Greg Lemond: Tour legend and anti-doping crusader

[rhubroma]

I don't know, maybe its my 18 years as a criminal defense attorney, but as to 'everybody knows he doped', I'll wait for that to be proven in court.

I have never bought the "well, since he hasn't tested positive (when he did in 6 samples of the 99 Tour), and innocence until proven guilty," etc. legal shabang.

It's one thing to be convicted in court, based on all the legal evidence, entirely another to be condemed in the public eye. Within the cycling community it is by now safe to say "he doped," and this is enough to understand what has really taken place, whether or not he will ever be condemned in court.

On the one hand, because only an idiot or a blind fool would actually beleive he road clean if a cycling fan (and, unfortuantely, we have still many of those morons, though only in the States) and, on the other hand, because now we have all the circumstantial evidence by Landis incredible eye-witness testimony to allow for a more precise forming of opinion. Those that think he's simply a liar, will be rudely awakened by the conclusions of the feds.

 

[Marva32]

I have never bought the "well, since he hasn't tested positive (when he did in 6 samples of the 99 Tour), and innocence until proven guilty," etc. legal shabang.

It's one thing to be convicted in court, based on all the legal evidence, entirely another to be condemed in the public eye. Within the cycling community it is by now safe to say "he doped," and this is enough to understand what has really taken place, whether or not he will ever be condemned in court.

On the one hand, because only an idiot or a blind fool would actually beleive he road clean if a cycling fan (and, unfortuantely, we have still many of those morons, though only in the States) and, on the other hand, because now we have all the circumstantial evidence by Landis incredible eye-witness testimony to allow for a more precise forming of opinion. Those that think he's simply a liar, will be rudely awakened by the conclusions of the feds.

Years of training and practice have me geared in the innocent until proven guilty mode. I'm not saying that you, or anyone else, have to 'buy into' it. It's my personal opinion. While there is a large consensus in the cycling community that say 'he doped' does not mean that those who are not convinced of it are idiots, blind fools or morons. As for stating that Landis' statements are proof, and that he is a great eye-witness, his credibility is going to differ in the eyes of different people. Landis may or may not be telling the truth. At the present time, I question his credibility due to the changes in his story over the years, his profiting in the past from his lies, and the apparent fraud he committed by collecting funds for his legal defense. People have the right to disagree, and just because you don't agree with them, does not give you the right to launch attacks on their mental faculties.