Lance Armstrong

I've never had many heroes, plenty of people I admire but few I'd call heroes. Lance Armstrong was one, a man who beat cancer then went on to win the toughest sporting event in the world. To see him fall from grace makes me sad rather than angry. What makes me angry are the people jumping on the 'let's crucify Armstrong the drug cheat' bandwagon.

In recent years I've lost count of the number of cycling books I've read, especially books about Le Tour, I recommend some of those on the current bandwagon read a few before they continue pontificating. I suggest especially Tyler Hamilton's autobiography The Secret Race, David Millar's autobiography Racing Through the Dark and David Walsh's The Seven Deadly Sins. Walsh is the journalist who initially, way back when Armstrong won his first tour, tried to expose his cheating, Millar served a ban for drug use as did Hamilton, a long time colleague of Armstrong's.

Armstrong has now admitted doping and has stated that he will have to spend the rest of his life apologising. It seems that his confession, and in all likelihood having to return millions in prize money, sponsorship and money received from successful past libel victories, not least against The Times, is not enough for the mob. The mob seems to want blood and won't be happy until Armstrong is dangling from a tree in Texas.

Yes he has now admitted using performance enhancing drugs. But most of the peleton throughout the nineties and up until recently were using performance enhancing drugs. That doesn't make it right, but many riders, such as Millar and many others, were eventually seduced into using drugs as they knew they could not achieve what they were worthy of otherwise. They saw rider after rider with less talent leaving them behind because they were not using drugs. Eventually they gave into temptation and many cyclists have faced bans at best, death at worst from using illegal substances.

Armstrong, as in everything in his life, was just the most clever, maybe the most cunning at doing what was almost institutional in professional cycling. Yes he was a bully in attempting to cover his tracks and his treatment of Betsy Andreu, wife of former teammate Frankie, and others was unforgivable. But few sporting champions are known for being soft and cuddly. They are invariably single minded, ruthless and have one interest, winning. This often translates into arrogance, bullying and a lack of consideration for others.

Sadly numerous Tour winners have been stripped of their titles after failing drug tests, not just Armstrong. In most years a new winner could not have been handed the title as so many behind the winner were eventually found guilty of using performance enhancing drugs too. Many previous winners, not stripped of their titles, admitted in later years using banned substances. Armstrong wasn't the first and it is unlikely he will be the last.

Armstrong has finally admitted his offences and could now face financial ruin and possibly even prison for previously swearing under oath that he had never used performance enhancing drugs. He must now cooperate with the authorities, rather than the pathetic Oprah Winfrey, and finally spill the beans on everything, going back to his career before he had cancer.

We must also remember that except for the dogged determination of USADA Armstrong would never have been outed and lost his Tour and Olympic titles in the first place. If he'd been from a country other than the USA he would probably still be feted as one of the greatest athletes we've ever seen, a seven times Tour de France winner. The US authorities must be congratulated for that, just as the UCI role in doping, especially Armstrong's should be independently investigated.

Jimmy Savile and Lance Armstrong

This week it's been interesting hearing peoples' reactions to the accusations against Jimmy Savile and Lance Armstrong. In the case of Lance Armstrong the people I've spoken to, like me, have defended him when I expected to be in a minority, possibly of one.

After defending him on Twitter yesterday I was invited to defend him on the BBC World Service, a programme called World Have Your Say. The thrust of my defence of Armstrong was that he had around 500 drug tests during his cycling career and did not fail a single one. The report produced by USADA contains nothing but hearsay, maybe from people with a grudge or people who knew they would receive a lighter ban for admitting their own doping if they fingered Armstrong. Let's face it, USADA have hounded Armstrong for years and were determined to get him one way or another.

With Jimmy Savile the questions are even more far reaching. Why did people wait until he was dead and buried to make the accusations? Why did social workers, police and other agencies seemingly ignore accusations against Savile going back 50 years? Why did hospital authorities allow Savile to wander at will around wards with no supervision if, as is claimed, nurses and other hospital staff suspected or saw him sexually abusing patients? As with Hillsborough, where people in authority at the time are likely to be charged now with manslaughter, I would hope that anybody in any position to have acted against Savile, be it a nurse, a doctor a BBC manager or whoever but didn't, faces investigation and charges if the accusations are proved correct.

There is also the question of women now coming forward claiming to have been victims of sexual misbehaviour, by people other than Jimmy Savile, when working for the BBC. One question here is what constitutes sexual harassment or sexual abuse? Over recent decades what is seen as acceptable behaviour by a man towards a woman has changed dramatically. Could what they are looking back on have been what was regarded at the time as 'banter', but with twenty first century eyes it becomes harassment or abuse? And again, why did these apparently strong women, building successful careers in the tough world of broadcasting, not act at the time?

This morning I read that social workers in Rochdale ignored reports that a 13 year old girl was involved in prostitution claiming that she had made a 'lifestyle choice'. All these things show one thing, that the authorites (the state) cannot be trusted. They need to be questioned and challenged constantly and in many cases agencies of the state should be abolished, only then will people start taking individual responsibility.

Lance Armstrong

I find it amazing that Lance Armstrong has been hounded so badly by the US authorities that he is giving up the fight to clear his name. He is the most drug tested athlete in history, and has never failed a test, but the authorities in the US, not the world cycling authorities, are hounding him and are about to strip him of his titles.

Below is Lance Armstrong's full statement:

Lance Armstong's Statement of August 23, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas - August 23rd, 2012 - There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense.
I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.
If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?
From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.
The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right.
USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart.
Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.

Le Tour de France 2010-Rotterdam-The Beautiful South

Aujourd'hui est le jour. le Grand Depart of Le Tour de France 2010. This year, for only the fourth time in its history I think, it leaves from the Netherlands, Rotterdam to be exact.

Can Lance Armstrong (pictured after training in Rotterdam yesterday) make it an incredible eighth win? What about Mark Cavendish from the Isle of Man and Preston based Bradley Wiggins ? And it's all on ITV 4.

Finally, has there ever been a better excuse for introducing Rotterdam by The Beautiful South?



Move over nancy boy footballers, the true heroes are about to take over the wonderful word of sport.

Lance Armstrong and Le Tour de France

I confess that Lance Armstrong is my all time sporting hero. Anybody who can win Le Tour de France seven times is a sporting genius, to do it after beating testicular cancer puts him up there with the Gods. On top of that he must be the most drug tested sportsman on the planet, but every test he has had has been negative.

But now drug cheat Floyd Landis, who won Le Tour in 2006 but became the first winner to be stripped of the title after testing positive, is pointing the finger, yet again, at Lance. This after it took Landis four years of wasting millions of dollars trying to clear his name before finally admitting that he actually is a drug cheat. The story appeared in today's Sunday Times.

I'm not a great one for conspiracy theories but Le Tour kicks off in a few weeks and there are high hopes that Britain's impact on this year's Tour could be groundbreaking. Bradley Wiggins is riding for the newly formed British outfit Team Sky with millions of pounds and some of cyclings finest coaches, riders and technicians we all hope that they will provide a British winner, if not this year then pretty soon.

Lance was on the podium last year when he came back, pretty under-prepared, from retirement. Surely Sky/Sunday Times wouldn't be involved in a dirty tricks campaign against Lance Armstrong. Would they?

The following is taken from a statement released by Lance's team, Team RadioShack:

"When no one in cycling capitulated to his numerous but persistent false threats, demands and rants, Floyd Landis publicly aired the false and incredible concoctions he has been privately making for years.

"In levelling these false and baseless accusations, Landis provided selected emails to multiple journalists in connection with his public statements on Wednesday evening. What was not conveyed were descriptions of the threatening text messages from Landis to others, including Lance Armstrong, that began more than two years ago.

"Most recently, and it was no coincidence that shortly after Landis was informed he and his team were unable to enter and compete in the 2010 Tour of California, Landis and his team owner sent emails to a variety of parties, including Amgen, the race sponsor, and to the president of Trek Bicycle, an Armstrong and RadioShack corporate sponsor.

"Landis later communicated directly with Armstrong and threatened to ‘say directly that I’m going to accuse you and our former team mates of using blood doping and performance enhancing drugs to help you to win the three Tours de France in which we raced together’. Armstrong’s response to Landis was identical to the responses to the same type of threatening text messages received from Landis two years ago — there would be no consideration, money, team positions or anything else given in exchange for not airing false accusations.

"The public has taken them for what they are worth — absolutely nothing."

Why not visit Lance Amstrong's charitable foundation Livestrong

For what it's worth I would love to see Lance Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins as joint winners this year!! OK, we can all dream.

Le Tour de France, Lance Armstrong

The prospect of British cyclists Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins joining Lance Armstrong's new team in 2010 is fantastic, even if it is a dream. Here is what Lance Armstrong has said about the prospect in this interview :

“That's not true,” Armstrong said. “Nothing against them, I love those guys.

“We haven't approached them. They both have contracts [with their present teams]. I certainly wouldn't say no, but I don't want to get into that mess of dealing with guys in contracts. Great dudes, though. Cav's a good kid. He's damn fast.”

I reckon that means that once this Tour is done the negotiations will begin to extricate them from their current contracts so that next year they will be helping Lance Armstrong win his eighth Tour.

What a prospect. Alberto Contador looks unstoppable this year and will deservedly win in Paris on Sunday, but I'm already excited about next year's Tour de France.

Livestrong.

Lance Armstrong

French Bastards!

Don't get me wrong I love France, have had some fantastic holidays there and I like and admire the French, individually. But as a nation they are full of crap.

Lance Armstrong is my all time sporting hero. He overcame cancer and has won Le Tour a record 7 times. Winning Le Tour, or even completing it, makes somebody a hero in my view and in 2005, the last time he won it, I was fortunate enough to see a stage of his last Tour, in Albertville.

This year he announced his intention to compete again, with the Astana Team but broke a collarbone in a fall three weeks ago, setting back his training schedule. But now the French are trying, yet again, to stitch him up by using absurd bureaucracy. Lance says it all, diplomatically, here.

Less diplomatically I say the Frogs just can't accept that a Yankee guy has won Le Tour seven times. Well you'd better accept it Cheese Monkeys, because the man is a living legend and the world hopes and prays he wins an 8th Tour this year. If the French authorities don't stitch him up!

A True Sporting Legend

'Legend' is a word much used, and abused, in the world of sport and elswhere. In my view it can be used in truth and honesty about very few without it sounding cliched and trite.

One man it can clearly be used to describe is Lance Armstrong. To come back from cancer to win the Tour de France is truly the stuff of legend. To win the most gruelling sporting event in the world 7 times without previous health problems warrants legend status, so ovecoming testicular cancer, that had spread to his brain, puts Armstrong's status as legend beyond debate.

Next year he will be doing Le Tour again, joining the Astana team currently led by Alberto Contador, Le Tour winner in 2007. Here is the full story.

Having seen part of Le Tour in 2005, the last time Armstrong won it, I suspect we will be in France on holiday next July to witness the great man's comeback.

The main reason he is returning is to promote Livestrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.