Is Lance Armstrong now a toxic brand?

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Comments

  • TheVicar wrote (see)

    To be fair though. He did survive horrific cancer treatment and got back racing. 

    and to be fair, so have many others at all levels of sport - although many aren't as high profile or in as high a profile sport.  testicular cancer is nasty but very survivable if caught early as happened with LA.  it doesn't make him THAT special, but he, and many others, have chosen to make it special - make him a paragon of virtue so to speak.   and as a cancer survivor myself, although not testicular, I think I can speak from experience here. 

    and his charity.  great idea - very worthwhile cause.  but a PR machine for the LA brand and one that has not actually made many charitable donations to their chosen causes.  you may wish to read this - http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/athletes/lance-armstrong/Its-Not-About-the-Lab-Rats.html?page=all

    smoke and mirrors spring to mind

  • JoolskaJoolska ✭✭✭

    Just read the first half of the 200 pages.  Pretty depressing stuff.  I really hope we are now in a new era of predominantly clean cycling.  As has already been said, if someone like Wiggo or Cav turns out to have been doping, it will be disastrous for the sport.  And it makes you pray that the testing regime for endurance running is up to scratch!

  • Totally tarnished everything he has ever touched.  I read 'it's not about the bike' years ago and I thought he came across as a bit of an arrogant asshole - felt sorry for his wife - but other than that it was hard not to be impressed by his acheivements. As more and more folks were found to be doping I had this little voice in my head that knew it was unlikely but really really wanted him to be innocent and some how superhuman.  

    so much for that then.  

     

    I will still wear my livestrong top - when no-one can see it.  

  • before the cancer i saw LA as a good rider capable of winning the odd undulating type of stage never a tour winner,then straight away after a full recovery tour wins,Sean Yates his team mate at the time said before LAs first tour victory that he thought that he would win,whats hapened to SY recently?not that i've checked but i believe his picture has been taken off the Sky website,are there also a few britsh famous older respected x riders who have stuck up for LA that have a financial connection? just sayin.

     

  • I was listening to the Radio last night, it was a discussion about Armstrong doping for years. Emma O'Reilly, his masseuse had basically tried to, quite rightly, blow the whistle on it and she got absolutely cruxified for it, she got Subpoenaed nearly every other week and she suffered for wanting to out doping practices. I hope now she has some satisfaction with Armstrong finally exposed.

  • Sorry TheVicar, but what you said about surviving cancer, riding the tour and doing stuff for charity makes a recipe for LA to still be a good bloke is just so ignorant of the facts. Threatening other rider's wives isn't very nice is it. Or getting people thrown out of their jobs. Or pretty much forcing whole groups of people to take drugs. What possible criteria are you relying on to assess him to be a good bloke, or are you claiming ignorance as a defence? Please read something from the USADA evidence and wise up on this case!
  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭

    ...I'm not a violent man but I've got as far as p157 and I want to punch Lance Armstrong in the face.

    As you were...

  • My reaction was just the same Phil. The aggression and intimidation that comes through is just incredible. I see that Wiggo has made a statement along the lines that British Cycling saved him from a similar fate by creating a sympathetic support environment,rather than the exploitative ecosystem which Armstrong developed.
  • KeirKeir ✭✭✭

    Is Armstrong now taking mushrooms?

    A spokesman for the USADA said that Armstrong’s res/ponse was predictable, but conceded : “He is phenomenal at taking drugs.” image

  • PhilPubPhilPub ✭✭✭

    Keir!  All right fella!

    An excellent contribution to the debate, which I've just borrowed.  image

  • KeirKeir ✭✭✭

    Thanks PB. Always nice to add some intellectual comment to the debate.

    On a more serious note - look at this to see how Wiggin's comments vary to the standard 'I've never tested positive' response to the doping question.

  • Joolska wrote (see)

    Just read the first half of the 200 pages.  Pretty depressing stuff.  I really hope we are now in a new era of predominantly clean cycling.  As has already been said, if someone like Wiggo or Cav turns out to have been doping, it will be disastrous for the sport.  And it makes you pray that the testing regime for endurance running is up to scratch!

    A few people have said this...  but I'm not sure it's a good argument.  Surely after a litany of drugs debacles in the eighties and nineties - then people must have been saying "wow, pretty depressing stuff. If it ever turned out that Lance Armstong has been doping, that would be the end"

  • Ha...  was just reading a bit on drugs cheating..  and came across a story from 1984 that made me laugh.  Where an Irish rider sneakily avoided the drugs testers by submitting a mechanic's urine instead of his own.  But unfortunately, the mechanic had been forced to work long hours, and had been taking banned stimulants to keep himself awake image 

    http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/results/1999/may99/may20.shtml

  • Keir wrote (see)

    Thanks PB. Always nice to add some intellectual comment to the debate.

    On a more serious note - look at this to see how Wiggin's comments vary to the standard 'I've never tested positive' response to the doping question.

    That's a great article, thanks for posting the link! My favourite part:

    "I am not willing to risk all those things I've got in my life. I do it because I love it. I don't do it for a power trip... What I love is doing my best and working hard. If I felt I had to take drugs, I would rather stop tomorrow, go and ride club 10-mile time trials, ride to the cafe on Sundays, and work in Tesco stacking shelves."

  • stutyrstutyr ✭✭✭

    Does anyone know who will get the TdF titles if the UCI accept the USADA report?

    Jan Ullrich was the next best rider in many tours, but he's also been discredited for doping and stripped of his palmeres. Floyd Landis etc were also discredited/banned in that period.

    Will the TdF record book just have a blank for the whole of the "noughties"? 

  • It's not just the TDF either is it; the whole pro cycling scene and races that have been affected. Will they just wipe out all results ?

  • KeirKeir ✭✭✭

    Why not just inject a syringe shaped astrix next to each result?

    xine267 wrote (see)
    That's a great article, thanks for posting the link! My favourite part:

    "I am not willing to risk all those things I've got in my life. I do it because I love it. I don't do it for a power trip... What I love is doing my best and working hard. If I felt I had to take drugs, I would rather stop tomorrow, go and ride club 10-mile time trials, ride to the cafe on Sundays, and work in Tesco stacking shelves."

    As if! Does he really believe that he could repeatedly lift 5kg boxes of washing powder up to chest height without his matchstick arms snapping?

  • Maybe he is taking some drugs to make his arms stronger ?

  • PhilPub wrote (see)

    ...I'm not a violent man but I've got as far as p157 and I want to punch Lance Armstrong in the face.

    As you were...

    Just got to that page (resisted temptation to skip ahead after you mentioned it!) ... what a complete **** !!

    I'm surprised that no-one brought harassment charges against him.

  • carterusm wrote (see)

    It's not just the TDF either is it; the whole pro cycling scene and races that have been affected. Will they just wipe out all results ?

    I think it's kind of an irrelevant question. How can anyone talk about the competitions in those periods which were totally skewed by doping enhanced riders, and expect there to be a legitimate and meaningful outcome? If you were a non-doper, you may have bust a gut on a mountain climb to stay within 5 minutes of the #KingoftheDopers and totally compromised yourself for the coming 3-4 days. If you had been racing on a level playing field, that probably wouldn't have happened. Those dopers changed the whole nature of the events so none of the results are valid.

    Who cares what happened in 2003 TDF? You never hear Andy Schleck referring to himself as the Winner of the 2010 TDF because of the Chlenbuterol Kid! Surely all effort has to be directed and ridding the sport of these cheaters - riders, managers, "doctors" and organisers - so it can have a credible future.

  • I'm so gutted too :-/. I read books about him and really looked up to him.

  • he was the best

    he is still the best

    they never found drags in his blad in eney test they made

    its all wich hunting

  • yoel yavnieli wrote (see)

    he was the best

    he is still the best

    they never found drags in his blad in eney test they made

    its all wich hunting

    Have you got all his drags in your blad?

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭
    yoel yavnieli wrote (see)

    he was the best

    he is still the best

    they never found drags in his blad in eney test they made

    its all wich hunting

    What sort of prick are you? Clearly you are the spokesman for Nike's marketing department. I have the impression you misguided oafs think you can repackage the Armstrong brand the way you did with Tiger Woods. Well it won't work. Woods bashed a fire hydrant running away from his missus. Armstrong just bashed himself.

    🙂

  • what about bolt,ronaldo,all the 100 meter runners are they clean?

     

  • tell me does eney bodey have sample

    with drug?

    or you just belive what they want you to belive.

    when you get asmple let me see

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    I don't have a sample, but I can get you a dictionary to help with the spelling.
  • This isn't about Bolt or Ronaldo though is it? it's about a cheating scumbag cyclist. I hate to burst your bubble by the way but Ronaldo is not a 100 meter runner. Personally speaking, if someone was trying to bring charges, such as those against Armstrong, against me and I wasn't guilty then I absolutely would contest them. Him not contesting them speaks volumes.

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