Yes, Lance bears quite a bit of the blame. Modern day cycling was never as popular here as it was during the Lance era. Lance's personal narrative re coming back from testicular cancer and just dominating the most prestigious of the grand tours just fired up people's imagination here. Even good old Trek could not sell enough bicycles to people who never rode their bikes more than twice before selling them or parking them in their garages. Then all hell broke loose re the doping, and even huge sponsors like Trek, Oakley and Nike could not run away from him fast enough.
The most financially successful cyclist of all time kinda took a little bit of the sport down with him, and in the richest market of all to boot. I mean, I don't think the net worth of the two top riders in all the pro teams combined came close to Lance's net worth. And don't get me started on the power he wielded in the industry too!
Last edited by Jed19; 12-11-14 at 10:31 AM.