It seems that everyday there is a new Lance Armstrong story in the press. The longer it goes on the more shocking it gets. Today's news is that Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France wins as well as being dropped by many sponsors.
Let me first say that it should not be forgotten that he has twice recovered from cancer and that he has done so much for charity.
I am dumbfounded at some of the allegations which have come out. A very professional and organised doping group led by Armstrong seems to have some truth behind it.
This is purely down to the number of the different people coming out against Lance Armstrong collaborating the same stories. He had never been found guilty of failing any drug test in the past, but the allegations levelled at him explain exactly how he got around this. The first time I thought that something fishy was happening was when Armstrong decided not to defend a ban and the stripping of some titles against him. This is something that I believe could be an admission of guilt. If I knew I was innocent of something then I would fight till my name was cleared. Maybe the real reason he decided not to fight the ban was to stop other information coming out.
The sport seems to have been filled with many people taking drugs to enhance their performance. The fact that he had been taking drugs seems to something that all the riders were doing. Where Armstrong seems to be worse than the rest is the fact that he was the ring leader, he would organise it all and he was more cunning in covering up the truth. To me it seemed that the other riders were almost scarred to speak out against doping and Armstrong.
I heard Christophe Bassons a French rider talk on a brilliant BBC radio show on doping last week about how Armstrong had hounded him out the sport. The only reason being that he wrote an article saying that doping in riding still happened. He describes here how the day after the article was published, that all the other riders had planned to go slow and not tell Bassons. This meant that Bassons pushed hard from the start, then Armstrong pulled up to him and verbally abused him saying he will make his life hell.
Another interview in that show was with an American rider who was about to come clean about doping in cycling. He claims that Armstrong found out about this and came to the restaurant where his family were dinning, stating that Armstrong threatened him.
Lance Armstrong has friends in high places, claiming amongst his friends the last three presidents of the USA as well as some other world leaders such as French presidents. Could it be possible that to help in his cover up he was also friends with people in high places in cycling who helped cover up his misdemeanour's to save the sports reputation?
Me being a fan of sport wants Armstrong to get everything he deserves, he has conned people into idolising him. He has bullied his way to the top of the sport and ruined the reputation of the sports once again. He has profited a lot of money through this cheating and should be accountable.
The two worst things to come of this is that the seven titles which Armstrong cheated his way to victory now have no winners, just a little x written where the winners name should be. Something so traditional as the Tour de France will have seven failed tours. Also the fact that cycling in the UK had been on a high after the heroics of Bradley Wiggins and co through the summer, these people now are having to answer questions about why they are clean. The once legend of cycling now has pretty much been wiped out from cycling history and I believe should be forgotten, as he doesn't even deserve any mentions any more.
