His admission makes it all the more crazy that he spent $2 million defending himself when he knew the test results were correct.
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Landis tests positive for drugs
- Thread starter Mitthrawnuruodo
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kind of.
he had two rationales for this defense: first, that the results are unreliable. if he could make this line stick, than his knowing of his guilt would be irrelevant. second, that he actually didn't do the testosterone.
Even in the current declarations, he still holds that he didn't take testosterone in that specific circumstance (and many argued at the time that it wouldn't make sense from a technical/scientific perspective). he did take other stuff then, and did take testosterone in other occasions but not then. Or so he claims.
If his claims are true (and at this point it's hard to say, but i am incline to believe he is telling what he knows), then the most intriguing explanation i heard is that when blood-doping (which he admits to) he mistakenly used one of the testosterone-spiked blood bags from his winter training.
don't know if it is true, but ultimate poetic justice, i suppose.
as they say, karma is a bitch.
Armstrong has never officially failed a drug test (and never unofficially failed one either as far as I'm aware). Lots of people have thrown doping accusations at him over the years but nothing has ever been proven. It's a natural question, seeing as so many other top riders were doping, but Armstrong remains innocent.
The sad thing here is that if Armstrong is indeed clean, he is probably one of very few clean cyclists to have won a major tournament in years.
Armstrong failed a test in 1999. He claimed he was using a cream for saddle sore and this was accepted by the relevant authorities.
So technically he has failed a test.
I thought this was an interesting article on the subject:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052004993.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052004993.html
Good article.
I think the ultimate conclusion is, Landis is a proven liar, so one has to be careful listening to what he says. And Armstrong has been unsuccessfully attacked many times - so either he's clean or cheating on a totally different paradigm.
I think the ultimate conclusion is, Landis is a proven liar, so one has to be careful listening to what he says. And Armstrong has been unsuccessfully attacked many times - so either he's clean or cheating on a totally different paradigm.
i think it's the second, but i have expressed my opinion on the subject many times before (including in this thread pre-resurrection).
i just find a tad hard to believe he would be that dominating for that long being the only one clean cyclist, when everyone else (every. single. one), including his teammates in multiple teams, was doping.
call me a cynic.
I agree that it raises questions. However, to be fair to Armstrong, his superhuman training regimens are well known, as are his and his team's incredibly meticulous preparation. And many have commented that he is an extremely natuarally gifted athlete. So if anyone could beat a juiced peloton without doping it would be him, one would think.
I don't think it's impossible that he's clean, and I certainly hope he is. But more and more people are becoming cynical about it. The sad part about it is, if Armstrong is innocent it's not like it's possible for him to prove that any more than he has done already.
I'm still waiting for Lance to be caught. 
As much as I want to like him, there seems to be too many questions about him and his team. I know he's passed a ton of tests, but we've all seen them beat before through various deceptions. I'm glad Landis came out ala Conseco.
As much as I want to like him, there seems to be too many questions about him and his team. I know he's passed a ton of tests, but we've all seen them beat before through various deceptions. I'm glad Landis came out ala Conseco.This.
While part of me wants to be a cynic, I really do think the man has been and will be clean.
Aside from the typical motive differences, he seems to be set apart from his peers not only in physical stamina but in mental approach. Also, had he been doping, why did he do so poorly on his return to the sport?
There's also certain scientific facts that have to be understood-- Lance really is different from most (regular people) physiologically. Case in point is the following study:
Easier Reading:
National Geographic
Literature:
http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/98/6/2191
Peer Review/Response:
http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/99/4/1630
He really had no choice - he lost all his legal battles and his cycling career is in tatters.
I can't give Landis any "credit". He has only come clean because he was caught, and now he's trying to take other people down with him. He might be telling the truth now - or not. But I don't trust him.
The same as with politicians, etc. But I like these situations because the person involved doesn't have a career anymore and is going to rat out everyone else who hasn't been caught yet.
Unfortunately, Landis has nothing to gain telling the truth, except perhaps a shred of dignity. But if he really has evidence against people, he's better off telling the authorities rather than smearing it all over the media. This smacks more of revenge or petulance.
TBO, I don't think an-y-one believes Armstrong was clean. Superhuman training regimes... sure. But to be able to keep up with those kind of training regimes, you had to use stimuli.
In this sport it has been so long all about who got caught. It wouldn't surprise me that (as this thread has been resurrected) a few years ago every professional cyclist used some form of doping... either during training before the Le Tour, or during such an event, and that it was that team's challenge to make sure the rider simply didn't get caught.
And, yes, of course.... the whole team management knew about it.
If a rider got caught the deal was that the team and team management would never be compromised.
So many confessions (think about the good ol' T-Mobile team), so many (proven of not) tales of other retired riders about how everyone had to use some sort of stimulant.
We all like heroes.
But, Armstrong is human. He was a super athlete, yes. But if you consider how many fellow über talented super-riders used dope in his era.... come on. Get real.
I'm not quite as cynical as that. Yet.
I agree with you though, the circumstantial evidence strongly points towards a situation where nearly every cyclist in major races was doping at one point. And the fact of the matter is, Lance Armstrong dominated races in which we now know many, if not most (or essentially all?) of his competitors were using performance enhancing drugs. That certainly makes him a natural target for suspicion.
I still hope he was/is clean. Nothing's been proven, but everyone is now wondering how he won if he was clean, and if he wasn't, how did he get away with it?
and a new low for cycling might have been reached: apparently some professional riders use a motorized "assistance" during races.
ttp://www.cyclingnews.com/news/italian-judge-opens-investigation-into-motorised-bikes
ttp://www.cyclingnews.com/news/italian-judge-opens-investigation-into-motorised-bikes
That is unbelievable... at first I thought of an April fools....
How the h*ll can Cycling as a sport survive?? How many riders have used this?
Just looked at the YouTube movie mentioned.
Still can't believe it...
How the h*ll can Cycling as a sport survive?? How many riders have used this?
Just looked at the YouTube movie mentioned.
Still can't believe it...
I know. Almost unbelievable.
I say allow it, allow certain drugs and call it Super Cycling.
Then the real cyclists can get on with the pure sport.
I say allow it, allow certain drugs and call it Super Cycling.
Then the real cyclists can get on with the pure sport.
Here's a movie with English subtitles
I am reading a couple of Dutch forums about this... people just can't believe it..
It all seems too simple. How can you not get caught? The bikes the riders ride on must have some form of technical checkup, surely. They have to be weighed anyway. Can something as outrageous as this really slip through unnoticed..??
I am reading a couple of Dutch forums about this... people just can't believe it..
It all seems too simple. How can you not get caught? The bikes the riders ride on must have some form of technical checkup, surely. They have to be weighed anyway. Can something as outrageous as this really slip through unnoticed..??
is there any speculation on who might have been using this other than the Swiss guy?
here is when:
- to become an international professional cyclist you must enroll in a 'program' that takes sample every week year around, in addition to the normal race tests.
- samples are tested immediately, and part of the samples are re-tested after 5 years to allow detection technology to catch up with dopers
- 50% of earnings are held up in an escrow fund and are released only after the 5-year test is passed
- failing of a test of current or archived samples are met with stiff and increasing penalties, both in terms of suspension from racing and monetary.
the motor thing however is on a completely different level. it's just cheating like taking the subway to finish a marathon.
if this was proven, cancellara (or whoever did it) should be banned for life and the team disbanded. end of story.
I agree with Don't Panic.
This story still baffles me....
It's like a runner's shoe which uses mechanised springs under the heel... or a swimmer with a small propeller in his trunks...
This kind of cheating is too much... If this really has happened it must be the final nail in de coffin of cycling.
No one really believes that a Tour winner can do it without doping. But there is a fine line between vitamins, "better" food, energy drinks, a drug against the common cold, and performance enhancing drugs.
I.e. the misusage of drugs is dependent on what's illegal and what's not.
But, mechanical help.... un-be-liev-a-ble....
This story still baffles me....
It's like a runner's shoe which uses mechanised springs under the heel... or a swimmer with a small propeller in his trunks...
This kind of cheating is too much... If this really has happened it must be the final nail in de coffin of cycling.
No one really believes that a Tour winner can do it without doping. But there is a fine line between vitamins, "better" food, energy drinks, a drug against the common cold, and performance enhancing drugs.
I.e. the misusage of drugs is dependent on what's illegal and what's not.
But, mechanical help.... un-be-liev-a-ble....