Originally Posted by
cruiserhead
No, he did not possess the same talent as Pantani. There are gifted cyclists, many of them. Some are great pure climbers like Pantani.
Some are Olympians from other sports, with amazing genetics, that are good but not great cyclists like Eric Heiden.
Lance was a rouleur, of the same skills as many one day or classics riders.
You want the closest thing to a possibly 'clean' Lance vs doped Lance, watch the mountain stages in 09 when Contador blew his doors off and Lance turned into Shirley Temple crying about it. [Haters bash LeMond for tour leadership drama but the fact is, it happens. People just want something to put LeMond down for.]
The next day on Ventoux, doped Lance almost keeps up with Contador.
Let me ask you if you achieved something great that took your whole life, and someone you knew was cheating took over that mantle, you would not call it?
Speak for yourself. Many fans I know feel he's been validated.
Get the facts straight, don't parrot Lance apologists. Greg did not "focus" on one man. The media did.
LeMond had a lot to say about the Lance subject because of intertwined business dealings and Lance attacks on LeMond.
LeMond didn't go looking for a fight, Lance did.
So once again your logic escapes me.
So you are going say that a clean Armstrong 5 years out of his prime and had not raced and goes on to podium in TDF is a sign that he has no talent? Really that's your argument? When Contrador did not play nice a tow the company line I loved it.
You make my point about Le Mond It really did not matter what Lance did in his career. Greg's resume was there and many including myself would have argued that Le Mond was better. He lost nothing. Everything he had won was still his.
You go to the Greg Le Mond media circus back in recent history look at his quotes directed exclusively toward Lance Armstrong.
And I agree Lance did it to himself with his brutal and destructive form of defending himself when who knew he did wrong. Had he simply been more of a Gentleman about cheating as Riis did he might still have his jerseys like Bjarne has his.
Lets face it many doped. Maybe taking down an icon was what the sport needed to shed itself of this scourge. In that I am hopeful, I have no personal investment in Lance.
As far a being validated everyone that was a cycling fan knew he and most of the pelaton were on dope. For god sakes man the Festina car was a moving lab. The dopers always seemed have a couple steps ahead of the UCI. It was comical but not funny. I think if we go backwards we can find many infractions and causes for dismissal. I am not sure what that point would be. I hope we move forward and the sport cleans up.
But to say the man had no talent is not a valid statement. In fact your argument of why he does not effectively proves he did.
To say he has no Jerseys is a valid statement.
To say Greg has three is a valid statement