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I have no doubt that he doped

He probably did dope.

It's highly likely that he (like most others) took drugs during that era.

I really don't understand how you people can draw these conclusions? It's a sad day indeed where people are now assumed guilty until they prove their innocence. And what are these 'conclusions' even based on? Reading a couple of articles on the internet and then thinking you know the whole story? Please.

Sure, everyone is entitled to their 'opinion', but these uninformed opinions seem to be thrown around as fact more often than not. The only real 'fact' is that you can't possibly know whether he took drugs or not. Unless you've been privy to some other evidence that the rest of the general public haven't been, I don't see how you could possibly come to those conclusions?

Just because someone gives up trying to clear their name doesn't make them guilty. Maybe he's just finally had enough of the which hunt that's been out to get him for the last decade? At the end of the day, he knows the truth and he ultimately has to live with the decisions he made. If he did cheat, he knows he didn't deserve the titles. His name does not deserve to be tarnished through the court of public opinion without any real evidence being made public.

The only indisputable facts are that he has never failed a drug test, despite completing hundreds over the course of his career. I can accept that this doesn't necessarily prove anything 100%, but they are the only facts we have been provided with. anything else is just hearsay, rumour, opinion or unproven statements.

The man is an inspiration to thousands of cancer patients and cancer survivors alike. He proved that we can all achieve greatness no matter what challenges life throws at us. I cannot understand what good could possibly come from dragging his name through the mud? The work he has done for cancer research and to help fellow cancer patients and survivors is tremendous. What's the point in undoing all of the good that has come from his inspirational achievements?

Bravo, bravo well written

a guy who i know quite well who is a med lev rider says even the locals are all doping

i got no idea about what lance did or didnt but no doubt doping was done by lots & lots of cyclists

well done by the organisers that they r fighting hard 2 clean it up

marion jones never failed a drug test either... the simple fact is you have such a small window of opportunity to detect drugs in somebody's system because after doping, they then decide to take diuretics to help it pass through their system in no time at all..

I think up until this year, there had been 1-2 cyclists who had actually been caught using EPO... The majority of cyclists are caught for diuretics or other masking agents.. whilst these drugs offer no performance boosting effects, they simply aid in removing the drug from the system..

One of his former team mates, Tyler Hamilton, who has been banned for life for doping has just released a new book all about the 'secret world of doping' in cycling.. I think it would be an interesting read, but i fear instead of focusing on his own issues he will just pin it all on Lance...

The truth will come out sooner or later.. USADA wouldnt strip one of their country's best athletes of all time of 7 titles, if they did not have the evidence to support it.. they would just look like morons, and kill the fight against drugs in cycling forever.

This is why I said 'probably', not 'he 100% doped, I know for a fact'

This whole I can't be bothered clearing my name anymore thing I struggle with. If I was accused of doping, I'd be doing everything possible to clear my name. The cynical bastard in me suggests that he'd rather go down as a suspected drug cheat rather than be proven to be one in the courts.

But yes, I agree noone except for those involved will ever really know.

I think everyone accept that athletes are generally getting better and better each year with better technology, nutrition, training and medicine. Yet overall cyclists were 5% faster on the climb sections of the Tour de France on the dark days of 1996-2006. How is it that everyone is now much worse than they used to be? One answer seems obvious.

Also for all these claims that Lance never failed a drug test, that isn't true. He was caught twice. "One in 1999 for steroids and again in 1999 for the red cell boosting drug, EPO." http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2012/06/13/lanc...

By the way this article has another interesting point, but one that isn't proof. It asks if everyone else was cheating and getting a massive advantage how could he possibly win against them?

None of these forms of evidence which include many, many people that rode with him saying that he doped may be good enough to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he doped. But in my heart being able to disqualify damming tests on technicalities doesn't make him innocent.

It isn't just one piece of evidence like the sworn testimony of those that rode with him, or failed drug tests, or statistical analysis it is just a massive wall of evidnce. Looks like it will never be proven in court but it is proven to me.

Despite all of this is he still a hero. The common belief now is that they were ALL doping and so in a bizarre way he was competing on a level playing field. So I have a bizarre opinion. I consider that he was a drug cheat, but in an era when everyone was he is still the seven time champion and an inspiration to me.

Some real great thoughts there Yoda. Brilliantly written. I agree with pretty much everything you have said.

I always tend to be an optimist so I still want to believe that he was clean (and that I will smash Whitebeard on Saturday :-)

...being able to disqualify damming tests on technicalities doesn't make him innocent.

It doesn't make him guilty either.

I'm an agnostic; I have the humility to accept that I don't know. I will, though, have opinions and many of them. Ultimately, however, I understand and accept that they are still opinions.

So I have a bizarre opinion. I consider that he was a drug cheat, but in an era when everyone was he is still the seven time champion and an inspiration to me.

I share this opinion.

Last edited by Axis123 at 9/6/2012 2:14:28 AM

So I have a bizarre opinion. I consider that he was a drug cheat, but in an era when everyone was he is still the seven time champion and an inspiration to me.

So you are inspired to cheat? "P

(sorry, me just being facetious!)

Pfffff shuddup

so whos the better athlete...
bill russell or lebron james?