04/23/24
July 19, 2010
LeMond: Federal Probe Will 'End' Armstrong: A federal probe into seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is "the beginning of the end" for his reputation, fellow American Tour winner Greg LeMond said. "Up until now, he has achieved great things, if you consider he did it fairly, which I don't believe." Grand jury subpoenas were issued this week to LeMond and several of Armstrong's former teammates. The New York Times has more details.
I don't really believe that anyone was racing the TdF clean. I pretty much view all of the bickering and accusations as crabs in a barrel foolishness.
posted by bperk at 10:26 AM on July 19, 2010
You don't invite Greg to your bongo jamathon with Mcconaughey ONE time and he goes full grudge forever.
posted by basicchannel at 11:12 AM on July 19, 2010
You don't invite Greg to your bongo jamathon with Mcconaughey ONE time and he goes full grudge forever.
I heard he was invited, but refused to take off his shirt, and things went south from there . . .
posted by holden at 11:28 AM on July 19, 2010
Wait, wasn't Greg LeMond's name mentioned in the recent allegations by Floyd Landis?
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:59 PM on July 19, 2010
Wait, wasn't Greg LeMond's name mentioned in the recent allegations by Floyd Landis?
Yes, in as much as Landis's manager made threatening phonecalls to LeMond on the eve of LeMond appearing as a witness in Landis's arbitration case against USADA.
I believe LeMond has since accepted Landis's apology for that incident and has said he believes most of the allegations that Landis came out with last month.
With regards to this latest story, I saw this quote from Armstrong today was pretty confused: "We will have the opportunity to tell the truth to the authorities, and Greg LeMond will tell the truth about 1989 I hope".
What is that? A threat? Is he suggesting LeMond doped in 1989? Because if you ask most cycling fans to name one racer they think is clean, most will say LeMond.
posted by afx237vi at 04:22 PM on July 19, 2010
I don't think that's what I heard within the last couple of days, afx, but I don't have the story in hand. Perhaps if I get some spare time, I'll look for it. Personally I'd love to see the tiara knocked off LeMond's sanctimonious little head.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 04:57 PM on July 19, 2010
These guys who want nothing more than to tear down Armstrong because he's an asshole, or cheater are missing the point. Armstrong's story is more important that Armstrong.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:49 PM on July 19, 2010
All 3 parties are starting to sound like jealous office ladies, never was a fan of any of them.
As long as Bernard Hinault doesn't get thrown into the fray I'll deal with it.
posted by cixelsyd at 09:51 PM on July 19, 2010
Lemond actually has proposed some interesting approaches to combatting doping in cycling. Problem is, it always comes across in a bitter tirade against Armstrong and preaching the only Greg was pure and clean in winning the Tour. Problem is there's no more proof that Greg was clean than there is that Armstrong was dirty. So they both end up sounding like a couple grouchy old men.
I believe cycling will always have to combat doping as long as races like the Tour are held. The human body can't recover fast enough to withstand this punishment. Riders have turned to whatever aid was available at the time since the race began. That includes Lemond, Hinault, Anquetil, Indurain, etc.
But I don't view cycling as any different from most other professional sports. If anyone really believes MLB, NFL, or professional soccer are clean, I think they're kidding themselves. Cycling is more aggressive in trying to identify cheaters, so it gets more negative press. And the penalties in cycling are much tougher - two years off for first offense, lifetime ban fo second. Given that typical rider's career is only 4 or 5 years long, that't a huge penalty. In comparison, NFL or MLB penalties are a slap in wrist.
posted by BikeNut at 07:31 AM on July 20, 2010
I want to like cycling, but all this infighting, accusations, etc make me feel dirty.