Lance Armstrong Stripped of All Seven Tour de France titles

[outhega]

I find it interesting simply for the fact that according to the article he was tested an average of 1.5 times a month for fifteen years, and never failed. I'm not saying he didn't dope but damn, that is some dedicated doping. If true, he spent just as much time and effort beating the system as he did training.

[Graystoke]

Originally Posted by outhega

I find it interesting simply for the fact that according to the article he was tested an average of 1.5 times a month for fifteen years, and never failed. I'm not saying he didn't dope but damn, that is some dedicated doping. If true, he spent just as much time and effort beating the system as he did training.

Not much of an effort when:

A) You have inside knowledge when the testing is going to occur.
B) You know how to beat the test.
C) You are a protected rider by the UCI

[outhega]

Originally Posted by Graystoke

Not much of an effort when:

A) You have inside knowledge when the testing is going to occur.
B) You know how to beat the test.
C) You are a protected rider by the UCI

This is all true. I'm just saying:

A) Even if you know when the testing is you still have to cycle off, and at 1.5 time a month (assuming like the article says he never failed) then that leaves only about one week to actually be on the juice.
B) There are ways to beat the test but at that frequency he would have to know A and B which would require help. (And fresh urine)
C)If this is true then it is a conspiracy and people were getting something for covering the whole thing up. The union shouldn't be off the hook of an investigation.

They are doing this just like the NFL bounty deal, saying they have overwhelming evidence but not actually telling anybody what it is. Not that have to or care to I just find it interesting. I was a big Armstrong fan but ultimately they are doing this to late for anybody other than those people who are involved to care.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by outhega

I find it interesting simply for the fact that according to the article he was tested an average of 1.5 times a month for fifteen years, and never failed. I'm not saying he didn't dope but damn, that is some dedicated doping. If true, he spent just as much time and effort beating the system as he did training.

If you read the report (yeah its huge and takes a while), you'll find that the testing regime back then was laughably pathetic.

First of all, the stuff they were taking usually became undetectable within hours (the testers didn't know that, they were behind the cheaters in chemistry knowledge), and they knew there was almost zero chance of being woken up in the middle of the night. So, they usually doped right before going to bed.

The times when this was not an option (they needed to take something that is detectable longer than a few hours), they somehow had insider knowledge tipping them off when the "random" drug test was going to happen.

A few times when this all failed, the drug tester was so incompetent or easily-intimidated that they were able to delay him long enough to hook Lance up to a saline IV that made whatever he took undetectable.

One time when Lance was taking something that couldn't be washed out and they were surprised with a test that they weren't tipped off about, luckily for Lance, he was out of the hotel and his team was able to warn him by text. Lance, knowing he was nailed, formally dropped out of the race, then as a non-competitor he couldn't be tested.

Beyond all of that, he actually did test positive a few times and was nailed, but every time he either got off on a technicality (French test) or the UCI just made the results go away (a few results back then which were merely labeled "suspicious" would now be considered "positive" under today's standards), or the positive tests happened after 2009 where people could say "oh, who cares".

He was guilty as hell. He also can never admit it unless he works out a deal with the Feds, because he perjured himself.

[outhega]

Originally Posted by alnorth

If you read the report (yeah its huge and takes a while), you'll find that the testing regime back then was laughably pathetic.

First of all, the stuff they were taking usually became undetectable within hours (the testers didn't know that, they were behind the cheaters in chemistry knowledge), and they knew there was almost zero chance of being woken up in the middle of the night. So, they usually doped right before going to bed.

The times when this was not an option (they needed to take something that is detectable longer than a few hours), they somehow had insider knowledge tipping them off when the "random" drug test was going to happen.

A few times when this all failed, the drug tester was so incompetent or easily-intimidated that they were able to delay him long enough to hook Lance up to a saline IV that made whatever he took undetectable.

One time when Lance was taking something that couldn't be washed out and they were surprised with a test that they weren't tipped off about, luckily for Lance, he was out of the hotel and his team was able to warn him by text. Lance, knowing he was nailed, formally dropped out of the race, then as a non-competitor he couldn't be tested.

Beyond all of that, he actually did test positive a few times and was nailed, but every time he either got off on a technicality (French test) or the UCI just made the results go away (a few results back then which were merely labeled "suspicious" would now be considered "positive" under today's standards), or the positive tests happened after 2009 where people could say "oh, who cares".

He was guilty as hell. He also can never admit it unless he works out a deal with the Feds, because he perjured himself.

Hmmm. Yeah I did not know that. Thank you.

[DaFace]

Originally Posted by alnorth

He was guilty as hell. He also can never admit it unless he works out a deal with the Feds, because he perjured himself.

Well, I'm curious to see how this part of it all works out now.