filief wrote:
Does that make him worthy of admiration then? Should we cry our little eyes out just because he came back from cancer, made up a bunch of lies about his incredible natural talent, huge lungs, muscles that apparently don't produce lactic acid, vo2 of something astronomical even though his only reliable test is distinctly average. The guy is a cheat, yes the sport was riddled, but it's not a level playing field for the guys down in 20th place or so, wherever the first clean rider finishes. Whoever he is, he's been cheated of glory by Lance, everyone's been demoted a place by Lance, a culture of doping has been accepted with cycling's white knight being very much the leader and role model. If the best guy does it, the guy with the power, the guy who will sue your ass til it's broke if you accuse him of anything, it's something of a filter-down process thereafter. Makes me sick too to see chris carmichael, who is lance's coach only on paper while dr michele ferrari (the italian doc convicted of giving cyclists epo) REALLY sets out his training, dosages and whatnot. And then Carmichael publicising his fancy training programmes, hmmm, how about the systematic doping you encouraged and helped implement for the us cycling team in the 1984 olympics Chris, is that part of the training system?
Admire him if you like, no doubt much of Lance's charity work is commendable, but please don't fool yourself into thinking he is anything less than a fraud, a lier, and a man who has made millions through a career of well-planned
cheating.
If you're still in doubt, and again it's not proof, just persuasion, read this:
http://nyvelocity.com/content/interviews/2009/michael-ashendenL.A. Confidentiel also provides an account of an August 2001 telephone conversation between Armstrong and three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond, who had been publicly critical of Armstrong's ties to Ferrari. The alleged conversation was recounted by LeMond's wife, Kathy, who, according to Walsh, wrote down her memory of the exchange immediately after the call.
The book describes how the LeMonds were getting into their car when an agitated Armstrong called Greg to complain about his comments. Kathy says she overheard Armstrong challenge her husband to say that he had never taken EPO during his professional career.
"What makes you say I've taken EPO?" Greg replied.
According to the book, Kathy's memory of Armstrong's response was "Go on, everyone takes EPO."
http://outside.away.com/outside/features/200512/lance-armstrong-5.html