Yeah. The Guardian took the line that you have to be a master strategist to win the Tour de France, doped or no; this "I'm walking away from the legal hassles for my family's sake" is exactly what a master strategist who knew he was about the get caught would do to save whatever he could of his professional reputation. Obviously none of us know, but to my mind Occam's Razor says he's a cheat (as were, it seems, practically all of them).

but to my mind Occam's Razor says he's a cheat (as were, it seems, practically all of them).

You're probably right. How could someone clean dominate the sport when practically everyone else around them was doping?

It's sad, because his ascent from cancer survivor to sport superstar was an amazing story. I'd give my left bollock just to win the Tour even once.

Livestrong has been a for-profit company, not a charity for a while, if my recollections are correct.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) is a United States 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides support for people affected by cancer, founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong.

I'm pretty sure it wasn't easy, even with drugs. And anyway if others around him were at it then his achievement still stands really.

Apparently not at the time, but part of the allegations are that he DID test positive, but that the Lance Armstrong Show was big enough to hush it all up.

37' 35" Marco Pantani 1997 Italy
37' 36" Lance Armstrong 2004 United States
38' 00" Marco Pantani 1994 Italy
38' 01" Lance Armstrong 2001 United States
38' 04" Marco Pantani 1995 Italy
38' 23" Jan Ullrich 1997 Germany
38' 34" Floyd Landis 2006 United States
38' 35" Andreas Klöden 2006 Germany
38' 37" Jan Ullrich 2004 Germany
39' 02" Richard Virenque 1997 France

Somebody mentioned the fastest times up Alpe d'Huez.

It's an interesting list....

How can one person for the drugs testers to not report it...

Quick quiz! What's the conenction between some of thses riders?

Quick quiz! What's the conenction between some of thses riders?

Based on that table, they're all really, really tall.

for us cycling tifosi this actualdoesn't change that much.. we're knew this, and gave it its place in that era of cycling.... taking of his victories is quite ridiculous IMO

Quite, I mean who are they going to give those victories to?

That guardien piece has thrown up lots of interesting lnks. Like this one.

That guardien piece has thrown up lots of interesting lnks. Like this one.

That guardien piece has thrown up lots of interesting lnks. Like this one.

I can't believe I just read 13,000 words about something I thought I didn't give a shit about. That was fascinating.

According to two witnesses, the US Postal team doctor Pedro Celaya (who is charged by Usada and will face a hearing later this year) was thrown into a panic at the 1998 Tour de France by the Festina scandal, in which the French team was caught red-handed with a vast medicine cabinet of illegal drugs. Celaya flushed tens of thousands of dollars' worth of drugs down the toilet – though this would not have been much help if the French police had raided the team, because the toilet was in a camper van.

As set forth in the affidavit of Tyler Hamilton, after Mr. Hamilton had testified about Mr. Armstrong’s doping and after Mr. Hamilton’s cooperation with federal law enforcement officials
had been publicly reported, on June 11, 2011, Mr. Hamilton was physically accosted by Mr. Armstrong in an Aspen, Colorado restaurant.819 Mr. Hamilton has testified that in connection
with this altercation Mr. Armstrong said, “When you’re on the witness stand, we are going to fucking tear you apart. You are going to look like a fucking idiot.”820 Hamilton further testified
that Armstrong said, “I’m going to make your life a living . . . fucking . . . hell.”821 Mr. Armstrong’s statements and actions plainly constitute an act of attempted witness intimidation.

British cyclist Alex Dowsett believes Lance Armstrong remains "a legend of the sport" despite the doping accusations against the American.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency banned Armstrong for life and stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles.

Team Sky rider Dowsett, 24, said: "He is still a legend of the sport. A guy who had cancer came back and won the Tour de France.

"I think it's not really important and I really don't think it matters."

All Tour titles gone, and now people want their money back. Oh my.

2013 route looks tough.

I'd put money on Alberto to win it, Froome comes in second after losing time on the antepenultimate day. Cavendish loses interest about halfway through and Wiggins is in 10-20th.

That's a long way to drive for a sweater.

Romantic weekend away?

I tried to be assuring but there was no way I could because I knew at that moment that LeLangue said “you” that my life was fucked and would never be the same. I was cold and sweating and unable to make any decision but I did my best to promise Amber that we’d both be okay, and I’d do whatever it would take to make sure of that, but I have never felt anything like that. I wasn’t okay for about a month. I didn’t sleep at all for at least two weeks; I would just lie there awake. And the longer it went, the worst it got and the harder it was for me to make decisions. I couldn’t think clearly.