calamarichris

Are these the words of another bitterly crestfallen Lance-partisan? Are you hoping he'll give the Faithful another last-minute, game-saving, hail-mary target to aim their ire?
First Lemond, then each of Lance's own successive lieutenants & domestiques as they were caught and confessed, then the UCI for not catching him, then every rider for also doping, then the USADA for the Witch Hunt, then the pressure of having to measure up to a doped-up peloton, then cycling for being a dirty sport from the get-go...

About the only target left is Brunyeel... why not? He doped when he was a rider after all.

Only other foreseeable option is crying some Virenque-sized tears on camera and counting on the gullibility of the Faithful.
You'll never go broke catering to the lowest common denominator in America.

Cat4Lifer

Cant wait to see what happens there.

oilman_15106

Wasn't that book written by the same author that spent a year with Lance and no one word about doping in the book? Why should you believe Hamilton any more than Landis. You could build a bookshelf of phonie cycling books.

Hamilton is just trying to make hay off this thing just like everyone else.

AC1074

Well, I been a huge Lance Armstrong supporter over the years as a fellow texan myself. Disappointing to say the least that he cheated and used PEDs to carry him and win the Tour all those years. I am sure at some point the guilt was going to eat him alive but Lance coming clean has nothing to do with him turning over a new leaf or wanting to compete again.

At this point I think it's a race to save his neck. It is being suspected he is coming clean now because the statue of limitations is up when he first testified in 2005 and denied the use of drugs. Now after Thursday's airing of Ms O's interview he can't be prosecuted for anything after that. I think the writing was on the wall and it was a matter of time before Lance was busted.

Sure Lance might score book deals and whatever else, but I am sure the scores of sponsor lawsuits will take any profit away from him. Lance has a huge mess to clean up now and I hope in the end when he is financially broke and an average person can he find some sort of peace within himself.

AC1074

Indeed but when someone like Lance so adamantly, and publicly, denied the accusations and blasted every person who accused him there should be some type of repercussion. This is fraud on a serious level. I mean Lance saw Landis fall on his back and just watched him take the fall knowing he was guilty himself. How do people look at themselves in the mirror at the end of the day????

gsteinb

check your history. they actually used to do stuff like that.

merlinextraligh

You've way missed the mark here.

First, The book was written by Daniel Coyle, a respected journalist. Coyle only included in the book claims by Hamilton that were independently verified.

Second, Coyle's first book did deal with doping allegations, with Coyle drawing no conclusion at that time. Here's Coyles discussion of that point:

VN: Dan, you walked a delicate line in “Lance Armstrong’s War,” playing it right down the middle in terms of whether Armstrong was doping at the time, based on the information you had in front of you. Did working on this book validate any suspicions from back in 2004?

DC: These books are sort of a pair. One was written from outside the inner circle, and one was written very much from the inside. At the time I did my level best to show people both sides of the story, and I’m just continuing to do that. As a journalist I can’t operate on hunches, I can’t operate on what I guess. When I wrote “Lance Armstrong’s War,” I did the best with the material I had in front of me, and laid it out there for people to make their own decisions. And now that I’m inside omerta, and Tyler has given us sort of an all-access, backstage pass to the life of a pro racer, I’m doing the exact same thing, which is laying all the facts out there, and letting people make up their own minds. In this case the material is obviously a lot more explosive, but the process never changes.

Third, the detail of Hamilton's allegations give them credibility. It would be difficult to craft such an intricate lie.

Fourth, with the USADA investigation, we now have more than 10 witnesses whose sworn testimony corrobarates Hamilton's accounts, along with adocumented money trail.

There's a reason Armstrong didn't contest the arbitration, and is now confessing..

ultraman6970

Somebody should go to get enterviews with the followings now :

1 the colorado restaurant owner who called LA when hamilton arrived, LA told hamilton that he was going to be destroyed or something. Would be interesting to know what that guy has to say now.

2 Phil and Paul... very quiet lately.

3 anybody wants to add more people to the list?

22Ti

Doubt he'll ever be an 'average' person, and certainly not financially. Lawyers are very good at shielding assets. Let's wait and see if he loses his extravagant Texas estate or multimillion dollar investment accounts. His cancer foundation did much good work and when all is said and done about the lying and cheating, the falloff of any cancer foundation support could be the biggest tragedy of this whole affair.

Rodimus_Prime

Im not sure why ppl here love Lemond so much and act like he was so great, only reason he won in 1989 was because of better aero equipment, not because he was the better or stronger rider

Commodus

His fortune has been estimated at $150m or so. The whistleblower case has the potential for 100-120m by itself, and there are an array of others. It's possible for this to bankrupt him...though I agree, it's very unlikely.

Also I'm not sure if the loss of Livestrong is all that tragic. There are many cancer foundations doing excellent work, let the money go to those not built on lies and fraud, and staffed by Lance's buddies pulling in enormous salaries.

Rowan

The issue now in the wake of all this is that former WADA head Dick Pound is suggesting that cycling be banned from the Olympic Games from Argentina in 2016 and maybe indefinitely if the UCI is implicated in the Armstrong debacle.

That means all those male and female cyclists preparing for the Olympics now may about to see their dreams go up in smoke. While there are some (or maybe many) in both groups that are still indulging in PEDs, it is a shame for the clean ones whose Olympic dreams might be destroyed.

Armstrong is the face of a sad, blighted period in cycling's history that will have ramifications for a decade or so to come.

One other thought. While a lot of venom is aimed at the UCI, justifiably so, what about the organisers of the GTs, and in particular, the TdF. Where is there responsibility in all this? They are the organisers, the ones who set the rules and provide the prizemoney, but also benefit hugely from the fees not only from sponsors, but the departments through which the race goes.

Why aren't Prudhomme and his predecessor being held to account in all this?

Bacciagalupe

Well, I'm bored, so....

• 1st American to win the Tour de France
• Won 3 Tours, not just 1989
• Sacrificed his own standings to defend Hinault in '85
• Won despite getting stabbed in the back by The Badger
• Overcame adversity to win in '89
• Lemond and Fignon were evenly matched through the entire '89 race
• Lemond hasn't had his entire career wiped from the record book due to doping

I'd agree the guy is a little bit unhinged, but he often doesn't get the respect he deserves.

calamarichris

Ahhh, the majestic song of another bitterly crestfallen member of the Yellow Bracelet Brigade... music to my ears... You forgot the part about him being a crybaby and attention-wh0r3...

Jed19

For me, the doping can be forgiven. The real mess is all those lives he ruined. People like Mike Anderson, who had to migrate all the way to New Zealand to be able to work in a bike shop again. And there were others. That is the real shame, and why I kind of have a visceral dislike (not hate) for LA right now.

It is one thing to err, but when you actually go out of your way to make people's lives miserable, then that takes the mess up another level.

LarDasse74

It is likely that Carmichel is a good traditional coach - outlines training plans and consults with athletes to maximise gains. The trouble starts when people want to make faster- or larger-than-natural gains, or start having nagging injuries like strains and pulls, which is when a 'Dr.' like dear Dr. Ferarri comes in to augment the natural training plan.

I remember a story told to me by an ex-elite athlete from a non-cycling sport... the regular coach gave them difficult, bordering on impossible, training routines to complete, and when he started getting injured, an assistant coach took him aside and said, with a wink and a nod, thet there are 'ways' to deal with such injuries. The epilogue to this story is that he did not realize what the assistant coach was talking about and never followed up on it, but told me years later that if he had realized what was being suggested (I assume steoids) that he would have jumped at it - he was determined to make it to the winter olympics. From his description of the training program and the attitude of the coaches, anyone who did continue on and compete for the national team was likely using PEDs.

longbeachgary

The reason that he won was that he was a superior athlete and put his heart and soul into winning. You're right that equipment can make a difference but the French were so arrogant that they refused to embrace the aero technology.

patrickgm60

+1.

calamarichris

I disagree with the part about Lemond being unhinged; the only sane man in an insane world full of partisans chanting how clean Armstrong was.
Also disagree with the Badger stabbing anyone in the back. The commentary certainly called Hinault's motives into question, but I've watched the DVD dozens of times, and I'm convinced the Badger was going out with panache. Until the '89 Tour, everyone said that was the most dramatic Tour in memory, (thanks mostly to Hinault IMO.)

Cat4Lifer

'88 Tour 10-mins for +testosterone test to the Dutch rider (too lazy to look up proper spelling)

Shimagnolo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gert-Jan_Theunisse

Bacciagalupe

I don't think he was nuts for accusing Armstrong. I just mean in general, he's a little bit... wacky.


So Hinault taking 4' 36" out of the guy he publicly swore to help win was what, just giving Lemond some motivation? You fast-forwarded past the parts where Hinault attacked Lemond? On multiple stages?

"I can't even face him. We aren't talking. I have no respect for him anymore. I'll be happy when it's over and I'm on the Champs-Elysées, because I'll know that I've done it myself. He hasn't helped me one iota. I know I'll never be friends with him again after this race. Not the way he's treated me." - Lemond

"You know, I never saw any reason not to go as fast as I can." - Hinault

Wake up and smell the croissants. Lemond was naive and trusting, the Badger was ambitious, aggressive and had no qualms about screwing an American and a teammate.

calamarichris

He went as fast as he could, he won some stages impressively, and then he was wasted the next day and Lemond took the time back. I didn't fast-forward, I was awake, I've watched the DVD dozens of times and I'm still convinced the Badger was just giving us all one final hurrah.
I still haven't finished the book "Slaying the Badger", but so far it reads pretty much like the melodramatic CBS News coverage, painting Lemond in the terms you use, and Hinault also with the terms you use.

This Armstrong episode (and a few other major news stories between the year 2000 and 2010, that also turned out to be nonsense) has given us all a very good reason to question the mainstream line, IMO.

Angio Graham

cancer treatment breakthroughs are made by geeks in drug labs, not hollywood photo ops where people donate money and raise awareness to get in magazines.

for curing cancer livestrong isnt needed.

lance's cancer was cured WITHOUT livestrong

RJM

There isn't enough money in curing cancer, the money is in the treating it.