Quote:
Originally Posted by TripletDaddy
I guess the timing of the Landis decision is still fresh in my mind, even though he is not racing this year. Didn't they hand down the final decision fairly recently?
I also find it hard to believe that Lance is clean. What do real cyclists such as you guys here on CG think about him? After 1 or 2 victories, did what he do cheapen the accomplishments of guys like LeMond, Indurain, Merckx, and the Frenchie (cannot remember his name but he won a bunch, it seems)?
After about his 4th win, I started to look at Lance like Barry Bonds....when he was at bat, yeah...cool to watch him hit it out of the park.....but you knew he was cheating. I just dont see how what Lance did is humanly possible without cheating.
|
Landins won in '06. The final (or almost final) appeal was denied a few weeks ago.
Lance's status has been discussed at great length here. Waters does a reasonable job of pointing out some fo the issues, although some of the evidence he cites (the former employee, for example) I do nto find very credible while he misses some fo the best stuff (the guys he beat like a drum such as Ullrich and Pantani were cheaters and talented cheaters at that, or the LeMonde leaks of the re-test of his blood from 1999).
Nothing can cheapen the accomplishments of Merckx. Nothing.
Lemond was very likely clean, at least by the standards of the day. Lemond has been very crtiical of Lance and others of the more modern era. Indruain, while never testing positive, was likely a cheater, too. He came from nowhere, he was absolutely dominant for 5 years, and then, all of a sudden, he fell of the face of the earth. No proof there, however. Hinault was also probably clean by the standrds of his day (as I have pointed out before, for many years amphetamines were legal; Tony Simpson died from amphetimines while climbing Ventoux in '68 or '69).
What Lance did is humanly possible. His physiology is unique in many ways and he is incrediblky well suited to ride a bike, from his VOx rate, to the thigh/calf length ratio, to his lung capcity. Moreover, he has always been a reamkble athlete. Even so, the circumstances would certainly allow a reasonable person to conlude that he was likely cheating.
If you want more background, search throught he forum.