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Lance Armstrong - the "Pablo Escobar" of cycling . . . .


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At the time I was also part of the baying mob calling for his public execution with the rest of the justifiably outraged public, but over the years observing him from afar with stuff like the MOVES podcast and seeing some of his interviews, I am less attached to those views.  I enjoy how self-deprecating and reflective he has become around the doping stuff, and he has really interesting insights and commentary on cycling.  Was he a complete box?  Oh hell yes.  Has he REALLY learnt from the experience?  I think it would be impossible not to have.  Is he still a box?  Who am I to judge?

 

What I don't get is people like Betsy Andreu and her relentless and (IMHO) ridiculous crusade.  Imagine being that utterly consumed by bitterness and the need for some sort of pound of flesh, even after all these years? What does she actually want?  That kind of negativity eats you out until there is nothing left

 

 

 

I reckon she's quite pleasant around the braai fire till someone mentions "Lance"...

I imagine its like one of those Moneky Magic Episodes where the monster arises and tramples on the quiet neighbourhood

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I still remember being the only guy at a braai telling my cycling mates that his on Mexican supplements, they kept saying his been tested over 500 times.... good times.

 

I hope that through our efforts, we can start a doping league of cycling, this marginal gains stuff sucks..

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LA doped, yes we know that, but he beat all the other dopers. Back then, everyone was taking drugs, but LA seemed to take the fall for everyone else.

 

Bjarni Riis admited to doping. He was not stripped of his title.

 

Jan Ulrich was caught for doping. He was not stripped of his title.

 

Marco Pantani was serving a ban for drug use. He was not stripped of his title. In fact he died a hero.

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It is a refreshing change from yet another coronachan thread though.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!

 

And comparing him to Pablo Escobar is a bit like calling someone who doesn't wear a mask a murderer. Teeni overstretch.

 

Everybody loves to vilify him but he took cycling into the living rooms of America with it's associated paychecks.

 

By the by, does anyone here listen to/watch Lance's Forward or Move podcasts?

I love the banter between him and George when they do the race analysis in the grand tours. He's clearly still well connected within pro cycling.

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Anyone has a link to watch the ESPN 30for30 Lance episodes?

Apparently its interesting

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Anyone has a link to watch the ESPN 30for30 Lance episodes?

 

Apparently its interesting

Really good. I'm just starting the second half, but great watching. 

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By the by, does anyone here listen to/watch Lance's Forward or Move podcasts?

 

I try to - more especially the ones of the Tour - I really like them. Lance is not the "star of the show" and certainly gets called out on stuff by Hincapie. And, it really is informed commentary on cycling - not sure there is better.

 

Bruyneel is very interesting when it comes to team tactics - he is so often on the money. 

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By the by, does anyone here listen to/watch Lance's Forward or Move podcasts?

 

 

Yes its by far the best English speking coverage of the Pro tour by far. Not going to cut off my nose to spite LA Postal. The insights, the banter, its quite refreshing to not have the coverage biased by commercial affiliation

Edited by DieselnDust
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LA doped, yes we know that, but he beat all the other dopers. Back then, everyone was taking drugs, but LA seemed to take the fall for everyone else.

 

Bjarni Riis admited to doping. He was not stripped of his title.

 

Jan Ulrich was caught for doping. He was not stripped of his title.

 

Marco Pantani was serving a ban for drug use. He was not stripped of his title. In fact he died a hero.

at the time I thought it was absolutely deserved that he was stripped of the titles.  The problem is that he made it so damn hard to NOT want his head on a plate - he was such a P#ES through the whole thing, and paid very dearly.  But the fact is he rode those tours, and he won them, up the gills in whatwhats, but he still rode them with the entire glow-in-the-dark peloton.  Seems unfair now

Edited by PygaSchmyga
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Just one opinion over another, but I think in a world where everyone was clean, Jan Ullrich would have had the beating of him. Yes I know he wasn't clean either, but I suspect he wasn't doping at anywhere near the level of sophistication of LA. In a number of books I've read people said that Ullrich actually rode clean for the first season after the Festina Affair purely out of fear of being caught, and STILL was fairly competitive. 

 

And I guess that's the sad part of it, that's what the cheating takes away. We'll never know now. 

 

Yes, nobody really knows , but from what I read Ulrich never had the discipline and single minded dedication to be a great champion in an event like the TdF ... so he might have had the physical attributes to beat Lance but it takes much more than that to win multiple TDF's.

 

To a degree I agree with Johann Bruyneel who recently said that all the great champions in cycling history were the best in their generation whether they have confessed or were caught doping or not. 

 

He made the interesting point that you cannot beat the best in the world who have doped without taking something yourself with specific reference to Greg Le Mond who has beaten Laurent Fignon who admitted to doping. 

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I used to hate Lance. Now I really like the dude. He reminds me of a South African. Loves the outdoors, loves a challenge, can be aggressive in defence, loves MTB, has made lots of mistakes, but has moved on. 

I didn't like him as a cyclist, but I like him as a cycling personality and commentator. 

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Well apparently a little asthma pump can do just that if you were to believe some. 

It was the bilharzia treatment...

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