Quote:
Originally Posted by afc wimbledon
I wasn't trying to be uncivil, just slightly ironic.
Armstrong was never my hero, in fact I despise him, he was the first cyclist to train exclusively for the tour and ignore the classics, had Mercx approached the tour the same way he would have had 9 or 10 wins.
I also don't think it is a conspiricy, I think any slight investigation into any pro cyclist will find drug use, Armstrong is just a big scalp, no more no less, the reality is Lance is being persued because he is famous and american, which gives the USADA the ability to go after him, they have no authority to persue any non american.
For the record I think the fair approach would be to either invalidate all previous tour winners and admit the level of accepted drug use within the sport or leave it all alone, I have a problem with screwing one guy over when he was engaged in no more than normal behaviour in his chosen sport.
You mention Festina, the team leader and ackowledged ring leader got a 9 month suspension from the sport for his part in the worst drug scandel the sport had dealt with, unless you count the poor ####### below who died of an amphetamine induced heart attack in 1967, 9 months is a season, no more, he was free to return to the sport after that. Cycling as a sport loves to dope, I suspect will continue to dope, it has been at the core and fabric of the sport for a hundred years.
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alright. Peace brother.
I probably reacted a bit harshly to what seemed to be a tone a little too patronizing...
now, while i agree that Lance was doggedly pursued because of his name, by the same stretch, drug enforcement agency want to catch big names, not only in cycling.
Because it is the big names that make others want to cheat. People see them flaunting the system, not getting caught and getting millions of dollars as a result...The one guy i wish they had caught was Carl Lewis...
but with cycling, they could catch a hundred domestiques and it wouldn't do a thing if guys like Lance or Pantani or Contador continued to win and win big.
I don't think Lance was pursued unfairly - he became a global celebrity, made tens of millions of dollars...all from the doping...