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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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steve9859

davyjose wrote: »

No way Nike sue him; they really, really don't want to get embroiled in this. Any hint of their name being involved in doping would cost them more than anything they'd get off LA. As for the UCI seeing him? That would open a fcuking warehouse of cans of worms. They wouldn't survive it.

Nope, Lance will still be much, much richer than if he'd never doped and remained a former world champion and a domestique with a strong TT.

And that is the sad truth. Personally, I think most likely scenario is that the UCI will likely succeed in pushing this one under the carpet as well. Armstrong will keep his head down, the UCI will wipe the 7 years from the records, and in a couple of weeks it will be off the back pages.

SCA will sue (since they only paid out in the first place after they were sued by Armstrong), but I think everyone else will distance themselves from the whole thing. Maybe, at a reach, there will be a couple of quiet out of court settlements. And I doubt any law enforcement authorties have the appetite to go after him for perjury etc.

And the Tour will go on as usual....

brandon_flowers

I do think the journalist/admin battle will run for a while even if Armstrong gets away almost scot-free financially. While Kimmage and Walsh do a great job they really need the full support of L'equipe, Gazzetto and the rest of the sports media on the continent to bring down the head honchos of the UCI. Unfortunately, pro cycling just isn't big enough in the UK and Ireland for them to be listened to enough.

If the media could get a few more sponsors to threaten the UCI with withdrawl and put pressure on McQuaid then there may be a change.

If not then as steve9859 said above the show will go on.

And to make it better Contador will probably win the TdF 13 restoring all confidence in the system!

Lusk Doyle

nipper67 wrote: »

lance was most tested man in the world and for years this hung over him he never had a pos result i dont blame him for saying enough is enough he is still a great man on a bike i think they were all on something at this time and as our own sean kelly said you dont go up the tourmalet at 25 kph on water :

Quite right. Of course they don't go up the tourmalet on water. They use bikes. It's too difficult to carry the refrigerator.

Flandria

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

Quite right. Of course they don't go up the tourmalet on water. They use bikes. It's too difficult to carry the refrigerator.

Tut-tut, the refrigerator is for the blood...

dastardly00

Pat Kenny radio show is on now!!
(He is interviewing Pat McQuaid)

buffalo

dastardly00 wrote: »

Pat Kenny radio show is on now!!

Listening now... McQuaid sounds like pretty much every Irish politician on Morning Ireland.

I just snorted out loud. PK asked about Emma O'Reilly and the backdated prescription, and asked if McQuaid interviewed O'Reilly. McQuaid responded that he interviewed Armstrong. :rolleyes:

Kilkenny14

This interview is making me wish the Off the Ball lads were doing it - Kenny just doesn't seem to be pushing McQuaid at all.

paddyh117

Kilkenny14 wrote: »

This interview is making me wish the Off the Ball lads were doing - Pat just doesn't seem to be pushing Pat at all.

Can't see him on Off the Ball anytime soon unfortunately - he's got one thing in common with Lance - Lack of balls!

Lusk Doyle

This is bullsh!t:

The fact is that the UCI in the period up to 2004 did not have the resources and opportunities to be more effectively.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/reactions-to-ucis-confirmation-of-lance-armstrongs-ban

The fact is that maintaining the status quo and not rocking the boat was the easiest "solution". If the boat ain't rocking then there is no need to tip it over ourselves seems to have been the modus operandi. :mad:

buffalo

Friend just posted this, I like the concept.

The Lance myth has finally crumbled now that the UCI has ratified the USADA decision to strip him of his 7 Tour de France titles... and I am delighted.

Rather than award the 1999-2005 titles to no-one, I would love the 7 Tour de Lance's to be awarded to people who helped expose Lance's tyrannical reign and/or were affected by it.

I am thinking of people like:
- Christophe Bassons
- David Walshe
- Pierre Ballester
- Paul Kimmage
- Betsy Andrieu
- Greg LeMond
- Filippo Simeoni

ThisRegard

Hamilton not impressed with yesterdays sham,

Pat McQuaid's comments expose the hypocrisy of this leadership and demonstrate why he is incapable of any meaningful change

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/lancearmstrong/9627355/Tyler-Hamilton-says-Pat-McQuaid-has-no-place-in-cycling-as-UCI-chief-brands-Armstrong-whistleblowers-scumbags.html

Oppenhe1mer

ThisRegard wrote: »

Hamilton not impressed with yesterdays sham,

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/cycling/lancearmstrong/9627355/Tyler-Hamilton-says-Pat-McQuaid-has-no-place-in-cycling-as-UCI-chief-brands-Armstrong-whistleblowers-scumbags.html

Thats really it now isn't it - the future of the sport has not been commented on in any meaningful way.

Despite all the "noise" being made about this affair, and I hope Armstrong gets his just desserts, I feel there is a flaw in the focus. The USADA CEO Travis Tygart commented in the Washington Post:

“Sanctioning Lance Armstrong and the riders who came forward truthfully should not be seen as penance for an era of pervasive doping. There must be more action to combat the system that took over the sport. It is important to remember that while today is a historic day for clean sport, it does not mean clean sport is guaranteed for tomorrow. Only an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission can fully start cycling on the path toward true reform and provide hope for a complete break from the past.”

So while it is good that those people came forward we can't lose sight of the fact that they either were dopers themselves or turned a blind eye. Many cyclists, Cavendish, Roche, etc. have all said this could not happen today and much of this story is history. As a fan of cycling I hate this dismissal of this systemic cheating culture by some of its best participants. This sport will not be cleaned up by better policing alone, a much, much, much better solution will be when the riders themselves are incentivised to blow the whistle and I see no comment about the future of the sport from its leaders, McQuaid, Brailsford, Wiggins, etc.. that this will be the case. The sport has lost many of its potentially most talented stars not because of doping but because of bullying.

Junior

Changing Pat McQuaid for someone else will not change the UCI, it's a political system where politicians elect other politicians and administrators to places of power. If Pat resigned in the morning you could possibly have Igor Makarov as president of the UCI, the team owner of Katusha. And we've seen what their recruitment and anti doping policies have said about their morals.

To be honest, professional cycling needs to die a death and be left dead long enough for the former dopers, the thought of dopers, the maybe dopers, the one's who've rode on a dodgy team, the ones who enabled it to be long retired and no longer have any hand act or part in the sport.

Undercover Elephant

davyjose wrote: »

No way Nike sue him; they really, really don't want to get embroiled in this. Any hint of their name being involved in doping would cost them more than anything they'd get off LA. As for the UCI seeing him? That would open a fcuking warehouse of cans of worms. They wouldn't survive it.

The suits seem to agree with you, possibly less colourfully.

Clanket

Undercover Elephant wrote: »

The suits seem to agree with you, possibly less colourfully.

So the chances are he'll never come out and admit anything, full in the knowledge that if he does, the clawbacks in contracts would be activated. He's some slimey little worm

petethedrummer

There's going to have to be a new stage for Fanboys

10. Hate the game, not the player...he still has his millions of dollars. Who's the real winner now? .......Oh Lance what will I do without you?.....but before you go.....Kiss me.

<Fade up music> There goes my hero, watch him as he goes.

hardCopy

petethedrummer wrote: »

There's going to have to be a new stage for Fanboys

10. Hate the game, not the player...he still has his millions of dollars. Who's the real winner now? .......Oh Lance what will I do without you?.....but before you go.....Kiss me.

<Fade up music> There goes my hero, watch him as he goes.

This is playing out repeatedly on his Facebook page.

buffalo

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/13131/Indurain-says-he-still-believes-Armstrong-is-innocent.aspx

srsly? There is no facepalm image that palms enough face.

MPFG

buffalo wrote: »

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/13131/Indurain-says-he-still-believes-Armstrong-is-innocent.aspx

srsly? There is no facepalm image that palms enough face.

The spanish are so far behind the curve on this one ...Sanchez, Contodor and now Indurain ......of course one would want to know who has most to lose if further digging was sanctioned

Maybe Pat McQuiad should focus his efforts on full disclosure rather than silly court cases for defamation

wonderfullife

speaking of defamation how on earth can he go on global television and call Tyler Hamilton and Landis a "scumbag"? Is it one rule for him and one for another when it comes to slander and defamation? He's within his rights to call them drug cheats, hypocrites, whatever but he can't call people scumbags surely.

letape

Hard to believe but Big Mig is still a believer in LA...

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/10/news/indurain-on-armstrong-i-believe-in-his-innocence_262338

Samuel Sanchez has pretty much said the same thing.

"I don't find it right,” he told La Sexta. “I think there should be a fair trial. You cannot punish a person only by verbal accusations. I think Lance has not tested positive throughout his career, was never sanctioned and now we see it all in cycling. One is accused of doping and they take away your career,.”

mcgratheoin

letape wrote: »

“I think there should be a fair trial.

So do we all - but Armstrong refused to turn up to defend himself

Spanish contingent not covering themselves in glory here.

Eamonnator

great article here by the great Robert Millar

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/the-bare-minimum

leftism

wonderfullife wrote: »

speaking of defamation how on earth can he go on global television and call Tyler Hamilton and Landis a "scumbag"? Is it one rule for him and one for another when it comes to slander and defamation? He's within his rights to call them drug cheats, hypocrites, whatever but he can't call people scumbags surely.

I think he may live to regret that comment. It was a major lapse in judgement, considering how many defamation suits he has filed over the last couple of years...

petethedrummer

letape wrote: »

Hard to believe but Big Mig is still a believer in LA...

I am in NO WAY suggesting Indurain doped but he was a client of Conconi. Could have been for heatstroke or something innocuous.

Clients of Conconi

Gianni Bugno, former World Champion & winner Giro d'Italia
Maurizio Damilano
Luigi Della Bianc
Emma Scaunich
Mario Cipollini, former world champion
Laurent Fignon, Tour de France winner
Miguel Indurain, Tour de France winner
Francesco Moser
Denis Zanette, died suspiciously at the dentist's[30]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesco_Conconi

Flandria

Aren't you missing a Conconi client a little closer to home?;)

Lumen

Flandria wrote: »

Aren't you missing a Conconi client a little closer to home?;)

Wikipedia says:

Wikipedia wrote:

In March 2000 the Italian Judge Franca Oliva published a report detailing the conclusions of an investigation into a number of sports doctors including Professor Conconi.[19] This official judicial investigation concluded that the riders of the Carrera team were administered EPO in 1993.[12] The riders included Stephen Roche, Claudio Chiappucci,[20] Guido Bontempi, Rolf Sørensen, Mario Chiesa, Massimo Ghirotto and Fabio Roscioli.[9]

davyjose

brandon_flowers wrote: »

And to make it better Contador will probably win the TdF 13 restoring all confidence in the system!

Ugh. Makes me sick.

Oppenhe1mer

Eamonnator wrote: »

great article here by the great Robert Millar

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/the-bare-minimum

Good article but still shows that there is no real incentive for riders to whistle blow. I think there needs to be a massive clearout but I don't hear many talking about the future, and how to prevent this categorically, until that point this sport will remain in the dim light of suspicion.

fran oconnor

Bans for life to cheating scum cycling, or anybody that has been found to helped other cheat. The whole sport needs to be cleaned from top to bottom.