Lance Armstrong to be stripped of Tour de France titles and banned from cycling

[fearofpopvol1]

http://espn.go.com/olympics/cycling/...cycling-career

Thoughts??

[Jefferson24]

you dope you lose.

I bet the ban is over reaching, I doubt the have evidence that he doped every year. I would challenge it, but they obliviously got the goods on him at least or some years.

[fearofpopvol1]

Originally Posted by Jefferson24

you dope you lose.

I bet the ban is over reaching, I doubt the have evidence that he doped every year. I would challenge it, but they obliviously got the goods on him at least or some years.

where was it proven that he doped?

[5TimeWSChamps]

He quit his lawsuit against the USADA, which they are using as an admission of guilt.

[fearofpopvol1]

Originally Posted by 5TimeWSChamps

He quit his lawsuit against the USADA, which they are using as an admission of guilt.

He's denied ever doping, he just doesn't believe he has to defend himself (nor pour the resources into proving his case). How does him not engaging in this prove that he was guilty?

[dougdirt]

If Lance Armstrong weren't the cancer guy, he would be guilty in public opinion.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Imagine if MLB, the NFL or the NBA gave a lifetime ban and stripped an athlete of all awards/wins based on heresay and "fully consistent w/ doping" test results. Do you think there would be a lawsuit?

I suspect Armstrong doped. Sometimes certain things just seem too unreal to be true (7 Tour de France titles, right Melky?).

[Caveat Emperor]

I miss the good old days, where we'd fight hard to protect an American that goes overseas and dominates foreign competition. Now we have an American agency actively going after him? Lame.

[dougdirt]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

I miss the good old days, where we'd fight hard to protect an American that goes overseas and dominates foreign competition. Now we have an American agency actively going after him? Lame.

Not if they have reason to believe he was cheating.

[Caveat Emperor]

Originally Posted by dougdirt

Not if they have reason to believe he was cheating.

Where's your sense of patriotism? An American went over to France and dominated their sporting event -- every government agency, from the White House to the local sewer districts, should be backing Lance Armstrong's wins 100%. Let the French whine about what a cheater he is.

[bucksfan2]

With doping so rampant in cycling I suspect that Armstrong doped. However he never failed a drug test and according to ESPN radio has taken over 500. He dominated the sport for a decade and raised hundreds of millions of dollars to combat cancer. I still admire Lance for what he has done. The irony of it is cycling takes a back back back back back back page in any sports except when Lance's name comes up.

[5TimeWSChamps]

I lost all respect for Lance when, as soon as he beat cancer, he left his wife and shacked up with Sheryl Crow.

[hebroncougar]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Where's your sense of patriotism? An American went over to France and dominated their sporting event -- every government agency, from the White House to the local sewer districts, should be backing Lance Armstrong's wins 100%. Let the French whine about what a cheater he is.

I don't care if you have a sense of patriotism or not. The American sports scene is getting downright embarassing. Is there a sport, where we don't have a bunch of criminals or people who are taking HGH, or steroids? It's beyond the stage where it's a "joke". I wish baseball had the same policy; you get caught cheating, you are banned. Make no mistake about it, he's guilty, and his "I'm tired of defending myself" argument carries no weight. They evidently have the evidence, and I think the argument he's making should be, "I can't defend myself, because I'm caught".

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

Where's your sense of patriotism? An American went over to France and dominated their sporting event -- every government agency, from the White House to the local sewer districts, should be backing Lance Armstrong's wins 100%. Let the French whine about what a cheater he is.

Yes.. I agree with everything above.... even the little winking guy at the bottom

[NJReds]

So should cycling examine their testing process?

If Armstrong was tested hundreds of times randomly (blood, urine, etc.) since 1999 and never tested positive, but is now banned based on the testimony of cyclists who actually did get caught cheating, what good is the testing process that they have in place?