The main difference between now from the Armstrong era is that Armstrong basically got the sympathy vote for a fair while because, let’s face it, his story of him overcoming adversity was compelling. And it was mainly true in terms of his illness etc. So he seemed above criticism, above suspicion. Why, he asked, would someone who had gone through a huge life threatening experience with cancer pollute his body with chemicals? It didn’t make sense. Plus his surgeries had made him lighter than before, apparently explaining his much better climbing abilities. Combined, it was enough to sell the story of Lance, not so much a man but a legend in his own time. Everyone wanted to believe in such an amazing and uplifting story. He was much more famous than Pogacar is now, it’s not even close. He probably still is. Pogacar doesn’t have the same aura because he hasn’t had to overcome the same type of adversity. His story isn’t nearly as compelling.
But of course the French media eventually got annoyed with an American dominating their big race. So they started to have another look at Armstrong and his story. At the time, they couldn’t quite make their case stick other than throw very slanted headlines at him. It would be for others such as Walsh to get wider public attention focused on Armstrong. Even then, the public and cycling ecosphere were not keen and had no appetite for the tittle tattle. Like today, the cycling press and the UCI were afraid of the consequences of their poster boy being busted. And the public didn’t like the idea of a cancer survivor being scapegoated or targeted fairly or unfairly. Armstrong therefore escaped pretty much unscathed bar the odd lawsuit until after he had retired for the second time.
The lessons for today would be that Pogacar has the protection not from being a legend, but of a petrostate. And now we have a supine press and media landscape that has even less appetite to investigate the miraculous events that Pogacar and UAE are serving up for our delectation and delight. They don’t want to delve too deeply because, as during Armstrong’s era, they all sup from the bowl Pogacar serves up. And another damaging scandal could wipe out the sport from a commercial point of view. Could hurt media careers. But humans don’t change their nature. While they can be intimidated or bought off, they can also be unpredictable and can get irritated and jealous. Some might also be upstanding and righteous. If UAE and Pogacar are at it, they’ll be running a huge operation to keep a lid on anyone potentially going rogue and blabbing. They possibly feel untouchable, but that may prove to be their undoing.
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