Landis on Armstrong: 'At some point, people have to tell their kids that Santa Claus isn't real.'

I love Lance, he has done so much for cycling and cancer research. But it's clear now, after many years of suspicions, that he doped.

In some sense, I don't blame him for it. He survived cancer and re-entered the sport at a time when most of his competitors were cheating. He would have had no shot competing with them if he stayed clean. Put yourself in his shoes: the choice was either dope or lose.

sigh... wrote:

As I said before, if Lance was clean in those Tours, he's the greatest athlete of this generation, and an even better story of coming back from the LITERAL brink of death. If he's a doper, he's a doper - a guy willing to cheat his way to the top.

I think he's still one of the greatest athletes of our generation even if he was doping. If he was doping I don't see how he would have gotten "better" drugs than everybody else; he would have been on the same shit as the rest of the peloton, so starting from a level playing field and beating everybody for 7 years in a row is pretty god damn impressive, even if it isn't as impressive as him starting at a disadvantage.

kohlberg wrote:

Lance certainly doesn't have a lot of fans in the racing community, but that's more because he has a reputation for being sort of an asshole...not because people view him as a 'cheater'.

See....Now I just don't get where that comes from. I drank beer with Lance the night after we ran New York City Marathon in 2007. I was part of his LiveSTRONG Army team that ran that day, and he shut down a Manhattan BBQ restaurant that started in Austin. He was a regular beer drinking guy that was generally appreciative that we helped out the cause. Far from the 'a-hole' that you claim most people view him as.

My only disappointment from that night was that he didn't bring whichever Olson twin he was bangin' the night before.

Detractors had stacked up a lot of evidence against Lance, but the fact remains that it is ALL circumstancial and/or lacks credibility.

The other fact is that Armstrong has been subjected to more drug testing than any athlete in the world, yet not one test has been positive beyond the shadow of a doubt. Until that trend is reversed, then no one can legitimately claim that LA is a drug cheat.

Those are the cold, hard facts. Period. Anyone who refutes them clearly is an idiot with an axe to grind.