Report clears Lance Armstrong on (French) doping allegations

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Independent Dutch investigators cleared Lance Armstrong of doping in the 1999 Tour de France on Wednesday, and blamed anti-doping authorities for misconduct in dealing with the Austin, Texas, cyclist. More.....

Uh oh. Despite his wearing spandex, a yellow bracelet, riding a bike, and being named Lance, he is some sort of macho here over here at FR. You will be crucified for suggesting anything negative about him.

Sounds like envy to me.

I don't think people consider Lance "macho", but rather one hellva of an athlete who deserves the respect he's earned.

It's wonderful to watch him constantly win in a limp-wristed country like France.

...and being named Lance...

BTW, what's your real name? Share it with me so I can judge on whether it's macho enough or not.

"I suppose that if I researched your posts there would be no statements not backed by 100% proof?"

Highly unlikely. Opinions scattered all over the place and hopefully stated as such: opinion. When making an important accusation against someone however, I THINK it best to be able to back it up with something beyond feelings or tingly spider senses.

To be fair, I've also spent some time on a bike and am amazed by the people that can REALLY push them. If Lance was 'juiced' I'd be VERY disappointed. However, I've read his books about how he trains and his battle with cancer. When he compares all the chemo drugs they put into him and how much he hated it to doing steroids, right or wrong, I buy into that. I've seen various groups try for years to get him. I understand that the Tour de France does quite a bit of testing on the riders and that Lance has not tested positive.

With all of the attention and all the money on the line, surely someone, somewhere could put forth more than a bald accusation. All I'm saying is that if you're going to make that accusation, you should be prepared to back it up with something.

"International Cycling uses the same rules as the Olympics does on athletes."

As I said in my post, there have been numerous investigations in the European press on cycling and how they use performance drugs. Maybe Lance is not doing this -- obviously, I don't know for sure. I'm just repeating what is being discussed in the European sports news. They have investigated this pretty extensively.

It works like this:
- after an event is over they notify the team that they are to be tested.
- the team is quarantined in their hotel rooms until they have been tested.
- the testing is done in a hotel room at their hotel or downstairs in the lobby
- each team member is brought down individually by the team manager (testing officials don't specify who gets tested in a particular order)
- The team manager brings the team members to be tested to the test area one at a time. He starts with the "ringers" -- ones which have not been competing in the last couple of days (i.e., the ones which haven't been given any performance drugs)
- while they start testing the "ringers" the team trainer or physician is busy administering drugs to flush the performance-enhancing stuff out of the top team members who have been taking the stuff. Some of the flushing drugs are pumped in by IV.
- By the time the "ringers" have finished testing the others have had time (about 30-45 minutes) to flush the stuff out of their system.

Some of the cyclists who have been caught with enhancers in their blood have told how the system works. They say that this is done not by individuals but on a team basis. Sure, the rules allow for a surprise knock on the door at 2 AM for a test but this is not how they do it during cycling competitions from what the European press reports.

It's just like the testing in the NFL. Does anyone really think that NFL linemen aren't using performance enhancers? For that matter, does anyone really believe that Olympic athletes don't use the stuff? Many of them do, that's why they get caught every so often. These things are hard to catch, mainly because the stuff gets flushed out of the body pretty quickly. The discussions about enhancers in the Olympics goes back to the late 60's when the Russians were suspected of doping the blood of some of their distance runners.

You can believe what you want to believe but pro sports (and even amateur, like college and high school) are full of this stuff. Maybe Lance doesn't take the stuff and doesn't need it, but it's endemic in the sports world so they all get lumped together in that sense.

BTW, I don't really care if these guys use this stuff or not. They are still incredible athletes to be able to do what they do, enhancement or not. If they choose to mess up their body in that way just for the glory of winning then I think they are crazy but it's their choice. It is a shame, though, to see teen-agers taking this stuff just so they can make the team, because it can have very bad side effects for young people.

And you KNOW this because....? What? As I said, it's been investigated pretty thoroughly in the European press.

You a Doctor? No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

You take the stuff yourself? No, I don't even know the name of the stuff or what to do with it. BTW, no one would accuse me of being an athlete.

Every been on a bike? Yes. But I never wear spandex.

Are you French? No, English and Scots ancestry.

You sling something like that you should be able to back it up, so where is your proof? I don't have proof, I've just been outside of the US in the last couple of years and and read about this in the European press. It's a huge deal over there. See post 29.

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