of his seven Tour de France wins. Just like that. This should help insure drug-free participants in the future. The lying aside, he's done some good works, which he can be admired for.

Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong said Thursday he won't fight doping charges brought against him, a move expected to result in the stripping of Mr. Armstrong's seven Tour de France titles.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...651269078.html

I don't get why they keep trying to stay ahead of this. It's as stupid as the rest of the "War on Drugs". Perhaps they should introduce an Unlimited Class and let 'em have at it.

The nitty-griddy:

Mountain-climb times produced by the top climbers in the 2010 Tour de France were oddly but consistently 5% worse than the numbers generated by the Tour’s top climbers from 1996 to 2006, according to the authoritative Science of Sport website. You can read all about the numbers, analytics and methodology on the Science of Sport website.

Now, why would the climbing performance numbers get worse even as bicycles have become faster and knowledge about training, nutrition and recovery has advanced? The most plausible answer is that the anti-doping testing standards have become much better. In 2008 professional cycling’s governing body implemented the final pieces of the so-called biological passport. It works like this and is effective because it alerts anti-doping officials to any anomalies in an athlete’s normal blood chemistry.

All of the Tour’s winners from 1996 to 2006, with one famous exception, were later caught, or admitted to, using performance drugs. The exception was Lance Armstrong, who was never caught despite being the most tested athlete in modern sports. That’s the story, anyway. Actually Lance was caught, twice:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarl...tragic-figure/

I've been in and out of cycling for many years, so here's my take:

Lance may of doped (just blood) and used EPO at times, but he only did because basically EVERYONE else was doing it. All the hard hitters from Italy, France and Belgium were. Mario Cippolini, Marco Pantani and others were busted for EPO.

What chuffs me is that regular folks and the press especially act like any slob could juice up on EPO and win the Tour. When in all actuality, these guys are all nearly as fit as the human body will allow and the doping/EPO allows about an extra 3-5% in performance.

If the front runners are all doping and Lance beat them to win the tour, it's a legit win in my book. However Lance did other things that while legal, caused MANY competitors to cry foul. The nutritionist for the USPS team concocted what were deemed 'scooby snacks' that included many secret ingredients, but no drugs. They were rumored to have a special blend of sugars, carbs, amino acids and other compounds that after much research, were found to give an edge.

It's also rumored that Lance's blood chemistry is simply different and that his body makes more 'go' juice than most mere mortals, meaning that he would fail a dope test looking for elevated red-blood cells and EPO.



Lance shouldn't be stripped, but perhaps an asterisk added to indicate that doping was prevalent during the time he competed.

EPO / extra blood or not, he WON those tours.

Originally Posted by Big Foot 48

of his seven Tour de France wins. Just like that. This should help insure drug-free participants in the future. The lying aside, he's done some good works, which he can be admired for.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...651269078.html

This story just made my day.


Wonder how many people will be throwing their yellow rubberbands in the garbage now ?.

The only reason the Tour got any coverage here, was because of Lance.

The Tour should give him a medal.

Originally Posted by Usta Bee

This story just made my day.


Wonder how many people will be throwing their yellow rubberbands in the garbage now ?.

Why? I think it's incredibly sad. Whether he's guilty or not, either way, it's sad.

Lance is not guilty... he is simply tired of all the accusations.
Accusations cause suspicions... that is why it is evil to accuse people.

Originally Posted by Kenny Sharp

Lance is not guilty... he is simply tired of all the accusations.
Accusations cause suspicions... that is why it is evil to accuse people.

It must be a burden to be omniscient.

Originally Posted by saltyzoo

It must be a burden to be omniscient.

Further, they don't have the authority to strip him of anything.

Originally Posted by FrogChief

I've been in and out of cycling for many years, so here's my take:

Lance may of doped (just blood) and used EPO at times, but he only did because basically EVERYONE else was doing it. All the hard hitters from Italy, France and Belgium were. Mario Cippolini, Marco Pantani and others were busted for EPO.

What chuffs me is that regular folks and the press especially act like any slob could juice up on EPO and win the Tour. When in all actuality, these guys are all nearly as fit as the human body will allow and the doping/EPO allows about an extra 3-5% in performance.

If the front runners are all doping and Lance beat them to win the tour, it's a legit win in my book. However Lance did other things that while legal, caused MANY competitors to cry foul. The nutritionist for the USPS team concocted what were deemed 'scooby snacks' that included many secret ingredients, but no drugs. They were rumored to have a special blend of sugars, carbs, amino acids and other compounds that after much research, were found to give an edge.

It's also rumored that Lance's blood chemistry is simply different and that his body makes more 'go' juice than most mere mortals, meaning that he would fail a dope test looking for elevated red-blood cells and EPO.



Lance shouldn't be stripped, but perhaps an asterisk added to indicate that doping was prevalent during the time he competed.

EPO / extra blood or not, he WON those tours.

Nothing here I can disagree with ... But in the end ... Rules are rules .... As stupid as they may be.

And Lance didn't break any of them.

As far as has been reported, Lance never failed a drug test. Scheduled, unscheduled, during a race, or otherwise.

Based on the lack of evidence this has been nothing but a witch hunt originally started by the French who just couldn't stand that an American domated their race.

The USADA, whoever they are, should consider how foolish their stance looks given the lack of any evidence that Armstrong did anything wrong.

I can't blame the guy for stopping this thing after all these years. It has been tiresome for people reading the news, I can't imagine the ridiculous burden it has placed on him and his family.

Livestrong.

Originally Posted by P-51C

As far as has been reported, Lance never failed a drug test. Scheduled, unscheduled, during a race, or otherwise.

Based on the lack of evidence this has been nothing but a witch hunt originally started by the French who just couldn't stand that an American domated their race.

The USADA, whoever they are, should consider how foolish their stance looks given the lack of any evidence that Armstrong did anything wrong.

I can't blame the guy for stopping this thing after all these years. It has been tiresome for people reading the news, I can't imagine the ridiculous burden it has placed on him and his family.

Livestrong.

There must be something to it or he would continue to fight it. My guess is they have confirmed it and gave him the chance to avoid his name being trashed by a drawn out public investigation.

Originally Posted by RumRunner_1492

There must be something to it or he would continue to fight it. My guess is they have confirmed it and gave him the chance to avoid his name being trashed by a drawn out public investigation.

That is the danger in making accusations.