Lance Armstrong

Pretty damaging stuff. It's not just one person confirming his dope taking but nearly his whole bloody team. By not challenging the USA Anti Doping Agency report I can only conclude that he is guilty.

I have lost a lot of respect for him and any credibility he once had as a seven times winner of the Tour, is now in tatters.

Cycling is pure theatre to me.

There's something been brewing for years with Armstrong and drugs - the French have been sniffing around it as they don't like him - not many people who have to deal with him do apparently.

The riders he was up against during his seven wins are all tainted as drug cheats, particularly Jan Ullric who finished second to him three times in the Tour. Indeed the previous winners before Armstrong have turned out later to have been drug cheats also and at least two winners after him have also had bans for taking drugs.

Ok, bad press and all that - certainly not condoning it but it all adds to the intrigue and twist and turns that make up cycling.

Many years previous to Armstrong the world's top cyclist, a Frenchman once famously said - "Do you expect us to get around the Tour de France on Perrier water?"

They get up to all sorts of dirty tricks!

One of my favourite stories is about a Frenchman making a decisive breakaway which would have won him the Tour of Italy (one of the big three races along with the Tours of France and Spain) ahead of the local Italian hero.

They stopped him by getting the (Italian) TV camera helicopter to fly low in front of him and the down draft from the rotor blades blew him back to the chasing (beaten) riders and thus ensured the Italian win!

It's all good fun in cycling!

I don't know for certain but I reckon our Bradley is clean. He did it the hard way without resorting to cheating. Rule Britannia!

Good article about him here if anybody is interested -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/19907683

Reebok Trotter wrote:I don't know for certain but I reckon our Bradley is clean. He did it the hard way without resorting to cheating. Rule Britannia!

thats what everyone said about Lance.

Pure theatre all this!

Stripped of his 7 Tour wins but I found a little side story that I think is fascinating. Briefly Armstrong's team took out an insurance policy to cover bonuses they would have to pay out ($5 million) if he won a 6th Tour de France (at the time nobody had ever won it more than five times).

Well of course he won BUT the insurance company would not pay because they said he had not won it "clean" - ie he had taken drugs - presumably they could prove this too!

They lost the claim in court and had to pay the money - the reason being there was nothing in the contract about 'how' he won it - just as long as the governing body declared that he 'had' won it.

Remember this was BEFORE he went on to win the race for a seventh time and completed another two times afterwards as well!

Anyway now that he has been stripped of his titles the insurance company is after him for their money back!

If anyone is interested the story is here -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20029617

Cycling is dead. Sponsors are pulling out by the dozen and no one trusts a single cyclist anymore.

Good. I hate cyclists. Perhaps when the sport dies there will be less of the twats cycling in traffic.

Natasha Whittam wrote:Cycling is dead. Sponsors are pulling out by the dozen and no one trusts a single cyclist anymore.

Good. I hate cyclists. Perhaps when the sport dies there will be less of the twats cycling in traffic.

Justice for the 96


http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/public/cyclesafety/article3313260.ece

Natasha Whittam wrote:Cycling is dead. Sponsors are pulling out by the dozen and no one trusts a single cyclist anymore.

Good. I hate cyclists. Perhaps when the sport dies there will be less of the twats cycling in traffic.

From what I know only Rabobank has pulled out, and no other sponsor has, yet!

bwfc71 wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:Cycling is dead. Sponsors are pulling out by the dozen and no one trusts a single cyclist anymore.

Good. I hate cyclists. Perhaps when the sport dies there will be less of the twats cycling in traffic.

From what I know only Rabobank Bank has pulled out, and no other sponsor has, yet!

Good name for the team that Cav has joined

Lyric Todkill wrote:

bwfc71 wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:Cycling is dead. Sponsors are pulling out by the dozen and no one trusts a single cyclist anymore.

Good. I hate cyclists. Perhaps when the sport dies there will be less of the twats cycling in traffic.

From what I know only Rabobank Bank has pulled out, and no other sponsor has, yet!

Good name for the team that Cav has joined

Rabo are basically a "franchise" Bank in The Netherlands for local farmers. i.e. The Amsterdam area of Rabobank is a different franchise to Almere which is different to Hilversum etc etc etc

Lyric Todkill wrote:

bwfc71 wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:Cycling is dead. Sponsors are pulling out by the dozen and no one trusts a single cyclist anymore.

Good. I hate cyclists. Perhaps when the sport dies there will be less of the twats cycling in traffic.

From what I know only Rabobank Bank has pulled out, and no other sponsor has, yet!

Good name for the team that Cav has joined

Omega Pharma-QuickStep!

On the news today that as well as stripping Armstrong of all his Tour wins he is also being sued for seven and a half million dollars from an insurance firm plus he has to pay back all the prize money he won.