US prosecutors drop case against Armstrong/USPS

[SirLes]

Would it not the information be shared to allow riders/management from other countries to be investigated?

 

[Velodude]

Yes, the article is from yesterday.

What "leak" "hit the fan" in the last 12 hours that proved it to be a "personal unsubstantiated decision"?

Polish, I can't understand your question. It is not in your usual comedy mode gibberish

The posters of your ilk deserted this forum in droves when they became aware through journos with access to leaks this was not a prosecutor's deficiency of evidence decision but a political decision.

And, furthermore, that the prosecutors and investigators were blindsided 30 minutes before media release of a political decision when the investigation had further witnesses to be interviewed.

Posters of your ilk were euphoric because they wrongly read into A-G's pulling of the case that Armstrong was vindicated through lack of evidence.

 

[pmcg76]

I agree. It he can beat the Feds then no one will touch him. I don't think the USADA investigation will go anywhere.

Meanwhile back in the cycling things are returning to normal:

_

Laurenzo Lapage, the Greenedge cycling sporting director who worked with Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams from 2003 to '07, said the decision reaffirmed what most colleagues of Armstrong had long believed: He isn't a doper - "Everyone who knows Lance and was racing and working with him knew this before," Lapage said as his team prepared for the first stage of the Tour of Qatar.

"It was not a surprise for anyone. It's a good feeling that the truth is out now," Lapage said. "The guy had a lot of success and a lot of people were jealous. ... People tried to break him down with lies and it is really good thing everything (is) over for him now. He did a lot of great things for cycling. It is his moment to live in peace."

Johnny Weltz, the sporting director of the American team Garmin-Barracuda who rode with Armstrong on the Motorola team in 1995, said Armstrong was an easy target.
"The people who (made) these charges, they wanted to be Lance and didn't manage it," Weltz said. "So OK you can hit him in another way. These aren't the right people to judge. For us and cycling, it was best that it was a federal investigation. They had no knowledge up front and no past in the sport. I think most justice happens that way."

"You can always bring questions up for everything. We are used to that in our world. You suspect someone if they do well," Weltz said.
"You can't go further when you have a federal investigation for two years and they don't nail him. You have to let the guy go," he said. "He was acting properly in (the) same environment as everyone else. He won his victories in a credible way."
Lapage said he never saw any evidence of doping during his time with Armstrong, insisting his success came down to a strong work ethic and natural talent.

"When you work for these people, you see the way they work, the way they train," Lapage said. "It's easy when you are against them to find something you think, 'Ah, it's not normal.' But if you see the big champions and normal champions, they are healthy and strong and also from nature they have something extra and they work with it."

This is the kind of stuff that to me undermines the whole Garmin clean team ethos. Here we have one of their directors spoting a load of rubbish basically saying everyone else was doping so its ok. If thats ok why dont Garmin just all dope as well as it sure seems a lot of other riders are still doing it.

 

[Velodude]

Would it not the information be shared to allow riders/management from other countries to be investigated?

I would believe only in the cases were the riders have ill gotten gains like a win in one of the three grand tours.

It would be up to each country's national federation and their allied anti doping organization whether particular riders are pursued.

USADA's jurisdiction is only for US registered riders. I am certain information would be supplied on request as USADA would expect a quid pro quo.

 

[Race Radio]

Vaughters on Weltz quotes

Yeah, I'm pretty upset by that statement. Really stupid.

It's a stupid comment. I've told him that.

Yeah, that's a stupid statement. No idea why anyone would say that.

 

[mewmewmew13]

I just can not believe this was actually spoken aloud.

"He was acting properly in (the) same environment as everyone else. He won his victories in a credible way."

now where did my gagging emoticon go??

 

[Race Radio]

I just can not believe this was actually spoken aloud.

"He was acting properly in (the) same environment as everyone else. He won his victories in a credible way."

now where did my gagging emoticon go??

What makes it even more strange is Armstrong is who got Johnny fired on Postal years ago

 

[pmcg76]

What makes it even more strange is Armstrong is who got Johnny fired on Postal years ago

Thats what I thought, was going to include it in my post but wasnt sure if he was pushed or left himself. He was removed to make room for Bruyneel thanks to Armstrong. I got the distinct impression that Weltz might not have been prepared to go the whole Hog so to speak.

 

[mewmewmew13]

What makes it even more strange is Armstrong is who got Johnny fired on Postal years ago

What the heck is going on here??
After Friday's announcement more people are spewing unbelievable sound bytes.

I hope something interesting is going to pop up here in the next few days around all this.....

 

[phanatic]

Blind worship of narcissistic tyrants will eventually bring USA in the same position that Europe was in under WW2. Why do you think I have so much against Armstrong and the culture he brings with him?

Spare me your Danelaw, I'm still ticked about what you guys did to Hamlet.

 

[D-Queued]

Looks like everyone is here for the Party.

Disappointing, but not surprising. Should we be surprised this comes at the start of an Olympic year?

I apologize for not participating for many months. The lack of news, however, foreshadowed the inevitable and left little to debate.

Though I may also chow down on some of RR's crow, I am thinking of celebrating this decision - my throwing in the towel moment - in style.

I have just booked my appointment at the anti-aging clinic to get a little 'help'. I am pretty sure I suffer tremendously from low T syndrome, and probably have the HCT of someone on chemo. I have also heard that I can get something to improve my eyesight, and something else to work on my 'asthma'. How fortunate.

While I am at it, I should probably store a little of my blood in case I ever have an accident or need an operation or something.

A vacation to Spain, or Andorra, or Mexico, or somewhere, may also be on the horizon. You never know what kind of souvenirs you can get injected or infused with. I promise that I will be 'tranquilo' no matter what.

If you see a fatty master passing you on some brutal climb, take heart. It is just another miracle of modern medicine.

Thanks, Lance, for showing us the way to the top.

Dave.

 

[thehog]

Vaughters on Weltz quotes

Is that from Twitter? Smart move from Vaughters.

At least our mate Cav knew the best thing to say:

Several riders, including world sprint champion Mark Cavendish and former Armstrong teammate Yaroslav Popovych, refused to discuss the Armstrong matter ahead of their race in Doha. Officials from Popovych's Radioshack-Nissan team also refused to discuss it.

 

[Berzin]

Vaughters needs to stay out of the fray. He never did publicly state what went on when he was US Postal.

We only got a cryptic transcription of some lame cell phone conversation that he never clarified.

Guys like him should have stepped up, but he decided to step off because he knew his career as a DS would have been smashed, so whatever he says going forward is of no consequence whatsoever.

And the USADA investigation gets squashed in 5...4...3...2...

 

[mewmewmew13]

Vaughters needs to stay out of the fray. He never did publicly state what went on when he was US Postal.

We only got a cryptic transcription of some lame cell phone conversation that he never clarified.

Guys like him should have stepped up, but he decided to step off because he knew his career as a DR would have been smashed, so whatever he says going forward is no consequence whatsoever.

And the USADA investigation gets squashed in 5...4...3...2...

Travis sounds s p u n k y...
may hold up better than predicted.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/usada-still-investigating-doping-allegations-against-armstrong

 

[thehog]

Travis sounds s p u n k y...
may hold up better than predicted.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/usada-still-investigating-doping-allegations-against-armstrong

I bet you Fabani has made a submission to freeze the transfer of evidence. He will hold up in the courts for months/years.

No chance its going anywhere.

Sorry to say but Armstrong won this one clean!

 

[Velodude]

I bet you Fabani has made a submission to freeze the transfer of evidence. He will hold up in the courts for months/years.

No chance its going anywhere.

Sorry to say but Armstrong won this one clean!

A successful prosecution by USADA is not totally reliant upon accessing the Fed's evidence.

All team riders who witnessed Armstrong's doping indiscretions were also partaking under the team program.

USADA would know through the investigation liaison with the Feds the identities of those riders. USADA offers not to take action against them in return for their truthful testimony.

If the riders refuse to testify then USADA takes action against them for violating the anti doping rules.

Doubtful whether a rider would take on the time and cost of a defense as opposed to providing truthful testimony under oath with the burden of a perjury charge if materially untruthful.

 

[Anonymous]

I bet you Fabani has made a submission to freeze the transfer of evidence. He will hold up in the courts for months/years.

No chance its going anywhere.

Sorry to say but Armstrong won this one clean!

Geebus, LA probably will need a clean set of skivvies after reading this.

Thehog proclaiming Lance walks. I'm certainly feeling better about Tygart and the USADA prospects now.

 

[JRTinMA]

You must be one of the very few whose euphoria continues beyond the first 24 hours until the latter realisation the euphoria was a result of misjudgments and a big picture misconception.

Fail, in fact you should take your own advice. You have had two years of misconception, misjudgments and reading the BS of so called insiders. You are grasping at straws and looking desperate.

 

[Night Rider]

I bet you Fabani has made a submission to freeze the transfer of evidence. He will hold up in the courts for months/years.

No chance its going anywhere.

Sorry to say but Armstrong won this one clean!

I agree. The whole sad affair has come to an end unless someone with big balls and some credibility is ready to give the big F U to Armstrong and come clean to USADA. That is highly unlikely.

I think it's more a case of ... move on, nothing to see here anymore.

 

[Race Radio]

Fail, in fact you should take your own advice. You have had two years of misconception, misjudgments and reading the BS of so called insiders. You are grasping at straws and looking desperate.

Enjoy this time while you can, it gets worse from here.

 

[Race Radio]

I bet you Fabani has made a submission to freeze the transfer of evidence. He will hold up in the courts for months/years.

No chance its going anywhere.

Sorry to say but Armstrong won this one clean!

It cannot hold up for long. The process and what they can have access to is well established. There are signed agreements and the process was vetted during the BALCO case.

 

[The Hitch]

You see, I’m not like a lot of the others around here. So many people trying desperately to dodge the dreaded “hater” label. Not me. I’ve always embraced it. I hate everything I see when it comes to the narcissistic, manipulative, bullying, intimidating, petty, vindictive, and outright lying side of Lance Armstrong. I really do. I think “hate” is the appropriate word for me. Maybe some people are attracted to that kind of behavior. Maybe they like working for people like that, or doing business with people like that, or get some sort of satisfaction from seeing people like that succeed. Not me. I hate that.

You see, this whole sordid affair sort of began because, well, Lance Armstrong used to be a very successful professional cyclist. And this place here, as it turns out, is a website dedicated to professional cycling. How cool is that! We get to come together to discuss all things cycling! Now, there is a dark side to all of this. Shhhh, it’s not very pretty. As it turns out, there have been whispers, rumors, innuendo, even eyewitness accounts, that suggest that Lance Armstrong broke some of the rules along the pathway to his 7-times of awesomeness. So naturally, this topic ended up being discussed on here. Lot’s of different opinions on the matter. Makes for quite a fun read if you have a several months to peruse the forum archives.

Lance denied this all along, of course. Can you blame him? He’s a friggin’ champion! His awesomeness is known around the world! He doesn’t have to concern himself with other peoples “rules.” What do you think he is, some sort of loser? But Lance wasn’t happy with what some people were saying about him. Even said some very nasty things himself about those people who told some of those dirty little secrets. He really doesn’t care for that sort of thing.

But now, all of a sudden, there is word that the people in charge of making sure that athletes DO play by the rules seem to have a renewed interest in Lance’s background. As it turns out, there’s a chance, a pico-chance at least, that those same people will gain access to some of this recent testimony we’ve been hearing so much about. Yup, THAT testimony. Oh boy. This is definitely NOT the kind of thing that funny man Phil Liggett wants us to know about. No siree. That wouldn’t make for very good commentary just prior to sidekick Paul’s warning us about the dangers of touching one’s breaks in the middle of a sprint build up. Nope. Nor would that sort of thing look good if spelled out to us by one of those fancy Nike chalkbots. Words like Christian Vande Velde just have too many darn letters for that type of thing anyway. Although, I suppose they could just use acronyms to fit in the relevant parts. EPO would probably fit. Most likely.

It’s kind of funny when you think about it, really. Isn’t this where we started? Doping in cycling, Lance lying about his doping, others confirming his doping? Wow, we’ve come full circle. Kind of like laps on the Champs-Élysées! It goes a little bit up, it goes a little bit down, it can get going pretty quickly at times, it’s always bumpy...and you never know just when someone from the crowd is going step out of line and bring the whole thing crashing down. But everyone always gets back up again and the race continues on. But with each passing year, it does become more and more predictable. Lot’s of people don’t even bother watching that stage of the race anymore. SSDD.

But if this latest chapter does contain any new stories, you guys will know all about it long before 60 Minutes, Sports Illustrated or ESPN. Long before Bill Strickland gets teary-eyed about it. Long before The Boulder Report uses too many words to describe it (the nerve). Even long before Daniel Benson beats Velonews by 36 hours to inform the rest of the cycling world. Yup, you guys will already be in-the-know.

How so? The advanced info will be playing on your favorite station! Duh. And you’ll be tuned in, as always. Of course you’ll do your best to create static. You’ll try to move the antennas around a bit, you’ll even fight over the dial and do your best to change to another station (which really isn’t very nice, especially when someone else is driving). Then the mods will threaten to pull the car over if you don’t stop. No worries though. They won’t. They never do. They might spank a few of you. They might even slow the car down pretending like they’re going to stop, but they won’t. And neither will you. You’ll just keep at it. But if the same old tricks don’t work, you’ll just turn up the volume so that EVERYTHING that comes out sounds distorted. I used to do that when my sister would listen to the soundtrack from Grease, over and over again, on the family record player.

I got chiiiills, they’re mutliplyin’
and I’m loooosin’ control
‘cause the power, you’re supplyin’
it’s electrifyin’!

Who do you think you are, Francois the postman ?

 

[thehog]

It cannot hold up for long. The process and what they can have access to is well established. There are signed agreements and the process was vetted during the BALCO case.

RR I'm with you I really am BUT I never thought this case would get pulled. And it did. I have no reason and no faith to believe that USADA will do much. I know the angle of their investigation will be different but NO ONE and I mean NO ONE is going to talk to USADA now. If anything people are more intimidated of Armstrong than ever before. If Lance can take on the government and win then USADA aren't going to do Jack.

Not going to happen.

 

[The Hitch]

I can off course only speak for myself, but my problem with Armstrong is exactly that he is "a tyrant, a thug, a bully". My problem with USA is that a majority of americans apparently think that these dysfunctional characteristics are admirable qualities.

Americans like Armstrong because he is a compatriot who was the best in a very very difficult sport. they also love the story of the cancer comeback, of someone showing guts, fighting through challenges and the fact that they think he has done a lot for charity.

To make remarks about an entire people"admiring" negative characteristics such as tyrany is very offensive.

 

[Stingray34]

RR I'm with you I really am BUT I never thought this case would get pulled. And it did. I have no reason and no faith to believe that USADA will do much. I know the angle of their investigation will be different but NO ONE and I mean NO ONE is going to talk to USADA now. If anything people are more intimidated of Armstrong than ever before. If Lance can take on the government and win then USADA aren't going to do Jack.

Not going to happen.

Yep, true this is.

Money has spoken, bull$hit has taken the token...oh dear, I think I'm channeling Anthony Keidis...down in the badlands she was stealing another breath, I love my yellow wristband to death....