US Anti-Doping Agency charges Armstrong

[Peter Breuninger]

I heard not one dime went to "actual" cancer research. The foundation is all about awareness, not research. Trek severed ties today, BTW. The news is all on:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/

---...Steve, definitely the wrong thread!

* Lance Armstrong is a true hero! He did the right thing in stepping down; the true sign of a real man with integrity and dignity.

What did he contribute to our society at the end?
...Money for Cancer research, Cultural hero (with still a lot of supporters), realization of our true life's values, and much more.

What are we now truly learning?
...Rape is not so bad afterall (if it's legit!), cheating on your wife and lying ain't bad either in America, politics and religions are taboos, drugs are OK if controled and undetected, big money companies are the true leaders of education in our system, and that the more you are in the limelight the more you must be doing some' good! ...Or unless you are a hardcore ....
...With the news media's help. ...And the Internet. ...And the real life's truth. ...And the world we live in now.


*** Very very very rare that I use that last emoticon (perhaps the first time ever)!

 

[NorthStar]

I heard not one dime went to "actual" cancer research. The foundation is all about awareness, not research. Trek severed ties today, BTW. The news is all on:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/

-----Oh, ok Peter, I stand corrected.

 

[Gregadd]

I heard not one dime went to "actual" cancer research. The foundation is all about awareness, not research. Trek severed ties today, BTW. The news is all on:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/

Alright there is enough irumor and hearsay. Livestrong is an advocacy and Cancer support organization.

Here is the information.

 

[steve williams]

Lance Armstrong's Tour titles stripped

By Julien Pretot | Reuters

GENEVA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life on Monday after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against the American.
The long-awaited decision has left cycling facing its "greatest crisis" according to UCI president Pat McQuaid and has destroyed Armstrong's last hope of clearing his name.
"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. Lance Armstrong deserves to be forgotten in cyclling," McQuaid told a news conference as he outlined how cycling, long battered by doping problems for decades, would have to start all over again.
"The UCI wishes to begin that journey on that path forward today by confirming that it will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and that it will recognise the sanction that USADA has imposed.
"I was sickened by what I read in the USADA report."
On Oct. 10, USADA published a report into Armstrong which alleged the now-retired rider had been involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program that sport has ever seen".
Armstrong, 41, had previously elected not to contest USADA charges, prompting USADA to propose his punishment pending confirmation from cycling's world governing body.
Former Armstrong team mates at his U.S. Postal and Discovery Channel outfits, where he won his seven successive Tour titles from 1999 to 2005, testified against him and themselves and were given reduced bans by the American authorities.
"It wasn't until the intervention of federal agents...they called these riders in and they put down a gun and badge on the table in front of them and said 'you're now facing a grand jury you must tell the truth' that those riders broke down," McQuaid added.
Armstrong, widely accepted as one of the greatest cyclists of all time given he fought back from cancer to dominate the sport, has always denied doping and says he has never failed a doping test.
He said he had stopped contesting the charges after years of probes and rumours because "there comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough'".
WIDESPREAD DOPING
McQuaid, who faced criticism from several quarters for his and the UCI's handling of the affair, said he would not be resigning.
"Cycling has a future. This is not the first time cycling has reached a crossroads or that it has had to begin anew," he said in front of a packed room full of journalists and television cameras.
"When I took over (as president) in 2005 I made the fight against doping my priority. I acknowledged cycling had a culture of doping. Cycling has come a long way. I have no intention of resigning as president of the UCI.
"I am sorry we couldn't catch every damn one of them red handed and throw them out of the sport."
Other issues such as the potential re-awarding of Armstrong's Tour titles and the matter of prize money will be discussed by the UCI Management Committee on Friday.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme has said he believes no rider should inherit the titles given doping was so widespread among the peloton at the time but McQuaid made it clear that that decision rested with his organisation, not the Tour organisers.
USADA charged five people over the doping ring. Doctors Luis Garcia del Moral and Michele Ferrari and trainer Pepe Marti have been banned for life while Armstrong's mentor Johan Bruyneel has chosen to go to arbitration along with doctor Pedro Celaya.
Armstrong's last hope that the UCI might not ratify USADA's ruling sprang from long-running dispute between the two bodies over who should handle of the case.
In statements issued at the news conference, the UCI continued the feud with USADA despite ratifying its decision.
"Even apart from any discussion on jurisdiction, it would have been better that the evidence collected by USADA had been assessed by a neutral body or person who was not involved in collecting the evidence and prosecuting the defendant," it said.
"This would have avoided both the criticism of a witch hunt against Mr Armstrong and the criticism that the UCI had a conflict of interest."
The UCI also said it had dope tested Armstrong 218 times and the fact he never tested positive and "beat the system" means that other organisations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency should share the responsibility of accepting the results.
USADA CEO Travis Tygart later issued a statement approving of the UCI's action but warning that more needed to be done.
"Despite its prior opposition to USADA's investigation into doping on the U.S. Postal Service cycling team and within the sport, USADA is glad that the UCI finally reversed course in this case and has made the credible decision available to it," he said.
"This determination to uphold USADA's decision on the U.S. Postal Services case does not by itself clean up cycling nor does it ensure the sport has moved past the obstacles that allowed doping to flourish in the age of EPO and blood transfusions.
"For cycling to truly move forward and for the world to know what went on in cycling, it is essential that an independent and meaningful Truth and Reconciliation Commission be established so that the sport can fully unshackle itself from the past. There are many more details of doping that are hidden, many more doping doctors, and corrupt team directors and the omerta has not yet been fully broken."
In recent years the Tour de France and cycling had looked to be winning the battle against dopers but when asked if the sport would one day be free of the scourge, McQuaid answered: "No."
There was no immediate response from Armstrong or his lawyers.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did respond, amid suggestions that Armstrong could be stripped of his 2000 Sydney Olympics time trial bronze.
"We will study UCI's response to the USADA report and await to receive their full decision including further potential sanctions against Lance Armstrong as well as regarding any ramifications to his case," an IOC official told Reuters.
"The UCI has announced that its Management Committee will meet on Friday to decide on further action in the light of today's statement. It is good to see that all parties involved in this case are working together to tackle this issue."

 

[ack]

I am so glad to see all those crooks go down in flames, and I feel so bad for those who where denied all these victories.

 

[DaveyF]

Lance Armstrong's Tour titles stripped

By Julien Pretot | Reuters

GENEVA, Oct 22 (Reuters) -


Tour director Christian Prudhomme has said he believes no rider should inherit the titles given doping was so widespread among the peloton at the time but McQuaid made it clear that that decision rested with his organisation, not the Tour organisers.

."

Interesting comment. IF true, then perhaps Armstrong was the best rider regardless.IF all the riders were doped, then the best man still won, LOL. After all, what's wrong with a 'level' playing field.

 

[rockitman]

if he was a doper, they all were dopers...he was the best of the dopers !

 

[NorthStar]

---I think that professional cycling is a big joke, like professional ice skating.
...Hockey? Just look at the NHL right now!
Football? Remember not so long ago ....
Soccer? Boxing? ....And all the cheatings, deceptions, violence, bettings, organized crime, blah-blah-blah ...

 

[rbbert]

I am so glad to see all those crooks go down in flames, and I feel so bad for those who where denied all these victories.

The difficulty with this point of view is identifying who, if anyone, was actually denied victory (since so many did have failed tests, including almost all who shared the podium with Armstrong, and if we believe Armstrong doped despite several hundred passed tests and zero failed ones).

 

[rbbert]

---I think that professional cycling is a big joke, like professional ice skating.
...Hockey? Just look at the NHL right now!
Football? Remember not so long ago ....
Soccer? Boxing? ....And all the cheatings, deceptions, violence, bettings, organized crime, blah-blah-blah ...

Where there is money or fame (even notoriety) involved, history repeatedly shows many people have no limits in their pursuit of.

 

[MylesBAstor]

So maybe Lance will write a tell all book now.

 

[NorthStar]

---Of course; there's money to be made in writing a book.

 

[ack]

The difficulty with this point of view is identifying who, if anyone, was actually denied victory (since so many did have failed tests, including almost all who shared the podium with Armstrong, and if we believe Armstrong doped despite several hundred passed tests and zero failed ones).

I hear you, but do we also believe this has been a humongous set up? A conspiracy by the government, as if it has nothing else to do? It's not really a secret how to cheat those tests, is it?

 

[rbbert]

I hear you, but do we also believe this has been a humongous set up? A conspiracy by the government, as if it has nothing else to do? It's not really a secret how to cheat those tests, is it?

No, I'm saying that if Lance managed to cheat on a humongous scale and not get caught, there is no way to identify who (if indeed anyone) was competing and not cheating.

BTW, the government declined to prosecute, presumably because it felt that the evidence would not result in a conviction. The USADA is not part of nor affiliated with any national government.

 

[NorthStar]

---No matter how you cut it, it is very sad, I mean despicable!

 

[ack]

No, I'm saying that if Lance managed to cheat on a humongous scale and not get caught, there is no way to identify who (if indeed anyone) was competing and not cheating.

BTW, the government declined to prosecute, presumably because it felt that the evidence would not result in a conviction. The USADA is not part of nor affiliated with any national government.

Agreed that we don't know who wasn't doped. My conspiracy statement was referring to the following you said: and if we believe Armstrong doped despite several hundred passed tests and zero failed ones

 

[rockitman]

BTW, the government declined to prosecute, presumably because it felt that the evidence would not result in a conviction. The USADA is not part of nor affiliated with any national government.

USADA==Kangaroo Court if you ask me.

 

[rbbert]

Agreed that we don't who wasn't doped. My conspiracy statement was referring to the following you said: and if we believe Armstrong doped despite several hundred passed tests and zero failed ones

Again, that was to illustrate that we have no reasonable way to know who wasn't doping. Assuming the statement about Armstrong is true, nobody competing can prove they weren't doping. As far as the actual truth re: Armstrong, I just don't know. The testimony against him is worrisome but obviously not conclusive or the government would likely have proceeded to prosecute him, otherwise the time and resources spent in the investigation are just wasted.

 

[NorthStar]

USADA==Kangaroo Court if you ask me.

-----Care to share? :b

Again, that was to illustrate that we have no reasonable way to know who wasn't doping. Assuming the statement about Armstrong is true, nobody competing can prove they weren't doping.

-----...And assuming it's not true (why wouldn't it be true anyway?), what does that tell us?

 

[rbbert]

-----Care to share? :b



-----...And assuming it's not true (why wouldn't it be true anyway?), what does that tell us?

I'm not at all sure what you are asking here