geneman

Oh he'll be a big man and accept his penalty. After all, he did break the rules. But make no mistake about it, Tyler was screwed by the system ...

link

RockyMtnMerlin

Yep. Pretty sad. Sounds like his attorney should be on some meds too.

BobLoblaw

There are no winners in that story. I give him credit for standing up and admitting it this time.

BL

aham23

what did he admit that deserves giving him credit?

he claims he did not take a banned substance for the purpose of benefiting his cycling. its the same old same old been told by numerous athletes from football to baseball.

"i didnt know what i was taking"
"my trainer gave it to me"
"it was an over the counter supplement"
"blah blah blah"

he hasnt put himself in a position to be given the benefit of the doubt.

later.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I always liked Tyler. That hasn't changed.

SwimBike

I agree with the ban. It is to hard to determine intent.

substructure

Will tyler go away quietly and let it roll off his back?

ridethecliche

If you'd ever suffered with depression or known someone close to you who has, you'd understand that a lot of the time you're so incredibly desperate to take whatever to make you 'right' again.

It looks like he's owning up though and taking the ban because he and his lawyer know that there's not distinguishing between a 'medical' use and a performance enhancing use.

And I say 'medical' because I don't think DHEA can quite cure depression, though I might be wrong...

carlfreddy

Thats not how I interpret any of that article.

The lawyer acknowledges that the USADA levied the most lenient punishment allowed given the circumstances. Its his second offense, he has to be punished.

substructure

DHEA is one of those things that can and can't do anything. Studies show this, then other studies say, "nuh uh." Some say it can help in men over 40 because they slow their own productions down.

You can buy it anywhere for cripes sake. It's cheap and available at Walgreens. So are Flintstone Chewables.

botto 

i concur.

geneman

See the thing is ... I don't believe or trust Tyler and I'm not sure why anyone else should either. How much money did he milk friends, family, and supports for as part of his defense a few years ago?!? C'mon.

Do you really know for sure that he suffers from depression? If not, that makes this statement look like a pathetic plea for sympathy;

"The penalty is no different than it would be for an athlete who intentionally used testosterone in competition. USADA could not have imposed a lesser penalty even if it had been understanding of Tyler's situation and wanted to impose a sanction more fitting to Tyler's lack of performance-enhancing intent."


Let's say we give him the benefit of the doubt again and assume he suffers from depression. If so, there are more serious pharmaceuticals that Tyler could probably have gotten an exemption for if he were really having issues. The whole thing is smelly and unfortunate. Really, really smelly. I ain't buyin' what he and his lawyers are sellin'.

challaday

There's an interview with Greg Lemond in the Summer 2009 issue of Penthouse where Greg talks about his role in the USADA hearings. Lemond has a very interesting allegation about Tyler's agent/manager and indirectly about Tyler himself.

Lemond implies that the agent made a harassing phone call to Greg to try to prevent Greg from testifying at the USADA hearing. Apparently Tyler admitted doping to Greg in private conversations and Greg was originally not going to testify when Tyler said he was going to publicly admit to doping. Then Tyler backed off and Greg decided that testifying at the hearing would be in the best interest of the sport.

Then the harassing phone call. The issue is that the phone call dealt with past issues of physical abuse that Greg had admitted to Tyler as part of their conversations early in the scandal. Greg quotes the conversation on the phone, but it is a bit too graphic to state in this venue.

Bullseye

wow, deja vu!

-bullseye

Falchoon

"Honest dear, I only bought Penthouse for the cycling article."

Grumpy McTrumpy

does every rider secretly confess doping to LeMond?

mattm

I did.

El Diablo Rojo

Yeah this guy deserves our sympathy...he took money from devoted fans to fight his first ban...later it came out that there were faxes from the Op Puerto doc and Ty's wife. Did he refund the cash after lying through his ground down teeth to those who trusted him? No. He never came clean because he wants to keep that pretty gold Olympic medal.

Now this...if this drug was legit for depression he could have got an exemption from his doctor for it. Real simple stuff..riders do it all the time for stuff like asthma meds. I don't believe this guy for and instant...he took this for nefarious reasons...otherwise he'd have gone the exemption route.

socalrider

Wrong Person, this was done in the Floyd Landis Hearing, not Tyler..

henrythenavigat

In an interview, Michael Ball blames himself for "putting pressure" on Tyler. This points towards a use of DHEA as a Testosterone precursor by Tyler, not for its equally dubious antidepressant effects.

Walter

He's suspended for 8 years, he's not going to fight or raise $ for a defense. IOW it's over and he accepts it. Why do you guys get off so much on his failing? I agree that the suspension is appropriate and I wish him the best of luck in the future. Am I doing something that's so hard?

MammaMia

I guess he has some more serious problems than his ban from cycling.

Lithuania

Do you guys mind explaining why? It would be nice to hear some good things for once.

tonyzackery

Everybody's got a sob story...and cease all the political bullcrap - the guy's a cheater. Period. Get rid of him and the rest of 'em...

He and his unborn twin can ride off into the sunset as far as I'm concerned...

and he can take Floyd Landis with him...

El Diablo Rojo

I'm not getting off on his failing. I was a big supporter when he first got popped, I really couldn't believe that Tyler would cheat. He lied to his fans, he took their money and has never offered to pay it back. He has never, even after it was clear he was a cheat manned up and said he did it. Now he wants us to believe that he took a banned substance due to depression. Again he could very easily got an exemption from the UCI for the med if he'd just applied for it. He didn't, he took it for what I believe to be performance reasons.


Tyler has used his good guy persona to his advantage in all of this, the bottom line is he cheated and got caught. I can live with that, the part that can't accept is his continued lies, in my book he's not just a cheat he's a thief.