Will Lance or the Hog take Contador down with him?

[VeloCity]

But..... I thought Floyd and Lemond wanted to clean cycling up. Shouldn't there be an outrage from them if interpol doesn't cast a larger net??

Because the US FDA can't go after Contador, not that hard to understand. Anyway, Lemond has already said on record that he thinks Contador is dirty, so what exactly is your point? The investigation is about whether or not federal funds were used illegally during the USPS years, what's it got to do with Contador? And Floyd has never said anything about coming forward because he wanted to clean cycling up, he said he came forward to clear his own conscience.

 

[The Cobra]

I seriously doubt Lance is going to take Contador or anyone else down with him because then he'd actually have to admit to doping. Lance will stick to the deny deny deny its all BS, a conspiracy till he dies. Even if by some miracle he actually does get taken down, Lance will keep up the act because millions of fanboys refuse to believe a bad word against him and will keep buying those livestrong bands

 

[scribe]

Because the US FDA can't go after Contador, not that hard to understand.

Well, that is the literal interpretation. But I'll let that one slide by.

Anyway, Lemond has already said on record that he thinks Contador is dirty, so what exactly is your point?

He has actually said very little about Contador. Even that was while he was under team Bruyneel/Armstrong. Compared to the criticism he has launched onto Armstrong, I think he would be better served to step up his attacks on others in the peloton. Because you know, Floyd even says it is pandemic within the upper tier of riders.

The investigation is about whether or not federal funds were used illegally during the USPS years, what's it got to do with Contador?

Again, you struggle with the literal. The investigation was launched because of doping with controlled substances, as detailed by Landis allegations. The other stuff is part of a widening investigation, because it is going to be very difficult to make the first items stick without evidence.

And Floyd has never said anything about coming forward because he wanted to clean cycling up, he said he came forward to clear his own conscience.

Floyd came forward to make good on his threats, and he made sure to do so before statute of limitations expired. I am sure his conscience would have been just as well served waiting. I'd urge you to remember this when Ullrich is ready to talk.

 

[Cloxxki]

It's mainly jealousy, right? What's NOT to like about Contador? Comes from a warm family, caring for his mentally challenged brother, taking upon himself the great deeds his brother was not given opportunity to.
Although I consider Contador an absolute exceptional talent, I no longer believe in fairytales. Him being Spanish doesn't help faith from outsiders, so much competition, so many pro riders. Being Spanish does help staying out of trouble.

Anyway, when Bruyneel and Armstrong DO go down, I expect them to portray that they had to do it to let their talent come out among that dirty rotten world. Sure, they'll Twitter some allegations of their own. Something so low when Floyd does it...

 

[I Watch Cycling In July]

He has actually said very little about Contador. Even that was while he was under team Bruyneel/Armstrong.

Oh come on, Lemond had something to say about Contador after the Verbier climb last year. Compare the few comments made about Contador with his few initial comments about Lance, when Lance was first winning tours. Not that different. Apples and apples etc.

Floyd came forward to make good on his threats, and he made sure to do so before statute of limitations expired. I am sure his conscience would have been just as well served waiting. I'd urge you to remember this when Ullrich is ready to talk.

I'm not sure his conscience would have been as well served. It seems entirely possible that he feels his conscience would not be well served if he failed to speak up soon enough for anything to be done about "the cancer of cycling".

Obviously, you may think that Armstrong was no worse than anyone else in terms of the amount he doped, the extent to which he enforced omerta, his blatant bad example for juniors of the day, the amount of he lies told the unsuspecting masses and how much he profited from his duplicity. Then it does make sense to suggest that Landis should place as much emphasis on other riders as he places on Armstrong. But do you seriously mean what you are implying here, or are you just enjoying a little recreational debating?

 

[scribe]

Oh come on, Lemond had something to say about Contador after the Verbier climb last year. Compare the few comments made about Contador with his few initial comments about Lance, when Lance was first winning tours. Not that different. Apples and apples etc.



I'm not sure his conscience would have been as well served. It seems entirely possible that he feels his conscience would not be well served if he failed to speak up soon enough for anything to be done about "the cancer of cycling".

Obviously, you may think that Armstrong was no worse than anyone else in terms of the amount he doped, the extent to which he enforced omerta, his blatant bad example for juniors of the day, the amount of he lies told the unsuspecting masses and how much he profited from his duplicity. Then it does make sense to suggest that Landis should place as much emphasis on other riders as he places on Armstrong. But do you seriously mean what you are implying here, or are you just enjoying a little recreational debating?

It is totally fair to call out all guilty parties if you are desirous of a cleaner sport. I don't think FL gives a rats *** if the kids behind him dope or not, and frankly, I have a problem with that. This is a targeted shake down to settle some private score. To Lance's discredit, he does seem to have a lot of these around himself.

 

[flicker]

Bruyneel will not rat anyone out. he lives by the omerta. if LA tries to blame Hog for everything, Hog will simply deny it and distance himself from LA, with the help of the ASO, UCI and pro cycling in europe. if he does not receive 'behind door' backing from them, well maybe as a last resort he may 'spit in the soup' knowing that he is not allowed to sit at the table ever again. but i cannot see that happening to Hog.

It will take a lot to get LA to admit to everything that is being directed at him. his ego will not allow him tell the truth and he probably has millions stashed in Swiss accounts so wont need to do a Landis as he will not hit rockbottom. His sponors are likely gonna stand by him depending on the outcome and LAs attitude as they know how to rebuild myths like the Woods affairs, but if LA gets nuked that he did dope, well it is hard to see how nikie, giro, nissian, twek et al can still support a proven cheater, so it all depends.

Of course i hope he gets nuked, because he deserves no less. i find it interesting that cycling still likes the guy. I reckon if he stopped the TdF wins at number 5 and went to ride other GTs and Palmares he would have been the living god in cycling because he would have shown huge respect to Merckx, Hinault, Anqeutil etc and for lots in cycling that is important.

Lucine Van Impe thought that Virenque winning more than 6 KOM jerseys was disrespectful to the 'Eagle of Toledo' Federico Martin Bahamontes, so this shows you how legends are felt about in cycling.

you are a fan but a hardcore fan no. you havn't been around cycling that long. more cowbell please

 

[richwagmn]

We've already seen some posturing by Lance to say that he was just a rider on U.S. Postal. This seems to be setting up the Hog to take the fall (or at least the biggest fall) in Novitzky's investigation.

If the doping program was as much Bruyneel's as Armstrongs, we can expect that he carried it over with Contador at Discovery and then Astana. Clearly, then, he's got the goods on Contador, to the extent that such goods exist.

Although Novitzky's investigation does not focus on the Discovery Channel years, I have to believe he'll ask about Contador at some point in some tangential way.

I'm not sure about the Hog, but Lance sure has motivation to take Contador down. Not only does Alberto threaten his record of seven tours, he doesn't like the guy.

This will be interesting for sure.

I'm not sure even LA is that cold. But if he does let JB go down...

As for AC, I don't think so. I doubt LA will name any names.

I wonder what the rest of the current peloton thinks of Landis naming names?

Yes, doping was certainly rampant. But it was a damned if you, damned if you don't thing. If you don't win, you don't get a contract and don't ride. If the guy you're racing against is doping (or you think he is) it would be hard not to do it yourself if you want to be competitive. I mean, how many cyclists quit saying I can't stand riding with these dopers?

 

[HokieJoe]

I don't want the current champ to be guilty, but if he is I do want him to go down, like everyone else. We either want a clean sport, or we don't.

What gives you reason to believe a clean sport is an achievable goal?

 

[hrotha]

What gives you reason to believe a clean sport is an achievable goal?

It's all a matter of changing the prevalent culture in the peloton. With enough dramatic shake-ups I do believe such a change is possible, and therefore a sport where clean riders can actually succeed at the top level is achievable in the long term.

Even if that's an ideal, I don't see any good reason not to try to achieve it. And if we're going to try, we have to try our hardest and not stop for anyone, no matter how important they are. If we're not going to try there's no point in keeping up the anti-doping farce and ruining the careers of the few who get caught.

 

[HokieJoe]

It's all a matter of changing the prevalent culture in the peloton. With enough dramatic shake-ups I do believe such a change is possible, and therefore a sport where clean riders can actually succeed at the top level is achievable in the long term.

Even if that's an ideal, I don't see any good reason not to try to achieve it. And if we're going to try, we have to try our hardest and not stop for anyone, no matter how important they are. If we're not going to try there's no point in keeping up the anti-doping farce and ruining the careers of the few who get caught.

I don't have a problem with striving for the 'ideal'. I worry that pragmatism and a lack of historical perspective is most often completely lost in these discussions. Doping will always outpace testing (until every contestant's genome is mapped and classified down to the last chromosome).