Bicycle racing in the 90s and early 2000s had some pretty blatant doping and shit was fucking rad. Armstrong on his comeback tour after cancer just completely destroyed guys on the climbs. Bunch of skinny euro fucks would launch these absurd solo attacks with like 100Km to go and somehow hold them off because they were doped to the gills.
Use to follow the road bike scene religiously. Haven't watched a race since they cleaned it up. Those superhuman feats were great entertainment.
Drug companies have got the dough. In NASCAR Mark Martin drove the "Bonermobile" for promoting Viagra for Pfizer.
Not necessarily. It could have been a contributing factor for years, meaning we don’t know how well he would have performed without them. Who knows how long he has been on it and “flying under the radar”. It’s the same as when someone gets busted in baseball. They might have been a 30-30 player for a decade, and only been on it for the past year while recovering from an injury. But after being caught using PEDs, everyone will question their performance/results from the beginning.
I gotta say, after all of the hate that I'm seeing directed at AI from other racers, journalists, etc. on social media, I hope he finds his way out of this one as a(nother) big "fuck you" to them all. It's pretty sad that a bunch of folks only come out of the woodwork to try and kick someone when they're down.
Greg LeMond was one of the first that I heard bringing attention to the use of PEDs. He basically said there was no way, given the small changes in bike technology and minimal improvements with athlete nutrition and training practices that could account for the large increase in performance. He said it had to be PEDs. He was pretty vocal about it and he even called out Lance etc but everyone wanted a feel good story about cancer recovery and being a survivor etc. Now looking back, Lance would win a climbing stage then go on to win the day then win the time trails the very next day and it didn’t seem to raise any eyebrows. The beating cancer and yellow wrist bands with a feel good story created an environment for people to simply look the other way and even militantly defend Lance because he was creating cancer awareness. As it turns out Lance was and is a huge POS human being.
I am actually a huge Lance fan, but I recognize that how he treated people who accused him was completely unacceptable. I do think the guy is just an unmatched force of will. Gear or not (and as you know, he was far from the only one geared up), winning 7 tours on the trot is absurd and how he was able to control damn near every aspect of each tour and build the team around him is simply incredible. I’m convinced Livestrong came about because Lance felt cancer nearly defeated him, and he wanted to strike back at the fucker. He didn’t raise half a billion for cancer research for a bunch of sick kids, he did it for vengeance.
I can’t look past the sheer level of destruction he dished out on people who were calling him out. I lost any respect for him. The end does not justify the means. Good people don’t treat other people that way. He’s still in denial over most of it.
He’s not a good person - agreed. I admire what he achieved but dude ruined some lives to do it like the Andreu’s (Betsy is a fox btw). Lemond too, when he leaked that story about Lemond being sexually abused.
I would venture to say that 3/4 of the peleton was cheating during Lance's period, but he took it to another level and Marquez'd the field. I bet if he didn't go on the tear he did and sand bagged, he wouldn't have been exposed so dramatically. I'm not a fan of his, but the other thing that Lance did was usher in a bunch of people into cycling.
That's the most amazing part. Everyone is a sucker for a good redemption story. And as much as I despise him, I would have fallen for it too, had he chosen to completely own everything he did, and to do things to earn some respect back. But he still thinks he was justified. Even in the middle of a discussion where he's trying to take responsibility for his actions, he will say something that shows he's still defiant. He's just rotten to the core.
That's probably a conservative figure. And he would have gotten away with it too, had it not been for his ego. He should have stayed retired.
Don't be to quick to ignore the side effects of steroids. The current trend is to try them before antibiotics since antibiotics have been over prescribed. Of course they can have a nasty side effect of raising internal pressure in your eyes. I have been 100% banned from them myself.
Mr. Armstrong; performance-enhancing drugs done right. He should set up an all-drugs allowed cycling event in Bogota, Columbia with backing from some pharmaceutical company that specializes in off-label use of performance enhancing drugs.
You should probably do a little more research on Lance, before you continue with that stance (< the start of a rap ). That dude was handing it to professional, adult athletes, when he was 15yrs-old. He was a sponsored athlete, by 16yrs-old. The dude was and always will be a prodigy. He wasn’t doping his entire career, which is what people fail to mention. But, people use one segment of his life, to cast a shadow over his entire life and career. Even now, he’s still out there mixing it up on an MTB. His years of doping, everyone was doping. Dr Ferrari pioneered the ways around the controls, worked with many in the peloton, and getting wealthy while doing it. The difference is those being charged/on the cusp of being charged turned snitch, so Lance could be hung. Bill, Johan, Frankie, George, Floyd, Levi, and the rest were/are no better than Lance. But, the general public never rakes all them over the coals, because most people don’t know the whole story and don’t care to; all they’ve heard is Lance. Then, there are the networks needing cycling legends to profit from during their broadcasts, so turn a blind eye and employ the dopers. Let’s keep in mind, Lance never tested positive, either. What I take issue with is Lance’s insistence of innocence, being a dick to those who supported him, and his continued bullshit after this whole thing blew up. A bit of humble pie would’ve went a long way, but, Lance has never been known for humility. No matter, I still admire and respect the guy.
Sorry just because everyone was doing it does not make it right, he was just the best of the rest of the cheaters.
Ten months ago, I had two epidurals, with the last being a massive dose (I’m still suffering side-effects). Shortly afterward, I discovered I have glaucoma and have lost field of vision (~10%-L and ~20%-R). I never knew there was an eye pressure concern with steroids and am now questioning it.
