Originally Posted by
Cat4Lifer
Had he and every other racer refrained from using, I'm confident he still would have been or at least nearly as succcessful as he was. Sure I believe he "cheated" (used PEDs), but I also believe that about nearly every other pro.
No one will ever know of course. My bet is Armstrong would have been very successful, likely still the most successful of his generation. However, I think it's highly likely he would have won fewer TDF's and almost certainly not 7 in a row.
2 reasons: 1) The very sophisticated doping program Armstrong had going limited competition from others with less resources.
2) Steroids, Transfusions, and EPO, made it a lot easier to get through a Tour without bad days. Riders are more consistent on PED's and with the benefit of boosted transfusions. Take those away, and the odds that Armstrong cracks one day, and loses one of those tours go up substantially.