Seven Tour de France titles could be gone

Lance Armstrong chose not to pursue arbitration in the drug case brought against him by the USADA. Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive said Armstrong would lose the titles as soon as Friday and be hit with a lifetime ban, even though he is retired and turning 41 next month. He added that International Cycling Union was ''bound to recognize our decision and impose it'' as a signer of the World Anti-Doping Code.

 

Armstrong said he has grown tired of defending himself in a seemingly never-ending fight against charges that he doped during his extraordinary run of Tour titles from 1999 to 2005. ''There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, `Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now,'' Armstrong said, just hours before the deadline to enter arbitration. He called the USADA investigation an ''unconstitutional witch hunt.''

 

I don't think this is right, he was an amazing sportsman with a great career. What dou you guys think about this?

i think if they havent been able to prove it after so many freaking years and attempts to prove it then...they need to let it go..........how much money was wasted on the Roger Clemons Perjury trial???  but in the US we will let the Attorney General lie right to congress without repercussion but we will hunt down the athletes....go figure  LET HIM RETIRE IN PEACE

I'm quite surprised that Armstrong gave up the fight. I admired him throughout all those years but what he did now might suggest that he was afraid. 10 of his former team mates were going to testify against him, those testimonies were going to be made public, and that would have ruined his public image. It's unlike Armstrong to give up. You can't give up when you know you are clean, that's what I think.

 

The fact that the investigation was opened years after is not relevant in my view. The fans that adored him deserve to know the truth, 10 years, 20 years or a lifetime after, better later than never.

I agree with you Johhny,  it could suggest he was afraid or it could suggest he was just tired of the BS.  i dont follow cycling but hadnt he been investigated many times before only to be found "clean"  or is this the first time these charges have been brought up?  if it has been brought up before, then you get into the credibility of teammates as to why they never spoke up before and only now?  either way,  everyone involves loses out...i jus t wish that we here in the states would worry about more important world issues instead of the smaller less important issues that involve celebrity scandals.

Doping was used on a very large scale in cycling in the 90s and the thing is that the ones involved, especially doctors and riders, were always one step ahead of the ones that were in charge of the doping tests. That is why quite a few riders were found clean at the time but later proved guilty of taking illegal substances or making blood transfusions before and during the races. Armstrong never failed a doping test but that does not necessarily represent the truth.

 

Take blood transfusions for instance. That was a method that almost every professional team was using because there was no way to detect it during the doping tests. They knew it was illegal but they couldn't get caught at the time.

 

Anti doping has taken quite a few steps forward since then and that is why old cases are emerging. Armstrong is not the only one, but he surely is the most famous one.

wow,  i was so not aware of that.........so in reality many of them probably did this their entire careers....that sucks for the sport for sure because with these facts and techniques brought out into the spotlight it surely makes him look guilty as hell if he doesnt want to fight the charges.

There were people accusing Armstrong before his retirement but they never managed to back those accusations with solid proof. Now they say there is proof, so I guess it's more than a "witch hunt".

 

I admire Lance for what he does in the charity field for fighting cancer but that doesn't mean he is above the law.

I don't like that idea of retroactively using new technologies. I mean, he was risking a lot but they didn't catch him when he was racing, so he got away with it, I guess, if he doped at all...  he's a great champion and I don't understand their point of doing this now.  So, I see this only as a "witch hunt".

 

 

To me no matter how you look at it. it's a shame.It's really sad that it has come to this and now his name will be forever tarnished!

I don't like that idea of retroactively using new technologies.

 

Just an example: DNA testing was used in bringing up old murder cases and it solved a few major judicial errors, proving that some people did jail without being guilty. So I believe using new technology in re-evaluating older cases, in sports or justice (this case has something of each), is a must, not even an option.

I don't like that idea of retroactively using new technologies.

 

Just an example: DNA testing was used in bringing up old murder cases and it solved a few major judicial errors, proving that some people did jail without being guilty. So I believe using new technology in re-evaluating older cases, in sports or justice (this case has something of each), is a must, not even an option.

EXCELLENT point Johnny!!  I think I personally feel it is just such a waste of money when we have so many more important issues out there....starvation, homlessness, lack of education ...  i just hate to see things like this that after it is all said and done add up to a giant waste  (the roger clemons perjury trial is a real example for me)

Just an example: DNA testing was used in bringing up old murder cases and it solved a few major judicial errors, proving that some people did jail without being guilty. So I believe using new technology in re-evaluating older cases, in sports or justice (this case has something of each), is a must, not even an option.

 

That's true, new technologies are very important and that's a great help nowadays but I wasn't talking about murder trials or proving someone's innocence, I was talking about anti-doping control. For me, these things are complete different and you can't mix these things up. I just can't believe that a murder case and doping are equally important and serious.

 

Sport is an amazing activity but every athlete chooses its own path without endangering other professional. I think that we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. :)

 

And just to be clear, i'm not approving doping, I'm against it.

every athlete chooses its own path without endangering other professional.

 

Not really. If one uses illegal substances and wins that means he takes away the possibility of winning from an athlete that competes without using illegal substances. Not winning can't kill an athlete, I agree, but it can surely ruin his career and life. Doping is cheating and cheating should be punished. Immediately I'd prefer, but I'd take 20 years after than not at all.