Lance Armstrong stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles

US Anti-Doping Agency to ban Lance Armstrong for life, strip Tour de France titles - News | FOX Sports on MSN



I don't like cheaters in sports. I can't stand Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa (baseball)... and of course there's the cheaters in boxing, such as Margacheato, and the fighters that have been caught using PED's.

But I can't help but feeling devastated by these news. Number 1, Armstrong never failed a drug test while he was racing. Number 2, the fact that this guy was even racing after surviving testicular cancer is awesome... and something that has given inspiration to a lot of people. Number 3, many cyclists are on PED's... it's nothing new or unheard of in the sport. The fact that a person can win or even survive such a grueling race is a huge feat in and of itself. And finally... Lance has given so much to so many people. His foundations have helped countless people. To totally ignore all of that and just up and strip him of all his titles, is a humongous slap in the face. Besides, the biggest factor of them all is that he never actually failed a drug test. How do you justify such a huge punishment based on that??

Sometimes we let the real scum bags off with a slap on the wrist (Margarito, sorry... he should've gotten more than a year).... and give out devastating punishment to those who least deserve it. Even-handed and/or consistent punishments in sports are hard to come by. Maybe it's just a knee-jerk reaction... and maybe I'll feel a little different tomorrow... but I doubt it. So far the overwhelming public reaction has been in support of Lance. Fuck the USADA and all their sanctimonious bullshit.

I don't know what the real truth is, but it seems like the USDA went way out of their way to hang Armstrong. It's sad, I guess Lance had just had enough of the bullshit.

Another sports hero ruined, great job USDA, this should make Armstrong haters and his critics happy. :(

As far as I'm aware he never tested for anything, I think after ten years of dealing with allegations he just got sick of dealing with em and the usda took it as admission of guilt.

If he never tested positive, then it is absurd and makes no sense to me.

Fucking bullshit.

Yeah, this is absolute bs in my opinion. I thought the same thing as the thread starter when I first read the story and I think that there is more to this than meets the eye because they really seemed to go out of their to hang this guy.

Greg LeMond might rise back to the top as the Greatest American cyclist ever after this....he always was in my mind.

Lance should still fight the charges, his name and reputation should matter more than anything else.

It is being fought outside of the US.

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Originally Posted by Master

Lance should still fight the charges, his name and reputation should matter more than anything else.

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I read that to fight it, USADA has evidence that they would produce in any hearing and obviously its just damage limitation on Armstrongs behalf. Just say "enough is enough, I dont have theenergy for this any more"

Now if it were myself and im sure everyone else too, that if I was clean and always had be id be revving and chomping at the bit to clear my name but Lance doesnt want this evidence brought to the publics attention because right now, naive people are feeling sorry for him.

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Originally Posted by ross

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Originally Posted by Master

Lance should still fight the charges, his name and reputation should matter more than anything else.

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I read that to fight it, USADA has evidence that they would produce in any hearing and obviously its just damage limitation on Armstrongs behalf. Just say "enough is enough, I dont have theenergy for this any more"

Now if it were myself and im sure everyone else too, that if I was clean and always had be id be revving and chomping at the bit to clear my name but Lance doesnt want this evidence brought to the publics attention because right now, naive people are feeling sorry for him.

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I dont give a fuck either way what he does, people deal with whats brought up in their own life however they will.

If you are going to go bankrupt in a legal fight why fight? If your name is so combined into your ego that you feel you have to fight; that to me is a poor perspective prior to the choice of whether to fight or not.

I see your point too but the word naive could be construed as an attack on those here who are simply on side with the law that you should be innocent until proven guilty.

It will all come out if he is guilty, even out of a court.

Thing is if they do speak out publicly, he can do them for slander as well and could probably recoup more outlay, so he could be just seeing if they will play all their cards at once :-\ I dont know, but its good to look at stuff from both sides.

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Originally Posted by ross

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Originally Posted by Master

Lance should still fight the charges, his name and reputation should matter more than anything else.

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I read that to fight it, USADA has evidence that they would produce in any hearing and obviously its just damage limitation on Armstrongs behalf. Just say "enough is enough, I dont have theenergy for this any more"

Now if it were myself and im sure everyone else too, that if I was clean and always had be id be revving and chomping at the bit to clear my name but Lance doesnt want this evidence brought to the publics attention because right now, naive people are feeling sorry for him.

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From everything I've read, Armstrong passed every drug test administered to him. What sort of evidence would the USADA have, other than the cyclists that didn't win the Tour de France saying... "Oh, he has to be doping. No one can be that good."?

So I guess in this case... "naive people"... by your definition, would be those people that need concrete evidence of wrongdoing before convicting or condemning an athlete of doping.

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Originally Posted by El Kabong

Greg LeMond might rise back to the top as the Greatest American cyclist ever after this....he always was in my mind.

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He always was in his own mind as well. Ever hear Lemond talk about Armstrong? Not a fan.

here's a great article i read in the washington post about lance and the doping charges:

Lance Armstrong doping campaign exposes USADA’s hypocrisy - The Washington Post