armstrong <em>does</em> co-operate with an investigation but he'd better not think or insist on getting anything other than clarity in his own head out of it. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131798 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 11:21:55 +0000 Focus 131798@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>It certainly is. And as I predicted, much more insightful than the Oprah interview. But then he had full control over that one and I think he knows he can't do that in future interviews if he wants the slightest bit of credibility to cling to him.</p> <p>Regarding part 2, for those less into the sport, the "TUE" referred to is a <a href="http://www.usada.org/tue-faq/">Therapeutic Use Exemption</a>, or a get out of jail free card allowing use of a banned substance for medical reasons. He provided a back-dated exemption to use a corticosteroid for a saddle sore. So he had indeed tested positive, despite the constant denials.</p> <p>In part 3, the "JT" referred to is JT Neal, his former <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soigneur#Soigneur">soigneur</a>. More on that relationship <a href="http://www.texnews.com/texas97/lance102797.html">here</a> and <a href="http://unholyrouleur-jim.blogspot.co.uk/2009/08/book-review-lance-making-of-worlds.html">here.</a></p> <p>I believe he's actually allowing himself to admit he deserves most of what came his way but he still won't take 100% ownership of the blame. I certainly don't see any way that he should be given back any of his titles, regardless of what help he may give in the future. He did wrong and has been rightly punished. I'm a great believer in what David Millar has done post-ban but that doesn't mean I think he should have <em>his </em> assisted victories returned, so why should Armstrong, whose wrong-doings have been so much more egregious?</p> <p>It's a sign of how much of a (false) figurehead of the sport he became that there are <em>still</em> people commenting online (even under those interview pages) trying to justify his actions or blindly say what a hero he is. "<em>Lance is the king!</em>". Unbelievable. </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131774 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 09:26:42 +0000 minus six 131774@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Fascinating confessional </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131765 Fri, 08 Nov 2013 05:42:35 +0000 Focus 131765@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/lance-armstrong-exclusive-interview-part-3">Part 3</a></p> <p><strong>Riding the wave of power, apologies and being the witch in a witch hunt</strong> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131624 Wed, 06 Nov 2013 18:01:23 +0000 Focus 131624@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p><a href="http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/lance-armstrong-exclusive-interview-part-2">Part 2</a> </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131526 Wed, 06 Nov 2013 00:34:28 +0000 Snowy 131526@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Certainly part 1 was interesting... </p> http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=11554#post-131523 Tue, 05 Nov 2013 20:44:32 +0000 Focus 131523@http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/ <p>Cycling News has a 4 part interview with Lance Armstrong. I expect them to prod him more that Oprah was allowd to, but whether that translates into more revelations is another matter, especially with this answer: "<em>This is not an interview with WADA or a TRC so I’m not getting into that. If that interview comes, I’ll be happy to talk about that or I’ll tell that story myself. It would be foolish of me to tell every detail in an online interview.</em>"</p> <p>In other words,"<em>nothing financial or sporting to gain from it so I'm not telling you</em>"?</p> <p>Who knows what is truth or lie with Armstrong but it might at least be worth a read.</p> <p><a href="http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/lance-armstrong-exclusive-interview-part-1-38927/?CPN=RSS&amp;SOURCE=BRROADNEWS">Part 1</a> </p>