Lance Armstrong Was an Even Bigger Douchebag Than We All Thought

#1 Longhorn wrote:

Lance was a winner - 7 TDF titles in a row. Winners will always have critics. Means nothing.

If you break the rules, you are by definition not a winner, regardless of whether anyone ever finds out.

Ha ha, now we have cyclists (and runners) who have “asthma” and hypothyroidism! Wonder how such hospital cases even make it to the starting line?

LanceChugsDongs wrote:

Nutsack McGee wrote:

Clearly you haven't been paying attention for the past decade or so. Have you ever seen the kind of things Floyd says?

The biggest tactical mistake that Lance ever made was not allowing Landis to get back on his team. After that happened, Landis had nothing to lose by blowing the lid off the whole thing.

Had Lance done that, I'm not convinced that he would have ever been found out.

I'm glad he was because he's a serious douche canoe. To this day he hasn't apologize to Frankie and Betsy or LeMond. Such a c0ck.

Great point -- and that could be considered the shot heard around the world.

When Lance formed his own team in 2010 and got Radio Shack as the main sponsor, Landis came begging for a job after he had served his ban for doping in 06. Lance claims he wanted Landis on board but that Radio Shack didn't want a convicted doper on the team. I've heard other stories that neither Armstrong nor Radio Shack wanted him. Either way, Landis was pissed and dropped a dime to USADA and the rest is history.

If Landis was hired, I think you would had a situation where he would be under a dark cloud of suspicion, but no evidence to proceed with any investigation - much like with Indurain when he won 5 straight in the 90s riding with a high-profile doping team.

Even assuming that every cyclist was doping, Lance is not the GOAT. Merckx is, or Indurain. Plenty of riders raced full seasons and still managed to win the TDF. Lance chose one race—albeit the biggest—to peak for. He won the most TDFs as a result, but that doesn’t make him the best stage racer. What about the Giro? The Vuelta?

The very first interview I read with Armstrong was when he was just beginning his career. He took the opportunity to say a bunch of nasty and totally false things about Greg Lemond. It was clear to me then that Armstrong was not a nice person. It *astounded* me that so many people believed in his ”miraculous” string of victories. Watching cycling in those years I felt as if I was in a sort of Coen brothers farce in which a two-bit thug pulled the wool over the eyes of a menagerie of gullible fools. In particular, why did so many fans of endurance sport believe he was not cheating? I never for a second thought he would not get caught, right from his first Tour de France victory.

birdbeard wrote:

Even assuming that every cyclist was doping, Lance is not the GOAT. Merckx is, or Indurain. Plenty of riders raced full seasons and still managed to win the TDF. Lance chose one race—albeit the biggest—to peak for. He won the most TDFs as a result, but that doesn’t make him the best stage racer. What about the Giro? The Vuelta?

Surely Indurain was also a cheat, no? Obviously a talented rider, but he had associations in Spain with the same doctor as the 90s marathoners. All cheats.

Agree, Indurain was nobody until he doped. Lance at 15 was an amateur triathlete who whupped a few pros in races that his mother had to drive him to!

The herd loved Lance A when the MSM told them to.

The herd detests Lance A now that the MSM tells them to.

Giles Corey wrote:

The herd loved Lance A when the MSM told them to.

The herd detests Lance A now that the MSM tells them to.

Giles - why do you think that Men who have Sex with Men have such sway on the heard?

birdbeard wrote:

Even assuming that every cyclist was doping, Lance is not the GOAT. Merckx is, or Indurain. Plenty of riders raced full seasons and still managed to win the TDF. Lance chose one race—albeit the biggest—to peak for. He won the most TDFs as a result, but that doesn’t make him the best stage racer. What about the Giro? The Vuelta?

There's no doubt about Merckx, or any number of riders from years past like Bernard Hinault, Jacques Anquetil, Fausto Coppi, or even Greg LeMond had better all-around results.

But lets not forget that Armstrong did win a World Championship very early in his career, and no matter how you slice it, that shows talent outside of stage races.

Regarding, the Giro or Vuelta, well, he would have won those had he wanted. I mean, a 40 year old Chris Horner won the Vuelta for crying out loud! The fact is, as an American, he made big money winning the only race that Americans even know about. Him taking the time and risk to do three weeks in the Vuelta wouldn't have moved the needle at all back home.

You look at all the prime guys that Armstrong was racing, virtually all subsequently busted or admitted doping. Basso, Ullrich, Valverde, Mancebo, Vinokourov, Iban Mayo, Pantani, etc. The list goes on an on.

This thread is evidence that a lot of people don’t care if you are a sh!tty human being.

Armstrong was a trash person and that means a lot more to me than pedaling a bicycle.

MSM = men who have sex with men wrote:

Giles Corey wrote:

The herd loved Lance A when the MSM told them to.

The herd detests Lance A now that the MSM tells them to.

Giles - why do you think that Men who have Sex with Men have such sway on the heard?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_who_have_sex_with_men

Interesting.

99% of people understand MSM to stand for Mainstream Media. Examples found via a google search:

1. MSM means "mainstream media.

2. MSM means "Mainstream Media" So now you know - MSM means "Mainstream Media" - don't thank us. YW! What does MSM mean? MSM is an acronym, abbreviation or slang word that is explained above where the MSM definition is given.

Yet you interpret as Men with have sex with men.

Interesting

1L8A4H4 wrote:

#1 Longhorn wrote:

Lance was a winner - 7 TDF titles in a row. Winners will always have critics. Means nothing.

If you break the rules, you are by definition not a winner, regardless of whether anyone ever finds out.

Not if you cross the finish line first.

MORAN!!

sleazazar wrote:

This thread is evidence that a lot of people don’t care if you are a sh!tty human being.

Armstrong was a trash person and that means a lot more to me than pedaling a bicycle.

The rise - and continued high support of - Trump proves this beyond a doubt, unfortunately.

realism smacks you in the mouth wrote:

Texas Longhorn wrote:

Meanwhile, Armstrong was fooling the media and public with his innocent schoolboy act to get richer.

Only the gullible or willfully naive believed that act.

Sorry, you missed a group. Those that didn't follow cycling very closely. Or at all. You know, 99+% of America. American has WAY, WAY too many idiots, but not knowing the truth about Armstrong before things blew up was not evidence of it.

juanito wrote:

we wanted someone to annihilate the competition. someone to grind the european field into dust.

we didn't want some aw-shucks style mister rogers, giving away freebies and easy passes to competition.

Lance was exactly who we wanted him to be.

Correction: Lance was exactly who YOU wanted him to be.

Lopez Lamborghini wrote:

juanito wrote:

we wanted someone to annihilate the competition. someone to grind the european field into dust.

we didn't want some aw-shucks style mister rogers, giving away freebies and easy passes to competition.

Lance was exactly who we wanted him to be.

^ .this .. well said.

No, not this. What we (non-cycling fans) learned about Armstrong is is far, far worse than what you describe above. So, no, he was NOT what any decent - or even average - American "wanted" him to be. Put another way - and this should be REALLY obvious - you can be a tough competitor without being a horrible human being. Jesus.

zxcvzcxv wrote:

Armstrong was the greatest ever, and also a doper like Contador and the rest of them.

What makes me saddest from the whole saga is that he was never completely found out. 100% he had a motor in his bike but to the wider public they will probably never know.

Armstrong had said the Tour was the "Super Bowl" of cycling and that he didn't care to ride the other Grand Tours. Instead of the Giro, he raced the Dauphiné in June as a tune up with team he selected for that year. And after winning the Tour, it would have been pointless to ride the Vuelta in September.

One thing to keep in mind is that LA had "super teams" for those 7 straight Tour wins. And in a 3 week GT, it's about the strength of the team. He selected the best climbers, that could have been GC guys on any other team, to push hard tempo and chase down attacks in the climbs. Some of the guys were unbelievable when they hit the high moutains; Heras (4-time Vuelta winner), Beltran, Hamilton, Rubeira, Landis, etc. He also made sure he had some of the big, powerful Puncheur-type riders to control temp and chase down breakaways on the flat stages (e.g, Hincapie, Ekimov). His team made all the difference. Of course, he was second to none in the TTs which sealed the deal on his Tour wins.

Here's U.S. Postal setting a brutal pace blowing the peloton apart at Alpe d'Huez in the 03 Tour: