MarkvW said:
Lance Armstrong is a great champion. Any time there is a great champion, some lesser men seek to diminish him. Cycling, during the Armstrong years, was an incredibly filthy, doped up sport. Armstrong dominated. His performance was great. He was a champion. He beat the best doped bike racers in the world. Even with dope, that is a great (albeit corrupt and dishonest) feat.
The attacks on Armstrong's character, his finances, and his activities off the bike are so distracting and stupid. We might as well be discussing why Ty Cobb (US early baseball) was such a big bunghole. Such smegma has nothing to do with bike racing.
I'm as grossed out by the obsessive Lance lovers as I am by the obsessive haters. Fortunately, the gundersons are a (vocal) minority on the Clinic.
Great champions don't cheat. As far as your insinuation of a level playing field you are wrong.
Really, they all played by the same rules?
Did they all get advanced notice of surprise tests?
Did they all get multiple Testosterone positives ignored
Did they all get to submit back dated TUEs?
Did they all have access to experimental drugs like Hemassit?
Did they all have a manager who was also on the board of the IOC?
Did they all get positives test for EPO ignored?
Did they all do business deals and investments with Verbruggen?
Did they all have access to Ferrari>
Did they all have $800,000 a year to spend on a doping program?
I could go on but you get the idea. the playing field was never level and never will be level