Lance Busted: But Is It Over?

So USADA has finally come through worth their promise to present their evidence against Lance, and laid it out for all to see. The scope of this entire proceeding is so big, no one of us really understand how far reaching the implications could be. There’s also so much to sift through in the 1000 page report, that I suspect few people will take the time – (or have the interest) to read it, and make a just measure of it all on your own ‘scale of justice’.

But that won’t stop the opinions from launching into cyberspace, and some while some will be more well-reasoned than others, there’s no denying the emotional scale of this case.

As a member of the press corps, we have a certain responsibility to present a well-balanced view of any issue so reader can make up their own minds. Of course this rarely happens, and the press is as guilty of manipulating public opinion as the USADA says Lance is of manipulating his own blood values. (Yes, I admit we’re guilty of trying to manipulate you readers into believing PEZ is THE best cycling website out there – !)

The beauty / danger of the internet, is that anyone with an opinion and an internet connection can effectively become a member of the ‘press corps’ – expressing views, ideas, and influencing the opinions of others. Like it or not, that’s the world we live in, same as the one that allows corruption at the highest levels of sport, business, government, and the rest.

So with that in mind, let’s open the discussion and see you readers’ think of it all.

Send us your comments to [email protected]

I’ll get the ball started….

PEZ Sez:
It’s down to the individual to decide how Lance – and the sport – will be remembered – as the biggest cheater in the history of cycling, as a saviour to thousands who’s lives have been touched by cancer, or something else…

Add to that so many of his former team mates admitting to doping, that even for the most optimistically blind observer, it’s impossible to see the sport through rose colored glasses any more.

For me, it’s impossible to read through the evidence (ie: Levi Leipheimer’s sworn affidavit here) and remain a passive observer. The emotional aspect is impossible to ignore.

While I struggle to make sense of my feelings about the riders involved, and the sport in general, it’s clear that cycling has taken another huge kick in the gut – sadly from the guys on the inside. It’s too bad that other sports don’t test their players with the stringency that cycling does, or that mainstream media reports mostly the attention grabbing headlines, so often out of context, without that balanced view of what cycling is doing to send forth a new generation of riders who choose to ride clean.

Cycling will survive, but how many generations will it take before this is behind us… I just hope I’m around to see it.

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Dave Aldersbaes Sez: I like Lance’s New York Yankees reference in the sense that, much like the Yanks went out and bought the best players, US Postal bought not only the best talent, but the best doctor, locking Ferrari into an exclusive contract. This to me negates the “level playing field” argument to some degree. It also puts a finer point on Lance’s all around ruthless nature, no crime in and of itself, but exemplary of the lengths he and Johan were willing to go through to succeed. Be damned the young kids waffling on the idea, here, stick this in your arm.

The whole sport was rife with it, everyone knows that. I also cannot buy the “look at other sports, wish they tested as much” because although cycling was (note: was) claiming to do more in testing, they also were complicit in protecting the cash cows, and tossing a few lower ranked nobodies under the bus willy nilly. Except of course for Floyd and Tyler, whose downfall seems to have been facilitated in part by their former boss, Mr. Lance Armstrong.

Personally I am just hoping that the heads of this era’s hydra are severed and the sport is allowed to regain a position of respect. Johan, Lance, Pat, Hein, and the others – need to go. The UCI either overhauls are is dissolved, but this is a much bigger elephant, not to be eaten in one bite.

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Alastair Hamilton Sez: I guess in the end “no surprise” and the way it all came out was the way even Lance must have expected it too.

Did he say to George “et tu, Brute!” and to Floyd “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me” and to all pros of that time “let he who is without sin, cast the first stone”? Lance would be saying to his team mates (in a Carry-On film style) “infamy, infamy…they’ve all got it in for me!”

I think that the bullying and coercion from Armstrong and Bruyneel is the worst point, similar to the drug dealer at the school gates. But what about the money they have amassed on the back of others? Like any drug dealer they should be stripped of their ill gotten gains.

• Now let’s hear what you readers have to say:
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