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Armstrong is going to lose it all

LeTallecWiz

Doos
Honorary Member
With stunning swiftness, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday night it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unprecedented seven Tour de France titles after he dropped his fight against drug charges that threatened his legacy as one of the greatest cyclists of all time.

Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive, said Armstrong would also be hit with a lifetime ban on Friday. And under the World Anti-Doping Code, he would lose the bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics as well as any awards, event titles and cash earnings.

Armstrong, who retired last year, effectively dropped his fight by declining to enter USADA's arbitration process - his last option - because he said he was weary of fighting accusations that have dogged him for years. He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests he passed as proof of his innocence while piling up Tour titles from 1999 to 2005.

''There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now,'' Armstrong said. He called the USADA investigation an ''unconstitutional witch hunt.''

''I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999,'' he said. ''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.''

USADA reacted quickly and treated Armstrong's decision as an admission of guilt, hanging the label of drug cheat on an athlete who was a hero to thousands for overcoming life-threatening testicular cancer and for his foundation's support for cancer research.

''It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes,'' Tygart said. ''It's a heartbreaking example of win at all costs overtaking the fair and safe option. There's no success in cheating to win.''

Tygart said the agency had the power to strip the Tour titles, though Armstrong disputed that.

''USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles,'' he said. ''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.''

Still to be heard from was the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union, which had backed Armstrong's legal challenge to USADA's authority and in theory could take the case before the international Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Tygart said UCI was ''bound to recognize our decision and impose it'' as a signer of the World Anti-Doping Code.

''They have no choice but to strip the titles under the code,'' he said.



USADA maintains that Armstrong has used banned substances as far back as 1996, including the blood-booster EPO and steroids as well as blood transfusions - all to boost his performance.

The 40-year-old Armstrong walked away from the sport in 2011 without being charged following a two-year federal criminal investigation into many of the same accusations he faces from USADA.
The federal probe was closed in February, but USADA announced in June it had evidence Armstrong used banned substances and methods - and encouraged their use by teammates. The agency also said it had blood tests from 2009 and 2010 that were ''fully consistent'' with blood doping.
Included in USADA's evidence were emails written by Armstrong's former U.S. Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after a positive drug test. Landis' emails to a USA Cycling official detailed allegations of a complex doping program on the team.

USADA also said it had 10 former Armstrong teammates ready to testify against him. Other than suggesting they include Landis and Tyler Hamilton, both of whom have admitted to doping offenses, the agency has refused to say who they are or specifically what they would say.

''There is zero physical evidence to support (the) outlandish and heinous claims,'' Armstrong said. ''The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of (doping) controls I have passed with flying colors.''

Armstrong sued USADA in Austin, where he lives, in an attempt to block the case and was supported by the UCI. A judge threw out the case on Monday, siding with USADA despite questioning the agency's pursuit of Armstrong in his retirement.

''USADA's conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives,'' such as politics or publicity, U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote.

Even if UCI and USADA differ on the Tour titles, the ultra-competitive Armstrong has still done something virtually unthinkable for him: He quit before a fight is over.

It was a stunning move for an athlete who built his reputation on not only beating cancer, but forcing himself through grueling offseason workouts no one else could match, then crushing his rivals in the Alps and the Pyrenees.

''Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances,'' he said. ''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.''

Armstrong could have pressed his innocence in USADA's arbitration process, which would have included a hearing during which evidence against him would have been presented. But the cyclist has said he believes most people have already made up their minds about whether he's a fraud or a persecuted hero.

Although he had already been crowned a world champion and won individual stages at the Tour de France, Armstrong was still relatively unknown in the U.S. until he won the epic race for the first time in 1999. It was the ultimate comeback tale: When diagnosed with cancer, doctors had given him less than a 50 percent chance of survival before surgery and brutal cycles of chemotherapy saved his life.
Armstrong's riveting victories, his work for cancer awareness and his gossip-page romances with rocker Sheryl Crow, fashion designer Tory Burch and actress Kate Hudson made him a figure who transcended sports.

His dominance of the Tour de France elevated the sport's popularity in America to unprecedented levels. His story and success helped sell millions of the ''Livestrong'' plastic yellow wrist bracelets, and enabled him to enlist lawmakers and global policymakers to promote cancer awareness and research. His Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised nearly $500 million since its founding in 1997.
Jeffery C. Gervey, chairman of the foundation, issued a statement of support saying:

''Faced with a biased process whose outcome seems predetermined, Lance chose to put his family and his foundation first,'' Gervey said. ''The leadership of the Lance Armstrong Foundation remain incredibly proud of our founder's achievements, both on and off the bike.''

Created in 2000, USADA is recognized by Congress as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic sports in the United States. Its investigators joined U.S. agents during the federal investigation of Armstrong. Tygart dismissed Armstrong's lawsuit as an attempt at ''concealing the truth,'' saying the agency is motivated by one goal - exposing cheaters.

Armstrong had tense public disputes with USADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, some former teammates and assistants and even Greg LeMond, the first American to win the Tour de France.
Others close to him were caught up in the investigations, too: Johan Bruyneel, the coach of Armstrong's teams, and three members of the medical staff and a consultant were also charged. Bruyneel is taking his case to arbitration, while two medical team staffers and consulting doctor Michele Ferrari didn't formally contest the charges and were issued lifetime ban by USADA. Ferrari later said he was innocent.

Questions surfaced even as Armstrong was on his way to his first Tour victory. He was leading the 1999 race when a trace amount of a banned anti-inflammatory corticosteroid was found in his urine; cycling officials said he was authorized to use a small amount of a cream to treat saddle sores.

After Armstrong's second victory in 2000, French judicial officials investigated his Postal Service team for drug use. That investigation ended with no charges, but the allegations kept coming.
Armstrong was criticized for his relationship with Ferrari, who was banned by Italian authorities over doping charges in 2002. Former personal and team assistants accused Armstrong of having steroids in an apartment in Spain and disposing of syringes that were used for injections.

In 2004, a Dallas-based promotions company initially refused to pay him a $5 million bonus for winning his sixth Tour de France because it wanted to investigate allegations raised by media in Europe. Testimony in that case included former teammate Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy, saying Armstrong told doctors during his 1996 cancer treatments that he had taken a cornucopia of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.

Two books published in Europe, ''L.A. Confidential'' and ''L.A. Official,'' also raised doping allegations and, in 2005, French magazine L'Equipe reported that retested urine samples from the 1999 Tour showed EPO use.

Armstrong fought every accusation with denials and, in some cases, lawsuits against media outlets that reported them.

He retired in 2005 and almost immediately considered a comeback before deciding to stay on the sidelines - in part because he didn't want to keep answering doping questions.

''I'm sick of this,'' Armstrong said in 2005. ''Sitting here today, dealing with all this stuff again, knowing if I were to go back, there's no way I could get a fair shake - on the roadside, in doping control, or the labs.''

Three years later, Armstrong was 36 and itching to ride again. He came back to finish third in the 2009 Tour de France.

Armstrong raced again in 2010 under the cloud of the federal investigation. Early last year, he quit the sport for good, making a brief return as a triathlete until the USADA investigation shut him down.
During his sworn testimony in the dispute over the $5 million bonus, Armstrong said he wouldn't take drugs because he had too much to lose.

''(The) faith of all the cancer survivors around the world. Everything I do off the bike would go away, too,'' Armstrong said then. ''And don't think for a second I don't understand that. It's not about money for me. Everything. It's also about the faith that people have put in me over the years. So all of that would be erased.''
 
Fucking awesome.

Write the 14th version of your autobiog about this one you smug cunt.
 
How can they charge him with no physical evidence??

Is is just because many ex team mates say he took drugs??
 
How can they charge him with no physical evidence??

Is is just because many ex team mates say he took drugs??

Armstrong says they have no physical evidence.

They clearly do have because they've done tests following Landis letting them in on the doping regime. It's hard to catch someone doping unless you know what you're looking for.

People got away with EPO for years, HGH for years, Testosterone for years - until specific tests were made for them. Passing tests at a time when they cheats are ahead of the officials is meaningless - and that's all Armstrong's defence consists of. Well that and attacking WADA.
 
Thanks for the explanation big man. So I presume they have kept his samples for years then?
 
Thanks for the explanation big man. So I presume they have kept his samples for years then?

That's how they caught Chambers, Marion Jones and everyone else in the Balco case.

There was no test to catch what they were using until somebody sent a sample of what was being taken.
 
Sad really, it always had the potential to go bad.

Ive backed him before, like most, thinking he was just better with a good team. No one 'gives up' just before the real fight to prove your innocent though.
 
Sad really, it always had the potential to go bad.

Ive backed him before, like most, thinking he was just better with a good team. No one 'gives up' just before the real fight to prove your innocent though.

Let's not mention Suarez
 
The funny thing is if Armstrong is being stripped of his wins all of the sudden Jan Ullrich will be a 4 times TdF winner.

A convicted doper and drug abuser.
 
Its not funny thou is it, I read in the 7 tours he won, the people who finished 2nd or 3rd to him all but one has been done for drugs! The ones below that in the top 10 probably haven't because they were small fry in comparison!

Still can't get my head around this, yes he is a bit of an arrogant american twat, but his book was inspirational and I could never believe he would take drugs after going through what he went through., In fact I have had long arguments about it. Until I can read the 'evidence' I am going to still believe he is innocent, just got tired of the pursue you until we find you guilty mentality of USADA.
 
I always thought he probably was on drugs. But it gets to the point - where everyone behind him was also on drugs - that it was probably fair competition. If everybody's cheating then the winning cheat would probably have won if nobody was ... maybe?? One of my favourite sporting moments still was drug-aided. I loved Ben Johnson winning the 100m. It was an awesone sight, and great to knock Lewis down a peg.
 
As Lance Armstrong's masseuse, Emma O' Reilly saw much of the cyclist's body and spent a lot of time with him after his races. She was also a key member of the US Postal cycling team during the 1999 Tour de France and was given important tasks.
O'Reilly was a source for David Walsh's book about Armstrong, LA Confidentiel. According to the book, O'Reilly said she heard team officials worrying about Armstrong's positive test for steroids during the Tour. She said: "They were in a panic, saying: 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?' "
Their solution was to get one of their compliant doctors to issue a pre-dated prescription for a steroid-based ointment to combat saddle sores. O'Reilly said she would have known if Armstrong had saddle sores as she would have administered any treatment for it.
O'Reilly said that Armstrong told her: "Now, Emma, you know enough to bring me down." O'Reilly said on other occasions she was asked to dispose of used syringes for Armstrong and pick up strange parcels for the team.
In a letter to Bill Strickland, a Bicycling magazine correspondent, last year, O'Reilly described her experience. "Since I spoke to David Walsh, I have received so many subpoenas that the policewoman who brought them got friendly enough with my boyfriend that she would call before coming and he'd put the kettle on for her.
"If my word is so worthless, why did I go to France and testify to the French drug squad? I worked the '98 Tour de France, and I know how scary these guys can be, yet I was prepared to go to France, to their territory. I went because I was telling the truth, and also because a certain Mr Armstrong sued me for a million euros because of my interview with David … why did Lance feel the need to terrorise me for more than two years? Why did Lance feel the need to try to break me?"
 
Since Tommy Simpson's death in 1967, 86% of Tour de France winners have been tarnished or implicated by doping. What's wrong with this sport? Why does it keep happening? As Armstrong is confined to history, it's his relationship with the International Cycling Union (UCI) – he made donations to the sport's governing body while competing – that disturbs most.
Why have they been bending over backwards this last month to wrestle his case from the US Anti-Doping Agency? Why wasn't Armstrong sanctioned in 1999? What happened at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland? Why were Floyd Landis's claims about doping at US Postal never investigated? Why are the UCI suing journalists who have asked these questions?
Do we have any reason to believe that the people running the sport really want to fix it? The jury is out.
 
If they now have samples of the supposed drugs Lance was taking, surely they would have done the tests on his old samples that we know they still have (as Lance even states that they still have samples from each tour he won) to prove conclusively that he had been doping?

I still don't believe that he did, and will wait until evidence proving that he has done is released. I also think this is something that will have big consequences when it does come out as his LIVESTRONG charity is a huge cancer charity and it would be a shame for all the work they are doing to be left in tatters (which it will be when they lose endorsements).
 
As early as 1993, Armstrong's testing data as a member of Team USA was aberrational. As SI reported in January, USA Cycling sent a request to the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory in 1999 for past test results -- testosterone-epitestosterone ratios -- for a cyclist identified only by his drug-testing code numbers. A source with knowledge of the request says that the cyclist was Armstrong. The lab responded, detailing the cyclist's test results from 1991 to 1998, with one missing season: 1997, the only year during that span in which Armstrong didn't compete. Three results -- a 9.0-to-1 ratio in 1993, a 7.6-to-1 in 1994 and 6.5-to-1 in 1996 -- were abnormally high. Most people have a ratio of 1-to-1. Before 2005, any ratio above 6.0-to-1 was considered abnormally high and evidence of doping; in 2005 that ratio was lowered to 4.0-to-1. But the high ratios had not led to sanctions. The lab wrote that it had been unsuccessful in attempting to confirm two of the abnormal results, and the third was not mentioned. All of the tests were reported as negative. According to sources familiar with the federal investigation, the government has obtained a copy of the T/E ratio letter first reported by SI.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/magazine/05/23/lance.armstrong/index.html#ixzz24mc7cBnx

Lance knows the evidence is there and knows it would become public if he went ahead with attempting to beat the charges. So he won't.
 
If they now have samples of the supposed drugs Lance was taking, surely they would have done the tests on his old samples that we know they still have (as Lance even states that they still have samples from each tour he won) to prove conclusively that he had been doping?

I still don't believe that he did, and will wait until evidence proving that he has done is released. I also think this is something that will have big consequences when it does come out as his LIVESTRONG charity is a huge cancer charity and it would be a shame for all the work they are doing to be left in tatters (which it will be when they lose endorsements).

You dont want to believe it as he did a great PR job before his guilt came out, im sure we'll never know but i bet he did it all incase he was ever caught as much as anything else.

Blood transfusions were common place not so long ago, keeping untainted blood in reserve and putting it back in after an event happened all the time (Recently someone nearly died after poorly preserved blood was re administered in the back of the team bus).
 
The allegations they've made are staggering & destroy his character, trafficking drugs, encouraging & physically doping others, explaining how to mask it. It's not just doping.

If he was innocent there would be zero chance he'd not fight those, he must know what evidence they have & know he can't win, or he damn well would fight it & sue for millions.

Also the bosses of the anti doping must know that they'd be open for a massive law suit so will have ensured this is water tight given the profile of Armstrong.
 
Hes fuuuuuuuuucked. I liked someones arguement that they were all at it, they were just the best at hiding it, so should keep the wins

Imagine getting sacked from your own charity? It's not out of the question
 
i honestly don't fully understand the mentality of people who dope like this , how do they justify this cheating to themselves ? Why do they think they deserve the success ? I can understand a little if someone does this due to pressure , say if they're young and have coaches manipulating them or if they're struggling to recover from injury . But something like armstrong has done , that has to be just pure arrogance and greed .

Seriously , cycling , Athletics , swimming , even fecking baseball...can you trust anyone in these sports ?
 
Mine would be black and Livedwrong in bright cheating yellow!

Livedwrong. I like that.

They're only £1.53 each if you get between 50-100. I so wish I had enough to get some, I reckon you could flog them on ebay for at least £4, possibly more.

All you'd need do is bell The Metro & you'd get instant publicity too.
 
British cyclist Alex Dowsett believes Lance Armstrong remains "a legend of the sport" despite the doping accusations against the American.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency banned Armstrong for life and stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles.
Team Sky rider Dowsett, 24, said: "He is still a legend of the sport. A guy who had cancer came back and won the Tour de France.
"I think it's not really important and I really don't think it matters."
Armstrong, who has always denied doping but chose not to fight the doping charges filed against him, has been labelled a "serial" cheat and is accused of leading "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Dowsett joined Team Sky for the 2011 season from the US-based Trek-LiveStrong squad - an under-23 development team created by Armstrong to nurture emerging talent.
He added: "All I know is that we all are racing clean. So, it was a different sport back then."
Fellow Brit Steve Cummings, who rides for BMC Racing, and like Dowsett, is competing in the Tour of Beijing, pointed out Armstrong had done a great deal for charity.
He said: "It is easy to say and point your finger on all the bad things but you could look at the good things he has done as well.
"He has done a lot good things, like his cancer charity, you know. When I met him, he was a nice guy to me."


ah give him back his titles , he's a nice guy .
 
But he's not a nice guys - He's despised. But feared, as he's basically run the sport for over a decade, so nobody has ever come out and said it. Until now...
 
I was listening to Jim Jefferies' podcast earlier this week - they had a female comedian who said she had been at a number of parties in hotels with Armstrong because one of her best mates was fucking him. She said she accidentally walked in on them in the bathroom and found Lance bent over the bathtub getting his arsehole licked by her mate. Later on at the party lance asked the comedian where her mate was because he wanted to see if she fancied seconds.

She mentioned he was fucking everything he could gets his hands on too.

After hearing that I've a new found respect for the man. One testicle and hopped up on all sorts of drug cocktails and he's still good to go.
 
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