Why won't people acknowledge that lance was dirt

The reason Lance got cancer in the first place was his abuse of drugs. He's worked the system to perfection; good for him. As endurance athletes, we should all be happy with the press and money that has flowed our way due to his success.

David Millar never tested positive.

Jan Ullrich never tested positive.

Rolf Aldag never tested positive.

Ivan Basso never tested positive.

Erik Zabel never tested positive.

Francisco Mancebo never tested positive.

Santiago Botero never tested positive.

Oscar Sevilla never tested positive.

Raimondas Rumsas never tested positive.

Joseba Beloki never tested positive.

Bjarne Riis never tested positive.

Frankie Andreu never tested positive.

Michael Rassmussen never tested positive.

The list goes on and on and on. Do you expect me to believe that a team (Telekom) which was dominant and doping in 1996-1998, and which apparently was continuing to dope in 2006 (Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla, Sinkewitz, Honchar), was somehow beaten by a squeaky-clean squad of Lance Armstrong between 1999 and 2005? Add to that Manolo Saiz's ONCE-Eroski (which essentially became Liberty Seguros, which became Astana!!).

Yes, you are expected to believe.

I'm sure you won't though. But there is a huge world of difference in actually knowing and thinking that you know.

Pamela Andersons Left Nipple wrote:

If we donate money to livestrong, does that mean we are trying to cause cancer?

And by the same line of reasoning, Paula Radcliffe's campaign against drugs means that she's guilty of cheating.

Rumsas tested positive for EPO.

Botero tested positive for testosterone.

Do a little research before you ask us what you're expected to believe.

I have never heard Ferrari called Dr. 49 and I follow cycling far more than I care to admit. I think they (or more likely, you) are just making it up, but who would know better about doping practices of italian cycling doctors than a college running coach?

One question though....if Vino were under doping treatment by Dr. Ferrari who so expertly was able to avoid doping positives, why isn't Vino in the race anymore? By the way, Vino's B-samples have not been confirmed yet.

All these books? There's really only one book, rewritten every year by David Walsh and released before the Tour of France. Accusing Armstrong of doping is easy, lucrative and requires no proof. Armstrong has been pursuing lawsuits against Walsh and his publishers for year.

Arch Stanton wrote:

Rumsas tested positive for EPO.

Botero tested positive for testosterone.

Do a little research before you ask us what you're expected to believe.

You are mistaken, as well as unnecessarily rude.

In 1999 Botero was suspended for 6 months for having four test readings showing high testosterone. He was later cleared and told he could resume cycling because he showed that he had an unusually high normal testosterone level. He spent several years on the notoriously dirty Kelme team without a positive test, and last year was implicated in Operation Puerto. He has never had an official positive test.

You are correct with regard to Rumsas. I was referring to the fact that his wife was caught transporting PEDs (including growth hormone) in July 2002. It wasn't until the 2003 Giro d'Italia (May) that he tested positive for EPO. Thus it is quite evident that over nearly 7 years as a professional cyclist (1996-2003), during which time he was obviously using doping products, he avoided a positive test.

In the future, I suggest constructive inquiry or requesting clarification would be a more appropriate mode of discussion than hurling polemics.

You make unsubstantiated doping accusations and when rebuked, complain of rudeness and plead for constructive inquiry?

Did you know that the doctor who cleared Botero was none other than Eufumiano Fuentes? If you want to call that not testing positive, have it your way.

By the way, Oscar Sevilla tested positive for caffeine in 2000.

I'll try it this way.

Marco Pantani tested positive

Roberto Heras tested positive

Floyd Landis tested positive

Tyler Hamilton tested positive

Santiago Perez tested positive

Francesco Casagrande tested positive

Oscar Camenzind tested positive

Stefano Garzelli tested positive

Gilberto Simoni tested positive

Raimondas Rumsas tested positive

Aitor Gonzalez tested positive

Frank Vandenbrouk tested positive

Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano tested positive

Do you expect me to believe that all these top guys tested positive but Armstrong could somehow elude the testers?

They can't acknowledge (or admit) it because everyone needs a hero, and they have found that in Lance. If that concept of him falters and falls, so does everyone else.

Hmm, you consider Botero and Sevilla to have had positive tests? What, then, about Armstrong's high corticosteroid reading in 1999, which he was able to get cleared with a medical note (claiming it was for saddle sores).

Gonzalez de Galdeano was judged to have doped by the French authorities, for his use of the asthma drug salbutamol, but the UCI did not count this as a positive test so no sanction was applied (though French authorities still prevented him from racing on French soil for six months - I suppose this amounts to a French conspiracy against Spanish riders?)

If you want to be technical, as you apparently want to be with regard to Armstrong, then Pantani never tested positive for PEDs either; he just had a suspiciously high hematocrit.

By the way, additionally:

Richard Virenque never tested positive.

Jorg Jaksche never tested positive.

Constantino Zaballa never tested positive.

Ruben Plaza never tested positive.

José Ignacio Gutiérrez never tested positive.

José Enrique Gutiérrez never tested positive.

Carlos Zarate never tested positive.

Koldo Gil never tested positive.

Carlos Garcia Quesada never tested positive.

Michele Bartoli never tested positive.

Angel Casero never tested positive.

I'm tired of listing. You can see even more here:

Jorg Jaksche never tested positive.

Sorry, here's the link:

http://www.velonews.com/tour2006/news/articles/10176.0.html

From Cyclingnews.com, 28 August 2005:

Ex-USPS soigneur speaks

Ron Jongen, a former soigneur with the US Postal team until 2000, has expressed further allegations concerning the 1999 Tour de France, and possible doping practices within the American squad. Armstrong's masseur told Dutch newspaper Limburgs Dagblad that he was present when team director Johan Bruyneel made comments about the riders' hematocrit levels before the 1999 Tour de France prologue.

At the last team meeting before the race, the 42-year old Dutchman from Kerkrade recalled, "Bruyneel said: they're just under 50 [Jonathan Vaughters noted this too - ed.]. When he saw that I heard what he said, he put his finger on his lips immediately: I wasn't supposed to say anything about it." While Jongen said that he was still on good terms with Armstrong (having e-mail contact as recently as at the 2005 Tour de France), the former masseur also talked about "strange, very strange things that went on in France that summer."

Jongen also recalled that three Spanish doctors visited the team's hotels in a green station wagon. "It was the only car that wasn't branded US Postal," the former soigneur said. "All the team cars parked in front of the hotels, but this car always parked at the rear entrances. The strange thing was that these doctors always slept on another floor," Jongen added, also saying that these doctors followed the team also at the Vuelta, but that they used the main entrance then.

But former USPS team manager and current Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel denied the soigneur's statements. "Mr. Jongen has a rich imagination," Bruyneel countered. "There was one doctor in our team, no-one else, and I never saw that green station wagon - it's all nonsense. And I never said anything that should stay secret."

Rorkes Drift wrote:

David Millar never tested positive.

Jan Ullrich never tested positive.

Rolf Aldag never tested positive.

Ivan Basso never tested positive.

Erik Zabel never tested positive.

Francisco Mancebo never tested positive.

Santiago Botero never tested positive.

Oscar Sevilla never tested positive.

Raimondas Rumsas never tested positive.

Joseba Beloki never tested positive.

Bjarne Riis never tested positive.

Frankie Andreu never tested positive.

Michael Rassmussen never tested positive.

The list goes on and on and on. Do you expect me to believe that a team (Telekom) which was dominant and doping in 1996-1998, and which apparently was continuing to dope in 2006 (Jan Ullrich, Oscar Sevilla, Sinkewitz, Honchar), was somehow beaten by a squeaky-clean squad of Lance Armstrong between 1999 and 2005? Add to that Manolo Saiz's ONCE-Eroski (which essentially became Liberty Seguros, which became Astana!!).

So by the same logic anyone in the sport who has never tested positive must be dirty right??

Absolutely not. All those guys either admitted to doping or were otherwise implicated in doping (many in Operation Puerto). The logic is that since all these doped guys evaded detection, it is not at all inconceivable that others (including Lance) might do so as well.

Hey Arch, it wasn't just the college coach, it was a USOC DR., no one is making this up. You just refuse to believe it. Keep drinking the Kool-aid, Lance is God.

Vino failed because he used someones else's blood for his transfusion, must have come up short at the last minute. If he would have used his own blood he would still be racing.

Remember, the EPO test is more effective than a few years ago, which is why they are going old school with good ole blood doping (Lasse Viren).

If the Doctors stayed in the same hotel why haven't prying reporters such as Walsh provided hotel records. These would be quite easy to produce if indeed this occurred. And finally now we have Lasse Viren thrown into the thread, another person that rumors swirled about but were never proven

wsj wrote:

At the last team meeting before the race, the 42-year old Dutchman from Kerkrade recalled, "Bruyneel said: they're just under 50 [Jonathan Vaughters noted this too - ed.]. When he saw that I heard what he said, he put his finger on his lips immediately: I wasn't supposed to say anything about it." While Jongen said that he was still on good terms with Armstrong (having e-mail contact as recently as at the 2005 Tour de France), the former masseur also talked about "strange, very strange things that went on in France that summer."

Ah, c'mon guys. This doesn't prove anything. It merely suggests that everyone on the squad was doping besides Lance. Lance didn't need to. He was a man among boys.

No direct and compelling evidence found, multiple sound alibis, and clearly a vast conspiracy to frame an innocent man. He's innocent and a jury would never convict...

OJ Simpson.