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Filed under: Cycling, Cyclopath, Lance Armstrong, Oprah

97 comments

“I view this situation as one big lie.”

It was about the truth

“It’s just this mythic perfect story and that just wasn’t true.” It just wasn’t true. After a decade of denials and threats to critics, Lance Armstrong has confessed, in a lengthy interview with Oprah Winfrey.

In 2000, Armstrong - off the back of Tour De France victory - penned the book, It’s Not About The Bike: My Journey Back to Life, co-authored by a US journalist.

The book said:

“I read that I flew up the mountains of France. But you don’t fly up a mountain, you struggle slowly and painfully, and maybe, just maybe, you get to the top ahead of everybody else.”

Actually, you get to the top ahead of everybody else when you’ve blood doped. When you’ve taken EPO. Also cortisone, Human Growth Hormone and testosterone. He confessed to using all of these. The latter of which he said in the interview he had bizarrely attempted to justify to himself, with the excuse that having lost a testicle to cancer, “surely I’m running low”.

He was doped up in each of his seven victorious Tours. But that wasn’t his real crime.

That was the hero myth he built up around himself. With his book, with his victories, with his cancer story, even with his charity.

With his bullying. His relentless pursuit of his critics, and whistleblowers, who even came close to revealing the truth. Journalists, like The Sunday Times’ David Walsh, who have been vindicated after 13 years of doubt.

So many of us bought into the myth.

The myth that kept so many of us going back and following his progress after midnight on SBS.

The myth that got us tuning into Le Tour in the early hours of the morning to watch Lance and hear Phil Liggett’s commentary. He seemed so bloody heroic when he cut through that field in 2003 after he’d been forced off the track by a crash.

</p><p>

In the interview, Armstrong apologised to those he had hurt.

But why should any of us believe him now?

More on Armstrong: Cyclopath - Does Lance need help?

Even while confessing, he said he probably wouldn’t be sitting down and talking about the deception if he hadn’t tried to come back to cycling in 2009.

No one flies up mountains. It would have been better for those of us who grew up with Armstrong as a hero to have idolised somebody with the capacity to tell the truth. A real mark of a hero.

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97 comments

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- stephen says:
  
  06:29pm | 19/01/13
  
  According to Phil Liggett in the Courier Mail today, Alberto Contador was innocent and should never have been sanctioned.
  
  I’ll bet that that’s wrong.
  Contador is, however, probably the best cyclist from the past 20 years.
  
  Now, has anyone thought to ask Miguel Indurain where he got his legs from ?
  
  Reply
- Costanza says:
  
  04:41pm | 19/01/13
  
  But not everyone else was doing it, that’s just another lie to justify himself. Half the podium are still clean from the lance era and no doubt many up the back were clean which is why they were up the back. Its the same as saying it’s not a lie if you believe it’s true. It’s obvious there were still plenty of stretches of the truth in that interview.
  
  Reply
- john says:
  
  03:20pm | 19/01/13
  
  The footnote to all this is that he created a generation of people that took an interest in cycling, whether it be as a participant or sitting in front of the TV, It’s a pitty that for all the good the dream is now tainted. I still ride my bike for the solitude it gives me.
  
  Reply
- Rubber Monkey says:
  
  01:59pm | 19/01/13
  
  Armstrong has nothing to worry about, his future is safe. Andrew Johns confessed to drug taking and ducking the testing regime, 2 years later he’s in the NRL Hall of Fame.
  
  Reply
Ladyjane says:

03:33pm | 19/01/13

Don’t confuse Australia with the US. Two very different animals.
- What you didn't see.... says:
  
  10:54am | 19/01/13
  
  What they didn’t show during the interview….
  
  Oprah: I have some simple questions requiring a Yes or No answer
  
  Armstrong: OK
  
  Oprah: Did you take drugs while on the Moon?
  
  Armstrong: (with a puzzled look on his face) – No?
  
  Oprah: Did you take EPO while playing the trumpet?
  
  Armstrong: No!
  
  Oprah: You keep denying taking drugs – why should we believe you?
  
  Armstrong: Because I used to ride a bike, and I think you have me confus……
  
  Oprah: So have you ridden a bike on the Moon?
  
  Armstrong: I give up……..
  
  Oprah: I can announce now – we are all going to Aus-tra-lia !!!
  
  Reply
- Harquebus says:
  
  10:52am | 19/01/13
  
  It’s about the money. To all those sports fans out there. Suckers!
  
  Reply
- youdy beaudy says:
  
  10:49am | 19/01/13
  
  Well the thing is that he passed all the tests. So, to my way of thinking if that happened then there must have been doctors and others colluding with him. That’s really the only answer one could come up with.
  
  I was a member of the only Gym on the Gold coast back in the 70s and would pump the heavy iron 4 times a week. Long sessions lasting 4hours, hard training. I was only of a small build but became very strong. 200 pound dead lifts, 10 sets of 10 per night and the same with everything else. Curl 85 lb, 100 times a session. You have to be very strong to do that. I developed a lot of strength thru power exercising. In those days we lifted the heavy bars and sometimes we would lift the olympic bars. I gave it up because the blokes turned up and would pinch all the small bars for themselves and it was hard to train.
  
  One member won a large contest. He started using horse or pig steroids which had just started to become the fashon. They would get them from the Vets. I think it was illegal, not sure. However this particular bloke pumped himself in an amazingly short period of time. Muscles and definition amazing. He entered the Mr Queensland Title and won, of course. I was too lightly built to enter but was stronger physically than many who trained.
  
  That year Arnold came over from the States with Franco Columbo to do a posing session at that show. Arnold and Franco were met at the Airport and given the keys to the City. They were fantastic. Their bodies were perfect in every way. Arnold may have been using steroids, he was huge. 28 inch biceps. He was so big that his thighs would touch when he walked. A giant of a man, only young then and a hell of a nice person. Both Atheletes were built physically the same and were remarkable. We were blown away.
  
  But, then steroids came more into use until they banned them. They have a very strong effect on the personalities of the people who use them. Shrinking of testes etc. Some bodybuilders and no doubt others who use get very agressive which is probably why Armstong was like that bullying and so on.
  
  When one looks at an American or other magazine showing abnormal muscle tone and size on bodybuilders know that they use steroids to get the size. It is not natural and many are narcissistic by nature. Later in life like Arnie they can get heart problems. So, really it is a short term gain and adulation but not long term with the health thingy.
  
  Drugs are in sport so some officials must turn a blind eye. Some blame has to be proportioned to them as well as they are the ones who let the atheletes compete. Everyone would know if cyclists were using drugs to enhance performance, everyone would know in other sports as well. People are prepared to say nothing, so, that’s the way it is and will be. So, it’s just not Armstrong is it.?
  
  Reply
- kevin says:
  
  10:37am | 19/01/13
  
  The real cheats are the cycling authorities.
  they knew about this and charged him $100k “donation” in 2002 to cover up a positive test in 2001.
  Who will pursue these people?
  
  Reply
- stephen says:
  
  09:56am | 19/01/13
  
  He was sincere when he confessed to Oprah.
  He wasn’t tearful or seemingly riddled with guilt, because that is the kind of person he is : unemotional, methodical, and businesslike ... and he is such a person in all aspects of his life.
  
  He is like a lot of people we look up to.
  Armstrong played a role - that of cyclist - to get another part of life that would otherwise have been out of bounds to him, namely money and respect.
  He was a good rider, but it wasn’t natural for him, and it was a means to his primary goal.
  Our Olympic swimmers are the same.
  So is, say, Carl Sagan, the astronomer, who wanted to sit in a chair in front of the cameras and twang on about the riddles of the universe.
  Paul Newman was, too.
  A b grade actor who chose his roles carefully, and really wanted to race cars and get photographed in his kitchen wearing loafers.
  
  Most of our stars are playing a role - ‘All the world’s a stage’ did I hear you say ? - and Armstrong’s real crime was was not making this distinction.
  He wasn’t a natural talent, where the technique of racing, the pride in its traditions, the feeling of being a part of the forward rush within the peleton, was enough to remain in the memory, to kill any of the mercenary wants that inhabit so many other pursuits.
  He had pride, to be sure, but it turned to vanity and cruelty when he knew he could play that role, and no one was the wiser.
  
  He is only to blame, surely, but in each of us, we also play roles, and it is very hard to ‘know thyself’ when everything written, sung, and drawn from the past that can help us, is ignored.
  
  Reply
- Not much of a surprise says:
  
  09:04am | 19/01/13
  
  The only surprise about this is…....that people are surprised. Anybody who knows anything about high level elite sport knows that drugs are rampant. It is like bodybuilding…..lets conveniently ignore the elephant in the room. The true figures of elite athletes that have used drugs in the off season to boost performance, and use all the way to the main event is a dirty little secret that we really do know, but we refuse to let ourselves believe. The fact is that the scientists create the drugs ahead of the testers. The new form of the drugs that either boost performance, or flushes/masks the use of the drugs are on the market several years before they are even on the radar of the testers.
  
  The only thing of interest in this whole debacle is that it is finally in the open that he doped HEAVILY and he was never caught. He was busted on testimony, but was never caught!!!
  
  Reply
- Robert S McCormick says:
  
  08:53am | 19/01/13
  
  I also wonder what his fellow cyclists from Australia all of whom have been loud in their unstinting support of Armstrong feel now. One, who, right up until that staged, alleged, interview, was of the loudest in his support has now sort of backed away from his earlier stance & he was every bit as unconvincing as both Armstrong & Winfrey were.
  What people don’t seem to have grasped yet is the effect this is going to have on ALL “Elite Sportspeople”, Male or Female, Cyclists, Runners, Rowers, Gymnasts, Shot Put & Hammer Throw, Boxers, High & Long Jumpers, Swimmers etc. You name them they will all be affected.
  Why?
  Because Armstrong got away with his cheating for so long.
  Sadly, for a long time to come whenever one of these Sportspeople does his/her Personal Best, Sets a New World or Olympic Record, Beats or Equals an existing one, Rightly or Wrongly this question will be asked:
  “Did he/she do this without the help of PEDs, Bloods, Testosterone etc.?”
  That is the tragedy Armstrong has brought to all.
  For him to now claim that he took Testosterone because he ‘bizarrely thought because of losing one testicle he might be running low” is sheer fantasy.
  If he thought that why did he not go to a real doctor & have his Testosterone Level checked out?
  Another interesting issue is the one about that Spanish cyclist, Contadour or whatever. Why has he not been given a Life Ban? Why have the Spanish Authorities let him off?
  Yes, the East Germans, the Russians, Chinese, other Americans, British, French - all of them have deliberately cheated on a Team basis or individually. They, their Governments & Sports Officials have always answered those claims with: “Prove it!!”
  After all Armstrong got away with it for years. His Government & Sports Officials kept denying it.
  Other alleged Sports Elite have competed in the Olympics & got caught we don’t see the IOC banning their sports from the Olympics do we?
  Could it be that they know that if they did the Olympics would cease to exist for there would be no Sports unaffected?
  Of course they won’t do anything of the sort for there is far too much money to be made out of what has become one of the biggest con-tricks of all time,
  
  Reply
- Justme says:
  
  08:13am | 19/01/13
  
  To all those who say “so what, everyone else was doing it too”, please consider that no one else was going around suing (for ridiculous career ending amounts of money) any reporter or publication who dared to say so.
  
  The accolades, sponsorship money etc were also going to other doping cheats, and frankly, buyer beware on the part of the sponsors. But court settlements or defamation payouts? By his own admission these were gained under false pretenses so he should now be open to legal action to recoup them
  
  And Phil Liggett made an interesting point. He did not fail tests even when he was actively doping. So who, and where, were his conspirators on the testing end of things? Someone had to be on his payroll.
  
  Reply
- Linda says:
  
  07:24am | 19/01/13
  
  He had to look up CHEAT in the dictionary. What planet is this guy on?
  
  Reply
- Terribla says:
  
  07:14am | 19/01/13
  
  That bike is really bad
  
  Reply
- Andrew says:
  
  06:28pm | 18/01/13
  
  I don’t think he cheated and i think the Oprah video is a total fake, like the moon landings and Twin towers. I mean…come on no-one could interview that badly for real.
  
  Reply
- jo says:
  
  06:00pm | 18/01/13
  
  What gets me is we all know doping was huge in cycling and tour de France and all seem to blame one guy. All including team mates had options 1 join him 2 join another team 3 bloke whistle. None did it until offered deals for testimony against Armstrong. Yes he is a disgrace a freud and deserved to go down. But remember doctors, managers, team mates, suppliers all had to be in it as well. This whole thing where team mates doped and said only did it cuz he was a bully is crap, everyone had a choice the same as he did. Cycling has always been corrupt like the Chinese swim team and Germans spots teams ect. He could not pull it off without major help and where are they all now?
  
  Reply
marley says:

07:11am | 19/01/13

Most of them are serving bans.
- Maccachick says:
  
  05:52pm | 18/01/13
  
  Started taking drugs before his cancer diagnosis ??? Was that what caused it ? If so, he deserved it. And then he has the nerve to start a Foundation to help prevent cancer, and take how many millions of dollars from the public. He’s not sorry - he’s just sorry he got caught.
  
  Reply
- MP says:
  
  05:46pm | 18/01/13
  
  He can apologise to fellow racers and fans. He can pay back all the money, but there’s no way all the accolades can be paid back.
  
  All the compliments, all the glory, and all the love, this dishonest d/head was lavished with can never be returned. Makes you wonder what sort of low-life could keep taking the glory knowing what he knew.
  
  I
  
  Reply
- Ross says:
  
  05:31pm | 18/01/13
  
  Makes you wonder whether the tests were negative, or whether the tests were just results were never truly exposed? And to the question of fraud, well he (and many others) obtained benefits through knowingly being deceptive. Depending on which jurisdiction he may face being charged in (if prosecutors do proceed), there is a good chance he will be found guilty of fraud. Then there will also be the whole perjury issue which could turn him into someone’s prison “buddy”.
  
  Reply
- Don says:
  
  04:50pm | 18/01/13
  
  It’s those ridiculously small bicycle seats that made him do it. Seriously, can’t they make them at least a bit more comfy? Explains the cancer at least, that one was probably getting most of the chafing.
  
  Reply
Cry in my Gin says:

01:02pm | 19/01/13

Brings to mind Mr Garrisons IT bike.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JscQXDsSgco
pa_kelvin says:

06:53pm | 18/01/13

Seats??? Seats? I didn’t know they used seats, I thought there were no seats so that you didn’t slide forward or back….
- Jane says:
  
  04:49pm | 18/01/13
  
  I think he’s even getting off on being interviewed by Oprah. He’s taking arrogance to a new level.
  
  Reply
- Bill says:
  
  04:43pm | 18/01/13
  
  This guy is unbelievable. He still thinks he’s done nothing wrong! OMG
  He’s drowning in his own ego and arrogance.
  
  Reply
- Julia says:
  
  04:40pm | 18/01/13
  
  It’s Abbotts fault.
  
  Reply
- jon says:
  
  03:31pm | 18/01/13
  
  I only bought a Trek because Lance was winning on one. Now I find it was about the drugs and not about the bike. I’m shocked and dismayed. I wonder whether they’ll give me a refund. hey, all you other trek owners how about a class action.
  
  Reply
- matt says:
  
  03:19pm | 18/01/13
  
  There is no cyclist in the tour today who is not on drugs. It’s too necessary to compete. any who arent doping are way, way down the bottom of the list.
  He raced, he won. his job was to ride a bicycle fast and pass blood tests. he did. who cares, everyone else on the podium was doping as well.
  
  Reply
I hate pies says:

02:55pm | 19/01/13

If ypu look at the average speeds thayre now riding compared to the mid nineties i think youll find that thayve slowed down a lot. They used to all be on the gear, but not anymore.
Ripa says:

09:33am | 19/01/13

Maybe the next question is, did the sponsors know/suspect he was doping? did the ICU know/suspect.
Duh says:

04:11pm | 18/01/13

I’d say the ones who weren’t on the podium because they were clean care.
Lucas says:

03:51pm | 18/01/13

He’s an arrogant lying cheat! Who cares? The supporters, the sponsors and the honest riders he claims to have beat!
He’s lived a life of privilege on a lie! Disgusting human being!
His attude of oh well they were all doing it doesn’t cut it!
- AdamC says:
  
  03:15pm | 18/01/13
  
  I haven’t been able to watch the interview. I have only seen the blog updates online. My impression is that he seems to have copped to the cheating, but also done a bit of ‘poor me’ blame shifting. In short, he pretty much did what everyone expected.
  
  At least now he has confessed his sins.
  
  Reply
AdamC says:

01:46pm | 19/01/13

I found the second part of the interview a little more interesting. Armstrong still seems very much in the ‘sorry I got caught’ frame of mind. When Oprah asked him about the emotions he was feeling, I was shocked that he seemed to need to think about it. I can think of some, Lance. Shame. Regret. Guilt.

It was only later, when talking about his family, that he seemed genuinely and clearly contrite. I suspect, on one level, he is still rationalising his conduct. There is some basis for that. After all, had he not been prepared to dope, he probably would not have won all those titles. Some other cheat would have.
Gavin says:

04:11pm | 18/01/13

Spot on Adam. I sat thru all 20 minutes of lame questions and 40 minutes of breaks - tedious doesn’ t come close. He said absolutely nothing we didn’t already know from USADA, Hamilton and Landis. If you read ‘It’snot about the bike” and thought to yourself, “what an arrogant prick “then there is no need to watch any of it.
- Hartz says:
  
  03:01pm | 18/01/13
  
  People at all levels (from other cyclists to team management) knew he was doing it and it took this long to come out…. C’mon people, the entire sport is corrupt, and why is everyone surprised - you offer millions of dollars as an incentive and then wonder why people cheat.. Now i’ve got to hear about this crap on every channel for the next few weeks. I’ve never really understood the whole sports stars as role models thing anyway.
  
  Reply
Ladyjane says:

06:42pm | 18/01/13

It didn’t take ‘this long’ to come out. People blew the whistle on him years ago but he used his power to sue, threaten and intimidate them and destroy their lives.

I don’t understand treating sports stars as heroes either. Many are in it for the considerable financial rewards they can gain from their talent. Lance is just one of the many admired sports stars who are far from admirable as human beings.
- brett says:
  
  03:01pm | 18/01/13
  
  Everyone in Tour De France used an still uses drugs TRUE FACT
  
  Reply
NSS says:

04:26pm | 18/01/13

OK, I’ll bite. Please give me an example of an untrue fact.

PS. It’s called a tautology. Look it up.
- Zack says:
  
  02:35pm | 18/01/13
  
  The article doesn’t actually analyse the situation. Just the same news points and cliches.
  
  Reply
- Ride on the cycle path! says:
  
  02:28pm | 18/01/13
  
  !I’ve never met a cyclist that wasn’t an overly aggressive creep.
  
  It’s just that I don’t know what came first - were they overly aggressive creeps who were attracted to cycling, or were they normal people who became overly aggressive creeps when they started to cycle?
  
  I’m sure the political correctness crew will demand I retract my observations ...
  
  Reply
PW says:

06:58pm | 19/01/13

Those who think they own the road make it so hard for those of us who actually do.
Steve says:

04:22pm | 19/01/13

Some of the comments about cyclists thinking they rule the road and thinking they’re above the road are true to a certain extent. Though cyclists are nothing compared to motor cyclists in that regard.
PW says:

02:35pm | 19/01/13

Some people just cannot help themselves.

A few things we can all be sure of. When the very last drop of oil has been consumed, there will still be bicycles, which will then inherit what remains of the roads and the riders of which will surely whinge about having to share the roads with lesser conveyances.
DaveO says:

10:47am | 19/01/13

@ ramases, so should my 5yr old son also pay rego on his bike too. I pay registration for two cars and motorbike already, plus insurance.
Sure there are some agressive cyclists, but I guarantee they are out-numbered 10 to 1 by agressive drivers. Maybe they are seen as agressive because they are trying to exhibit a presence on the road rather than risk being side swiped by impatient drivers when riding in the gutter.
luke r says:

08:37am | 19/01/13

I have to garee with you. When was the last time you saw a cyclist obey the road rules, much less stop at a red light or stop sign? Arrogance comes with cycling.
ramases says:

07:19am | 19/01/13

Have to agree to a point and there’s also this inbuilt thinking that they rule the road. Now I don’t know about anybody else but if they use the road they should pay the same as a motorist, obey the rules and that means all the rules. The also expect the tax payer to pay for their bike paths as well and that’s another thing registration of bikes would cover, what’s good for the motorists is good for the cyclist. User pays!!!!
PoGo says:

04:36pm | 18/01/13

Neither, they are normal people that have to suffer two basic issues 1) They need to be constantly on guard from ignorant and incompetent motorists [How many motorists have been killed by cyclists?] 2) They have to withstand the prejudices of people who are more concerned with their own impatience than they are about the “real” road rules. For this reason you have probably met a number of non-agressive non-creepy cyclists, but they keep their exercise regime to themselves to prevent the usual rhetoric and hypocracy.
St. Michael says:

04:13pm | 18/01/13

Comes from all the overly aggressive car drivers who try to run down cyclists on the road. Having that done to you on a daily basis will make anyone into an overly aggressive creep.
- Brando says:
  
  02:17pm | 18/01/13
  
  I can’t believe the amount of press about a bloke in a sport nobody in Australia really gives a crap about.
  
  Am I really the only Australian who couldn’t care less if Lance Armstrong was totally off his face on anything during his seven Tour de France victories?
  
  Reply
Lunchb0x says:

11:08am | 19/01/13

Spokes, WTF are you on about. there is approx 6.9 billion people in the world. 5.2 Billion of which are from either Asia or Africa. Another 600 million in latin america. I find it very difficult to believe that even 5% on average of people in these areas are watching “le tour”. leaving 1.1 billion people in Eroupe, North America and Oceania, where agreed the tv audience will be significantly higher but no-where near 300%.

I did find an article suggesting the tv Audience in the UK peaked at 3.6 million when Brad Wiggins one last year. (less then 6% of the population)
Why do people feel the need to make sh#t up to justify their arguments.

Oh and Lance, hope you rot in jail.
sunny says:

05:07pm | 18/01/13

Laura - yeah being chased by giant fluorescent butterfly dragons with razor sharp teeth is good incentive to haul ass up a French mountain - the chasing pelaton pales by comparison.
Neil says:

04:55pm | 18/01/13

No, you are not. Most sports = drugs and usually just an ugly and rabid pursuit of money. Which is why I don’t watch it. Although I was a little bit surprised that cycling was corrupted, I thought they were the good guys.
Jackie says:

04:47pm | 18/01/13

Brando, I couldnt give a toss about cycling but I do give a toss about cheating, in any sport. Cheating has to be stopped & cheats have to be punished.
Spokes says:

03:04pm | 18/01/13

Brando - Just because you don’t care about cycling, doesn’t mean no-one else does. Does a sport have to attract millions of TV viewers or tens of thousands to event venues to be considered relevant? Cycling is an world-wide sport. Australia is part of the world. The Tour is broadcast in 190 countries, attracted 15 million spectators along the course and attracts a TV audience of around 3.5 billion during the course of the event. Even in Australia, where nobody cares about it, SBS attracted an average of half a million or so viewers each night - and it’s telecast from 10pm!
ramases says:

02:57pm | 18/01/13

Really couldn’t care less to tell the truth but so much air time and media space has been given to this arsehole that its quite interesting just to see the circus around this clown. What I want to know is how many people are now going to sue the crap out of him for the money they lavished on this winner/loser.He should lose everything he ever earned and then some.
Laura says:

02:38pm | 18/01/13

Oh contraire! I would care 300% more if he was tripping his arse off on acid during his seven victories.
St. Michael says:

02:37pm | 18/01/13

Well, if you’re South Australian you might care a little bit. They paid Armstrong roughly $9 million over three years to draw that cheating bastard to race there. Armstrong only achieved that level of notoriety because he won so often - and none of those victories were honest ones.
- AsianGuy says:
  
  02:05pm | 18/01/13
  
  Can everyone just take a deep breath and relax?
  
  Yes, he cheated and lied about it but come on, most of the riders doped back then and only those who admitted doping was caught in the first place.
  
  To describe him as a scumbag when the guy has raised over $50 million for charity is too rich. We all have our flaws so lets just accept that he cheated and move on.
  
  Reply
Joan says:

10:39am | 19/01/13

AsianGuy: Is enhancing performance cheating? Actors, writers , painters and pop stars utilise drugs and plastic surgery to enhance their performance. Oprah has made millions interviewing and promoting them and their products, films and books and products they endorse - performance often fueled by drugs, they promote the charities of their liking and nobody complains and demands refunds . If Armstrong rapped for `cheating` then lets clean up the actors, writers, pop groups drug users making billions who lie and say they don’t use, and deny plastic surgery or botox use. Lets clean up all the liars - why single out Armstrong? He is no greater liar than many a successful pop singer or actor
Nathan says:

08:05am | 19/01/13

$50m for cancer awareness, hardly any went to research. Unless he had his brand on it he is not interested in supporting it. His charities impact on cancer has been minimal.

Not all riders went after newspapers and attacked fellow riders wives all based on a lie.
PoGo says:

04:54pm | 18/01/13

Lou, I can guarantee that he earned them much, much more money than they paid him. That is what sponsorship is all about. They laughed all the way to the bank. Their only worry now is that they have lost their money-spinner. Their easy defence is “we didn’t know”, whereas the reality is that everyone had known about cycling, weightlifting, running, swimming etc drug abuses for ages, but couldn’t let it get in the way of making a dollar. Your sympathy is misplaced.
Troy Flynn says:

03:37pm | 18/01/13

You’re also forgetting AsianGuy all those journalists who he sued for defamation and won. Careers were destroyed and massive compensation payouts were required.
Here’s to those journalists getting together a class action suit to reclaim those falsely aquired compensation payouts with interest.
I hope Oprah paid him well for this interview. He’s going to need the money.
Lou says:

03:25pm | 18/01/13

“Are we seriously worried about an “image that was 100% concocted””

I imagine if I was one of the sponsors who paid Armstrong squillions of dollars for being a one man, one-balled inspiration factory, I would be.
Pogo says:

02:58pm | 18/01/13

Are we seriously worried about an “image that was 100% concocted”. Just about all today’s “role models” are 100% concocted. That it because as a society we focus on beauty, fame and success. Consequently we have countless examples of cheating in one form or another, we have a media that fixates on the beautiful to the extent that they will photoshop natural beauty to present a version is regarded as better, and we have an industry that promotes celebrities who’s major claims to fame are sex tapes and legal difficulties. You reap what you sow.
LOL says:

02:38pm | 18/01/13

@AsianGuy: What you are forgetting is that he didnt just lie and dope.. He bullied others into it and ran a kind-of full-on syndicate. Also, yes, the help to cancer patients was truly great, no doubt - but all the $50 million for charity you are talking about was something which people donated - and that too because of his image as a cycling champion - which was all a One Big Deception… Get it???
St. Michael says:

02:34pm | 18/01/13

“Yes, he cheated and lied about it but come on, most of the riders doped back then…”

This will be the new fallback position for all those supporters who were previously shouting that “He never gave a positive drug test!” and “He’s clean!”

Try that defence on in a criminal court: “But judge, everyone rorts Centrelink or government benefits when they can, that totally excuses me getting caught doing it!” Sort of like suggesting that just because lots of crime happens in Sydney’s West that you should get a lighter sentence for breaking into a house there as opposed to Kirribilli House.

Just because it’s common doesn’t make it any more acceptable.
Ben C says:

02:31pm | 18/01/13

You’ve simplified it far too much.

The fact that he’s paid doctors to conceal his positive tests, he’s used teammates and former teammates as scapegoats, his threatening antics towards those that wanted to expose him, all so he could protect his reputation and his charity - that has scumbag written all over it.
marley says:

02:29pm | 18/01/13

Jimmy Saville raised a lot of money for charity. Doesn’t make him any less a scumbag. Same with Bernie Madoff.
Lou says:

02:24pm | 18/01/13

Raising money for charity, and being a scumbag aren’t mutually exclusive. Lots of scumbags donate lots of money, and do lots of work for charity.

‘Most of the riders’ weren’t ringleaders who bullied and intimidated their teammates to take drugs. They also didn’t commit perjury on several occasions, and accept tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship based on an inspirational image that was 100% concocted.

Sorry, but he’s a scumbag.
Sea Dog says:

02:20pm | 18/01/13

Fraud?
- sam says:
  
  02:03pm | 18/01/13
  
  “Lance your arm with a needle and it will make you strong” or Lance Armstrong if you abbreviate it.
  
  Reply
- Bear says:
  
  02:02pm | 18/01/13
  
  But i thought he only did this or that or nothing….. Sounds like he was doing everything! That’s why he was the best. The best drug cheat. Can’t help but wonder if Cadel was robbed of a career as a true ‘lance’.
  
  Reply
Bear says:

03:07pm | 18/01/13

True of course. Happy for any non cheat to win.
Hartz says:

02:54pm | 18/01/13

They probably all did it… It seems like it was incredibly prevalent, anyway they’re cyclists not bloody rocket scientists. The money in sport is obscene…
Rose says:

02:18pm | 18/01/13

Not just Cadel, but also the may other cyclists who either didn’t quite cut it because they didn’t use drugs.
- King in the North says:
  
  02:00pm | 18/01/13
  
  The guys only sorry he got caught and been exposed for the massive fraud he is.
  
  Reply
MANGROVEJACK says:

06:16pm | 18/01/13

Why not let them use whatever they want, seeing as a big percentage of them do it anyway. If they explode so be it. just let them turbo charge themselves and put on a spectacle. Nobody forces them to do it.
- Rickster says:
  
  01:40pm | 18/01/13
  
  The only thing I blame him for is more dickhead cyclists riding five abreast in stupid lycra supporting sponsers that never gave them anything.
  
  Reply
PoGo says:

03:10pm | 18/01/13

Seriously Rickster, I keep reading about cyclist riding 5 breast and it is hogwash. What I do know is that if you see a peleton coming towards you, it does appear like this, but the reality is a lot different when you take the blinkers off. As for the lycra argument, am I to assume you similarly complain about swimmers, triathletes, weightlifters, runners of any distance etc etc etc. Look at your own shirts, and complain about any that display a name (Benetton, Nike, Adidas, Billabong etc etc) and ask why they did not give you anything. Is prejudice any better than cheating?
- bankster says:
  
  01:37pm | 18/01/13
  
  what supporters?
  
  Reply
- wolf says:
  
  01:36pm | 18/01/13
  
  I have always held the opinion that he was a piece of crap. Nothing has changed, other than the suspicion that his remaining testicle must be the size of a volleyball to try this line:
  
  Armstrong now talking about the period during his recovery from cancer. “It was truly win at all costs ... I took that win at all costs attitude and took it into cycling.”
  
  Yup, it was the cancer that made him do it.
  
  Reply
sunny says:

04:49pm | 18/01/13

He must have lost his good testicle, the one that used to keep his evil testicle in check. Then again he doped when he had both of them so the evil testicle probably had the upper hand anyway.
jimmy says:

03:57pm | 18/01/13

Totally agree, his arrogance is breathtaking.
NSS says:

01:57pm | 18/01/13

*DRINK!*
- Mr. Jordon says:
  
  01:29pm | 18/01/13
  
  But he can’t be a cheat. He never failed a drug test. Or at least that what his supporters have been telling us.
  
  Reply
Horthy says:

03:28pm | 19/01/13

“I still maintain it’s not really cheating if everyone else is doing it.”

LOL. Yeah, if we all ate bananas then no one ate a banana.
Mr. Jordon says:

04:20pm | 18/01/13

Hamish says: 03:21pm | 18/01/13

And who says everyone is doing it?

Apart from the ones that do get catch and use that as a justification.
AdamC says:

03:43pm | 18/01/13

Of course the whole peleton can be cheats. This isn’t primary school, pointing at the next kid and wailing “but they did it toooo, Miss” does not cut the mustard.

It wouldn’t surprise me if they wind up having to replace all the Tour results since at least 1998 with a big asterisk. One imagines Lance Armstrong will be singing like a canary to USADA in light of his mea culpa.
Hamish says:

03:21pm | 18/01/13

I still maintain it’s not really cheating if everyone else is doing it. The whole peleton can’t be cheats. I’m really interested in what they plan to do about his yellow jerseys, are they going to give them to the guy who finished 37th ‘cos he’s the only one who hasn’t been outed as a drug ‘cheat’? He probably still took drugs, but he was so crap no one’s bothered to investigate him.
Knemon says:

02:05pm | 18/01/13

I wonder if Anthony Sharwood and Kevin Andrews still think he’s a hero?
- Laura says:
  
  01:27pm | 18/01/13
  
  Hooray! Armstrong confessed to doing things that everybody already knew he did. He’s a liar & a cheat & a scumbag.
  
  Can we move on now?
  
  Reply
pa_kelvin says:

02:53pm | 19/01/13

And now we can get to watch the FULL interview at 6.30 tonight..
good laugh says:

02:21pm | 18/01/13

“breath taking action and crazy prices” at Fat Sams DVD shop hey - what a scoop…perhaps check the whole video you source before posting?
pa_kelvin says:

01:56pm | 18/01/13

Move on???? Part 2 is on tomorrow….........
Pedro says:

01:47pm | 18/01/13

I think this LA confession will prove what we already know - that Oprah can’t interview for crap.

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