Lancee Armstrong

Supposedly positive tests were covered up

Most (if not all) of the cycling guys I follow on Twitter are all delighted with this news

It seems the whole cycling world reckons Lance was drugged up

The relevant cycling authorities colluded in his fraud. Paul Kimmage was on RTE radio this morning talking about this with Myles Dungan. Well worth a listen for anyone interested.

Fair play to Paul Kimmage. This is a link to  the youtube interview where he confronts Armstrong.



http://www.youtube.com/all_comments?v=K7NRvMM-JTE

The following is well worth a read.  I don't know enough about the ins and outs of this to refute any of he points he makes, on the face of it, the make a lot of sense.  I feel sorry for the guy.

Nobody wins here.

Full statement by Lance Armstrong:

There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now.  I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999.  Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today -- finished with this nonsense.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA's charade.  Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA's motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene. 


If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA's process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and - once and for all - put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world.  In-competition.  Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?

From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges.The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA's improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA's own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations.

At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully,threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at US taxpayers' expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.

The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It's an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It's just not right.

USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart. 

Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.

BJG Joined: 20 Aug 07 
I know cuz he is nt contesting the charges he looks guilty and prob is tbh but how are they chargin him if he has never tested positive?? Dont get it 

Because his former team-mates, doctors, massuers etc were all lining up to testify against him ...... the world is out to get him according to Lance

He has said it enough times before ,the jolly, but good point, he should have re-itterted it.

Kimmage and Walsh's record is good primarily because everyone was at it.  They were shooting fish in a a barrel.

I would have no problem with his conduct at the interview personally, I thought he owned Kimmage.

The case agaisnt him looked overwhelming

From July
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18788834


Three of Lance Armstrong's former medics given lifetime bans[/b]
The US Anti-Doping Agency has given lifetime bans to three of the six men named in the Lance Armstrong doping conspiracy case.

Luis Garcia del Moral and Michele Ferrari worked with the American during his seven-year Tour de France reign.

Continue reading the main story
“Permanently banning these individuals from sport is a powerful statement”

USADA statement

Trainer Jose "Pepe" Marti worked with the rider's US Postal Service team.

USADA announced the punishments on Tuesday, the day after a deadline had passed for the trio to either accept or challenge the sanctions.

The two other alleged conspirators, another doctor Pedro Celaya and former team boss Johann Bruyneel, have either requested a five-day extension to respond to the charges or asked for a full arbitration hearing to begin.

Armstrong has been accused of violating anti-doping rules during his time with USPS and has until Saturday to either accept the charges or agree for the case to go to arbitration.

If found guilty, Armstrong faces a lifetime ban and being stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles.

Lawyers for the 40-year-old are attempting to persuade a federal court in Texas to block the doping case from proceeding, but that process hit a setback this week when US District Judge Sam Sparks dismissed the case.

The three men named on Tuesday have been sanctioned for possessing, trafficking and administering doping products, and being involved in the cover-up of their use.

Marti worked as a trainer for the USPS and Discovery Channel Cycling Teams during the period from 1999 through 2007. Before then, Dr del Moral was team physician for the USPS Cycling Team from 1999 through 2003, with Dr Ferrari a consulting doctor for the same team between 1999 and 2006.

The USADA said in a statement: "Permanently banning these individuals from sport is a powerful statement that protects the current and next generation of athletes from their influence, and preserves the integrity of future competition."

Fook armstrong.  pk never mentioned cancer.

Really???  That puts a different slant on it.  So he didn't write the article, or it was never written?

Newmanix;

Here is the direct quote from Kimmage that Lance refers to;

This guy, any other way but his bullying and intimidation wrapped up in this great cloak, the great cancer martyr … this is what he hides behind all the time. The great man who conquered cancer. Well he is the cancer in this sport. And for two years this sport has been in remission. And now the cancer’s back."

oh ok, Im still confused though.  in that interview there is no mention of cancer by pk.  am I right to presume that la knew about pk writing a previous article mentioning la as a cancer in the sport?

Look, I don't think he is innocent.

But he should have been caught at the time and he wasn't.  They f*cked up.  When you start going down the road of encouraging people to testify against him you are on dodgy ground.  Does the the statute of limitations count for nothing?  And who is this body investigating him and what is their scope.  And there still appears to be no definitive proof (from a court pov), from what I can make out.  It's a mess.

with all the stuff they said he was taking im not surprised he was the first man on the moon.

Kimmage and Walsh deserve all the credit in the world for there action on Armstrong.

Anyone read the Times today??...Armstrong is some piece of work. Scumbag!

Diamond Joe do you know the crap they had to put up with due to taking a stand against Armstrong. Fair play for them to pursue this to the end and look what happened. He gave up in the end. Just gave up.

He is a great cyclist prob the best ever in the dirtyiest sport in the world but that can't hide the fact that he and his PR mob went on a crusade against everyone who questioned him. Delighted he fell on his sword.

Another to add to the list like Marion Jones and Barry Bonds etc.

Sorry Oz dont have a sub.

I find the cycling sport very similar to bodybuilding. The use of chemicals has to be done. There is no other way to repair the body quick enough. Kimmage says it in his introduction, he was knackered on the 9th day of the Tour De France, with 14 stages to go....the only way to re-charge would be the drugs...

the jolly,

Sundat Times s 5 euro on The Riviera and you have to draw the line somewhere.  I am economising since the loss on Arles Killnaskully.