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'Enough is Enough' - Lance Armstrong

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Armstrong Drops Fight Against Doping Charges

“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough,’ ” Armstrong said in a statement.

“The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/24/sports/cycling/lance-armstrong-ends-fight-against-doping-charges-losing-his-7-tour-de-france-titles.html

Lance's decision means he will be stripped of his seven Tour titles, the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics and all other titles, awards and money he won from August 1998 on.

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strokeslover

I still don't know what to make of Armstrong, is he admitting defeat or is his reason for dropping the case true.

tfrancer

A sad day for cycling fans.

retalivity

Im confused...for a man who has fought for 15 years just to give up now...it is indeed a sad day for cycling

frostie500

tfrancer wrote: »

A sad day for cycling fans.

Why? If LA doped he was arguably the biggest fraud ever in sports. Look at the success that he had, money that he made, the fame that he achieved. He transcended his sport and became one of the planet's most recognisable people. If he did all this while doping, regardless of the fact that it's obvious that the rest of the contenders also doped at the time, he deserves to lose his titles.

I've always loved cycling and I was never a fan of Lance. I always thought that he doped but deep down inside I always hoped that I was wrong. I wanted to be proven wrong and for LA to have been a clean racer.

As it is his statement that he is doing it for his family is rubbish. He is dropping the case because he doped and now knows that he has no way out.

This isnt a sad day for the sport it's a landmark day. That's not to say that this is an easy day for cycling but it shows again that there are efforts to remove doping from the peleton and even if the UCI were unwilling to become involved in this case and did all they could to protect LA at least we can see the there are some organisations looking to ensure that we have a clean sport

alfalad

This will have a profound effect on cycling as the UCI were seen to be backing him. Where does Pat stand now i wonder? Strange that he would throw in the towel at this stage but maybe leaving it as it is means he can protest his innocence to the public and the evidence that USADA had gathered will not become public. If that evidence had been made public it would have made Lance look very bad (you'd have to assume or else USADA would not have brought the case) and meant he would have less chance of saving his reputation.

But this is an excellent day in many ways, for all those people Lance made his enemy for speaking out, Emma O'Reilly, Betsy Andreu, Greg LeMond Paul Kimmage, David Walsh etc etc the list goes on.

spokesman

I think it may be some evidence about to come into the public domain that has changed his mind, it certainly is a full u-turn on his stance. I always thought in my opinion he doped too, and the majority of the team mates that helped him on the mountains, as has been the case with some of them.

I think giving that monies to the UCI will come into the mix too.;)

AstraMonti

I should have placed a bet for his comment...

Btw huge thread here.

kincsem

Lance Armstrong may lose his seven Tour de France wins.
Where do the Euro rules now stand on the "don't wear the jersey unless you earned it"?
I have a nice Dauphine Libere polka dot jersey.

Kilkenny14

Full report on this evening's news on Lance dropping his act are at this link - http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/24/lance-armstrong-fight-doping-charges

Personally, I hope his marks a watershed in the fight against doping in cycling, but I am not convinced it will.

AstraMonti

This is far from over yet. We need to wait and see what UCI will do now.

alfalad

Maybe an idea to merge, but have a feeling this will deserve it's own thread. Wish Europe would wake up cause I really want to know what the UCI will say.

Oryx

I wonder will he convince his fans that this is really because of his lack of faith in a fair process and not a tacit admission of guilt?

Diarmuid

Oryx wrote: »

I wonder will he convince his fans that this is really because of his lack of faith in a fair process and not a tacit admission of guilt?

Not a chance!

Diarmuid

alfalad wrote: »

Wish Europe would wake up cause I really want to know what the UCI will say.

Don't hold you breath. The UCI have been asleep for 30 years.

Captain Havoc

His statement

hardCopy

tfrancer wrote: »

A sad day for cycling fans.

Personally, I'm far from sad.

hardCopy

kincsem wrote: »

Lance Armstrong may lose his seven Tour de France wins.
Where do the Euro rules now stand on the "don't wear the jersey unless you earned it"?
I have a nice Dauphine Libere polka dot jersey.

Was he ever euro? Black socks?

At least now we know it wasn't about the bike

Brian?

Is that it over now? I really hope so.

Ullrich 4 tours? Zulle? Who else?

Harrybelafonte

hardCopy wrote: »

Was he ever euro? Black socks?

At least now we know it wasn't about the bike

Unfortunately the way he has left it now, unless some evidence is made public it's at the "we'll never know" stage. His fans can still defend him in the way they always did, 500-600 tests not positive, most tested athlete in history etc. Now they can just repeat this "Enough is enough". However, any "fan" who tries to defend him now will also need to face up to what LA needs to, or may have, a clear lack of realism.

Just to add LA never brought fans to cycling, he brought fans to LA.

hardCopy

Wasn't it shown recently that he couldn't have been subjected to that many tests? I can't find the article where they added them all up, but all the news outlets seem top be carrying the 500-600 figure.

average_runner

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Unfortunately the way he has left it now, unless some evidence is made public it's at the "we'll never know" stage. His fans can still defend him in the way they always did, 500-600 tests not positive, most tested athlete in history etc. Now they can just repeat this "Enough is enough". However, any "fan" who tries to defend him now will also need to face up to what LA needs to, or may have, a clear lack of realism.

Just to add LA never brought fans to cycling, he brought fans to LA.

Not against lance or for lance. But if they really have evidence to get him why didnt they get him to court and swear under oath he didnt take anything?

Also how can they strip him of titles with no positives results? You cant trust the word of other cheats.

average_runner

C3PO

I'm sure this will leave Walsh, Kimmage and many others felling vindicated and I don't blame them .... personally I'm left feeling more than a little disappointed .... yet another bubble burst!!!

Beasty

Can we try and keep discussions on today's "development" to this thread

If anyone wants the background to this case, the old thread is here

Beasty

average_runner wrote: »

Also how can they strip him of titles with no positives results? You cant trust the word of other cheats.

He did fail tests, but managed to get the UCI to accept backdated medical prescriptions

It was not just "cheats" that provided evidence of his systematic doping

Anyway, circumstantial evidence is often good enough in the criminal courts, which require a much higher standard of "proof" than this does

Morrisseeee

I imagine LeMond (& a few others) will be waking up this morning after an all-nighter (on the beer) and singing........."it's a beautiful daaaaaay yeah" /in his best Bono voice :pac:

LA (aka Juan Pelota) still has his 'awesome' fans :rolleyes:

It's a pity he decided to pack it in on his biggest challenge yet, the evidence that would have came out would have been very interesting to hear

Hermy

tfrancer wrote: »

A sad day for cycling fans.

Why?

iregk

Harrybelafonte wrote: »

Just to add LA never brought fans to cycling, he brought fans to LA.

That's actually an excellent point. It was always about LA never about cycling.

average_runner

Beasty wrote: »

He did fail tests, but managed to get the UCI to accept backdated medical prescriptions

It was not just "cheats" that provided evidence of his systematic doping

Anyway, circumstantial evidence is often good enough in the criminal courts, which require a much higher standard of "proof" than this does

So every year he won the tour de france he failed a drug test?

Beasty

kincsem wrote: »

Lance Armstrong may lose his seven Tour de France wins.

According to David Walsh speaking on Newstalk this morning, he will lose them as it's entirely within the power of the USADA to do this and they have indicated they will.

Presumably the question of whether anyone else is "promoted" in his place is down to the UCI and/or Tour organisers though