Lance Armstrong cleared of doping charges (and now drops the fight)

[Chest Rockwell]

Originally Posted by Donger

Tejay van Garderen might end up being Lance 2.0

There are a few young US riders who are showing promise.

I've never been a Lance fan, but this is one thing I'm grateful to him for.

[Chest Rockwell]

Deadspin has a decent synopsis of it up now. The Inner Ring posted a very good article on it earlier today.

Obviously no one knows exactly what the evidence USADA claims they have is. A lot of what is thought to be the evidence is outlined in both those articles (they weren't technically failed tests, but they are samples consistent with doping). All of it will come out eventually as most of (if not all, I'm not sure, haven't been following EVERYONE involved in the conspiracy accusation) the rest implicated have already agreed to arbitration.

Obviously none of this is enough to make a judgement at this point. The rejection of arbitration, especially after a Texas judge ruled against him on it, throws fuel on the circumstantial/heresy fire. IMO, his biggest mistake in general was the association with Michele Ferrari...

Anyway, things will get much clearer once the other arbitration hearings start. Especially if those "10 plus" witnesses turn out to be who they're rumored to be.

[L.A. Chieffan]

Let them roid, who cares?

[NewChief]

Graystoke is right that Lance doped. The thing is, though: they ALL doped then. It's as much a part of professional cycling as bicycles.

[redfan]

FWIW, Lance's statement:

AUSTIN, Texas – August 23rd, 2012 – There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, “Enough is enough.” For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart’s unconstitutional witch hunt. 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.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.

If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?

From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.

The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right.

USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart.

Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I’m looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.

[vailpass]

**** USADA for this pointless witch hunt. They should have their eligibility to receive funds stripped.

[Garcia Bronco]

It all reads like a bunch of nonsense. Good for you Lance, I would give the pricks the time of day either.

[|Zach|]

This Tygart guy came on the Dan Patrick show this morning and I have to say...he represented himself really well. I came away from that conversation pretty bummed out.

[GloryDayz]

LOL.... Just caught the story on Sunday AM news. Not that I hadn't heard about it, but I'm not sure how he was cleared, but still might be stripped of his titles.... ????

Anyway, the French lose AGAIN no matter what! WTH, they are just so butthurt. And Lance's foundation gets a boost. It's SOOOOO funny to see him just talk about them like they're a thing of the past.

What I'd love to see is some coalition like Mark Cuban, Bill Gates, the Virgin Atlantic doode and Turner getting together to have a race in the US (let's say in Colorado) that's always run at the same time as the Tour DAY France (!!!!), but pays millions to the winner! Just to rip the hearts out of the French and their silly race!

I'll miss seeing the scenes as the riders cycled through some of the better parts of Europe, but I'm done with the Tour DAY France!!!

[WilliamTheIrish]

That was a very well written Nike statement.

Lance has to protect his Livestrong Nike foundation. If he loses, Nike looks foolish. Nike doesn't like looking foolish. And with that statement, LA definitely tapped the canvas and said "uncle". He has bigger issues to protect than those titles.

When Nike sink their hooks into an individual, bad publicity is something they don't want. The coach their people into remaining anonymous on social and political issues that other athlete's (in years past) would speak out against.

Jordan's early shoes, where little kids were getting whacked and having their shoes stolen, his gambling pursuits, Michelle Wei's failure, Tiger's banging of ugly chix. And now Lance Armstrong.

[qabbaan]

If they had a positive test to put forth here, I'd be inclined to give this more credence. Armstrong is probably one of, if not the most drug tested athlete of all time. They caught Landis, they caught Hamilton, they caught Contador, they catch people every year. I can accept that his cancer treatments might have provided some advantage early on, but seriously. This case seems flimsy at best and usually based on the testimony of someone who is hocking a book or has some interest like Jose CanLandis.

Maybe he did, but for how many cyclists are routinely caught doping there is a stunning lack of evidence IMO

[TEX]

Originally Posted by qabbaan

If they had a positive test to put forth here, I'd be inclined to give this more credence. Armstrong is probably one of, if not the most drug tested athlete of all time. They caught Landis, they caught Hamilton, they caught Contador, they catch people every year. I can accept that his cancer treatments might have provided some advantage early on, but seriously. This case seems flimsy at best and usually based on the testimony of someone who is hocking a book or has some interest like Jose CanLandis.

Maybe he did, but for how many cyclists are routinely caught doping there is a stunning lack of evidence IMO

Very well put. I agree.

[WoodDraw]

Originally Posted by TEX

Very well put. I agree.

I don't believe Hincapie ever tested positive. And yet you have his statement today. Is there anyone left saying he didn't cheat, other than his lawyers?

[Graystoke]

Originally Posted by qabbaan

If they had a positive test to put forth here, I'd be inclined to give this more credence. Armstrong is probably one of, if not the most drug tested athlete of all time. They caught Landis, they caught Hamilton, they caught Contador, they catch people every year. I can accept that his cancer treatments might have provided some advantage early on, but seriously. This case seems flimsy at best and usually based on the testimony of someone who is hocking a book or has some interest like Jose CanLandis.

Maybe he did, but for how many cyclists are routinely caught doping there is a stunning lack of evidence IMO

The evidence is coming that will show the UCI (Governing Body of Pro Cycling), hid positive results from Lance Armstrong.

It was fixed. You could test him a BILLION times and he woulda came up Negative with the UCI covering your back!

He is so ****ed!

[GloryDayz]

God, as much as Travis has dug a hole for himself, I feel bad because his kids (if he has any) must be taking a ton of crap (if he has some and they're in school). I can see every kid in the school wearing yellow on a regular basis and replacing the word "hello" with "Live Strong". Just sad when you make claims like Travis is making, don't back them up with evidence and proof, and put your family in such a bad position.