The Back Alley Archives

http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/rss.js ... d=-1&spf=1

Bad timing. He has been dominating half-iron triathlons, and was poised to race Ironman Nice this month and then compete at Kona in October.

I wonder if they have any more evidence than what the French newspapers dug up a few years ago.

It'll be interesting to see what they come up with.

[pdf]http://road.cc/sites/default/files/arms ... ng0613.pdf[/pdf]

This is really odd. The only real "new" allegations are the 2009-2010 EPO/blood doping allegations.

Also interesting to note that no other riders are being charged - only Lance, who has left cycling altogether and is now pursuing ultra-distance triathlons.

The cycling world is pretty sharply divided on Lance. A lot of folks say that he must have been doping because he beat everyone who has proven to have been doping. For example, I saw this posted to another site:

Not to mention every 2nd and 3rd place rider in the seven tours he's won have either admitted to doping, failed doping tests, or been on teams that have had entire team wide doping programs.The podiums were full of it.EDIT:
1999

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Alex Zülle (‘98 busted for EPO)
3. Fernando Escartín (systematic Festina team doping exposed in ‘04, but he was never busted)
4. Laurent Dufaux (‘98 busted for EPO)
5. Ángel Casero (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)

2000

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Jan Ullrich (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
3. Joseba Beloki (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
4. Christophe Moraue (‘98 busted for EPO)
5. Roberto Heras (‘05 busted for EPO)

2001

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Jan Ullrich (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
3. Joseba Beloki (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
4. Andrei Kivilev (dead)
5. Igor González de Galdeano (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)

2002

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Joseba Beloki (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
3. Raimondas Rumšas (Suspended in ‘03 for doping)
4. Santiago Botero (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
5. Igor González de Galdeano (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)

2003

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Jan Ullrich (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
3. Alexander Vinokourov (Suspended in ‘07 for CERA)
4. Tyler Hamilton (Suspended ‘04 for blood doping)
5. Haimar Zubeldia

2004

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Andreas Kloden (Named in doping case in ‘08)
3. Ivan Basso (Suspended in ‘07 for Operacion Puerto ties)
4. Jan Ullrich (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
5. Jose Azevedo (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)

2005

1. Lance Armstrong
2. Ivan Basso (Suspended in ‘07 for Operacion Puerto ties)
3. Jan Ullrich (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
4. Fransico Mancebo (‘06 implicated in Operacion Puerto)
5. Alexander Vinokourov (Suspended in ‘07 for CERA)

Hardly anyone from the top 5 has a clean record.

On the other hand, people who believe he's innocent point out that he's the most tested athlete of all time, that he's always been an elite endurance athlete from the time that he was in high school (swimming, then to triathlon, then to cycling and now back to triathlon), and that given his cancer scare, he'd be a fool to use EPO due to the risk of cancer. Lance always vigorously fights the allegations, and has won before. A 2010 criminal investigation by the DOJ concluded without charging him (they were investigating whether he breached his contract with the US Postal team because he was doping, but I'm not sure about all the details).

Finally, I think the rational approach is to let the process work.

Interestingly, it is not the USADA who has banned Lance from further races - it is World Triathlon Corporation, who runs the Ironman-branded races:

WTC has been notified that USADA has initiated its Anti-Doping Review Board Process against Lance Armstrong to determine if there is sufficient evidence of doping during his cycling career to bring forward charges of a non-analytical nature. Our rules, as stated in the WTC Professional Athlete Agreement and Waiver, dictate an athlete is ineligible to compete during an open investigation. Armstrong is therefore suspended from competing in WTC-owned and licensed races pending further review.

500+ passed drug tests. Not one failure. Shit, if you're that good at cheating then have at it.

Assuming he doped - then so did all the top riders (see my post, above). When your whole sport is dirty, does it really matter? Who are you going to give the yellow jersey to?

I guess I fall into the latter category thinking he'd be stupid to dose and he is a great distance athlete, although I might be a bit naive since I've followed his career since he turned pro.

The plot thickens:

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12134 ... -2006.aspx

I don't really trust Italian authorities to conduct a good investigation, but if there's something to this, Lance could be in trouble.

if true, things aren't looking good for the Texan

Wat.

forgot the n't

Are they sure the $465,000 wasn't for an actual Ferrari?