Lance Armstrong wants forgiveness for doping scandal: ‘I won those races’

[faithanne]

It's a generalisation to say everyone expects them to go faster/stronger so they need to dope - remember those Chinese female swimmers in the 1990s who horrified everyone with their gigantic shoulders? The records were being smashed but there was a huge crackdown on doping after that and we were all warned not to expect any world records to fall because it was going to be more of a level playing field. I don't think it's harmed the sport of swimming at all (not here anyway). Even those super suits they were wearing were banned which affected everyone's times, but it hasn't hurt the sport either.

[BITTER]

He can’t take the exile anymore: “If I’m still playing golf five days a week at fifty, my head will explode.”

[Shinola]

Didn't read it all. But I will say that I've read a lot of journalism on the Lance debacle, and it's not true that everyone doped. Rather, all the racers were both directly and indirectly pressured to dope. Great cyclists who chose not to dope saw their years of training wasted and their racing career prospects gone, and if they dared utter a word of the truth, they suffered from being bullied and harassed by dopers like Lance. Grotesque.

[laynes]

If anyone is really that interested, the documentary "The Armstrong Lie" is excellent.

Description:

In 2009 Alex Gibney was hired to make a film about Lance Armstrong's comeback to cycling. The project was shelved when the doping scandal erupted, and re-opened after Armstrong's confession. This film picks up in 2013 and presents a riveting, insider's view of the unravelling of one of the most extraordinary stories in the history of sports. As Lance Armstrong himself says: "I didn't live a lot of lies, but I lived one big one."

It's hard to watch because he is a huge dick bag. But again, like I said..I'm sort of a Lance apologist. Mainly because I know firsthand how grueling this sport can be. (and I only race once day events. The TDF is 3 weeks!) You can argue that drugs made him win...but the fact is that before he was doping he was one of the hardest working and best cyclists out there. A natural, at 16 he was beating grown men in triathlons. He had more money and better access which was already an advantage..but that wasn't good enough so he resorted to drugs and blood transfusions. Which is insane considering he almost didn't survive cancer.

I agree, he should just shut up for a while. No one feels sorry for him and as Shinola mentioned, there are many cyclists who didn't dope or who don't dope who will be tainted by these recent scandals. And that's a real shame.

[BrickHouse]

I just can't get over that photo. His outside is finally starting to look like his insides.

[czb]

No one around Austin respected him over the years in terms of his personal wife, how he cheated on his women and treated them in general, including his wife, Kristin. That will leave a legacy for him for his children more than this doping experience. He is an ASS, has always been one, and in the end, his disgusting selfishness is what did him in and will continue to do so unless he is ever humbled. I agree that his narcissism will probably prevent any true humility from surfacing....just this crybaby shit about wanting to compete. If he was humble, he'd continue charity work, host events for those in need, etc....

i think in the article he is saying that he is not allowed to continue work with livestrong (the charity he set up).

It's a generalisation to say everyone expects them to go faster/stronger so they need to dope - remember those Chinese female swimmers in the 1990s who horrified everyone with their gigantic shoulders? The records were being smashed but there was a huge crackdown on doping after that and we were all warned not to expect any world records to fall because it was going to be more of a level playing field. I don't think it's harmed the sport of swimming at all (not here anyway). Even those super suits they were wearing were banned which affected everyone's times, but it hasn't hurt the sport either.

i agree with your point about the chinese swimmers, but that is a small sample compared with all the swimmers. so not sure how that compares with the cyclists. there are cyclists who do not dope, but i don't think they can compete with the large number who do. so the only way to even out the playing field is to go after ALL cyclists who dope.

Didn't read it all. But I will say that I've read a lot of journalism on the Lance debacle, and it's not true that everyone doped. Rather, all the racers were both directly and indirectly pressured to dope. Great cyclists who chose not to dope saw their years of training wasted and their racing career prospects gone, and if they dared utter a word of the truth, they suffered from being bullied and harassed by dopers like Lance. Grotesque.

did any cyclist who did not dope ever win the TdF? giro d'italia?

[laynes]

did any cyclist who did not dope ever win the TdF? giro d'italia?

Yes. Or at least they haven't been caught yet.

Originally Posted by Shinola
Didn't read it all. But I will say that I've read a lot of journalism on the Lance debacle, and it's not true that everyone doped. Rather, all the racers were both directly and indirectly pressured to dope. Great cyclists who chose not to dope saw their years of training wasted and their racing career prospects gone, and if they dared utter a word of the truth, they suffered from being bullied and harassed by dopers like Lance. Grotesque.

For the big stage races each team picks one cyclist that they think can win and every other cyclist on his team works to support him. For Lance it was often George Hincapie. And like I mentioned before, Lance's jersey's couldn't be given away because the top ten behind him were all doping too. I would guess the pressure to dope doesn't just come from the Cyclist. There is a lot of money in these races. So while yes, a lot of other cyclists worked hard and didn't dope..they weren't going to be good enough to be the "star" of their team anyway. Even if Lance and Contador didn't dope, you'd be hard pressed to find any other non- doping cyclists who could beat them. And they made plenty of money supporting their teams so I wouldn't say they wasted their racing careers.

Not saying it's right.. but it's how the game is played in that world unfortunately.

As for his appearance.. cyclists have great legs..but on top they look like 12 year old boys and that doesn't age well.

[czb]

...
For the big stage races each team picks one cyclist that they think can win and every other cyclist on his team works to support him. For Lance it was often George Hincapie. And like I mentioned before, Lance's jersey's couldn't be given away because the top ten behind him were all doping too. I would guess the pressure to dope doesn't just come from the Cyclist. There is a lot of money in these races. So while yes, a lot of other cyclists worked hard and didn't dope..they weren't going to be good enough to be the "star" of their team anyway. Even if Lance and Contador didn't dope, you'd be hard pressed to find any other non- doping cyclists who could beat them. And they made plenty of money supporting their teams so I wouldn't say they wasted their racing careers.

Not saying it's right.. but it's how the game is played in that world unfortunately.

....

yup.

we could go back to the old days of cycling. ever see those pics of eddie merckx and the other cyclists smoking while riding the TdF? none of those guys were doping ....

[Chalet]

I can't remember when he jumped from cool (at least in the press) Lance Armstrong to douchebag x 2? His divorce? Sheryl Crowe? Breaking up with Sheryl? It was before the doping scandal I'm sure.

[ConstanceSpry]

I couldn't read past "Lancerita"

[I'mNotBitter]

Good Lord, who took this picture? He looks like hell and from the angle it looks like his legs are bigger than his head.

Agreee. It was like he was trying to look sexy and just came out with scary instead.

[czb]

^^^ meh, he always looks like that ....

[rollo]

I think he's one of those 'Would you if he wasn't famous?' people.

[Novice]

I'm sort of a Lance apologist I guess. I'm big into cycling and no matter what, he's one of the best to ever race. They couldn't award those 7 TDF Jerseys to someone else because something like the top ten finishers behind him were all charged with doping as well.

The way I see it, Lance trained harder and cheated better than everyone else. He's an arrogant prick and hardly likable..but so are many other elite athletes.

And this is not an apples to apples comparison at all..but it's sad that he's banned from his sport but that dick dog killer Michael Vick is allowed back on the football field.

... and Roman Polanski is still making films..... etc etc etc...

I can't remember when he jumped from cool (at least in the press) Lance Armstrong to douchebag x 2? His divorce? Sheryl Crowe? Breaking up with Sheryl? It was before the doping scandal I'm sure.

He wasn't rally on my radar, but it was dumping SC when she had breast cancer for me.

[Bellatheball]

Thank goodness his ego is so healthy. If it weren't, I'd be worried about some of the answers given. He sounds like a guy who has been pushed to his limit.

Funny enough, he'll be in Iowa all next week. We have a non-competitive, annual ride across the state (well, it's more like a beer drinking, pie eating, all night party disguised as a bike ride) and he's taken part for the last 6-7 years. From what I've heard, people greet him with open arms.