- 11 Oct 2012 12:03
#14079408
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-11/a ... ed/4306544
What a douche. I don't really give a toss about cycling, but I'm surprised by how much this makes me angry. This guy was such a role model and inspiration, and it turns out he was not just cheating himself, but was a ringleader in pushing doping on other cyclists. Anyone who wants to use the "oh everyone was doing it" defense should heed the comments contained in the reports that said "He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team. He enforced and re-enforced it."
Anti-doping agency says Armstrong sport's biggest cheat
By North America correspondent Jane Cowan, wires
Lance Armstrong was at the heart of the biggest doping conspiracy in sports history when he won the Tour de France seven years in a row, a US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report says.
USADA has submitted its report on why it banned Armstrong for life to the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), releasing more than 1,000 pages of evidence from its probe of doping in cycling.
"Lance Armstrong did not merely use performance-enhancing drugs. He supplied them to his team-mates," the report said.
"He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team. He enforced and re-enforced it."
USADA describes its dossier as the most extensive, groundbreaking account of Armstrong's alleged doping ever revealed, bolstered by unprecedented interviews with 11 of his former team-mates.
Evidence against Armstrong - one of the world's most famous athletes who is well-known for his cancer-fighting charity work - also included financial payments, emails, scientific data and laboratory test results.
USADA says its report reveals conclusive and undeniable proof that brings to light for the first time a systemic, sustained and highly professionalised team-run doping conspiracy.
The report contained the sworn testimony of 26 people, including 15 professional riders.
Audio: Armstrong set to lose Tour titles (AM)
Armstrong denies ever engaging in doping and his legal team dismissed the report ahead of its release, saying there had been "no judge, no jury and no hearing" involved in reaching this judgment.
He has never failed a doping test but was banned for life by USADA in August after announcing he would not fight the charges.
The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.
"The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," USADA chief executive Travis Tygart said in a statement.
"The evidence also includes direct documentary evidence including financial payments, emails, scientific data and laboratory test results that further prove the use, possession and distribution of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong and confirm the disappointing truth about the deceptive activities of the USPS Team, a team that received tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars in funding."
Shortly after the report's release, two cyclists who provided testimony against Armstrong confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs.
George Hincapie, who rode alongside Armstrong when he won each of his seven Tour de France titles, admitted cheating and told USADA he was not alone.
"I would have been much more comfortable talking only about myself, but understood that I was obligated to tell the truth about everything I knew. So that is what I did," he said in a statement.
Another former Armstrong team-mate, Canada's Michael Barry, said he was pressured to dope by the team.
"After being encouraged by the team, pressured to perform and pushed to my physical limits, I crossed a line I promised myself and others I would not: I doped," he said.
Tygart has also spoken of the evidence of Armstrong trying to stop witnesses from cooperating with USADA's investigation.
"The evidence shows he has been in contact with a number of the witnesses trying to find out and actually discourage them from participating," Tygart told the BBC.
Armstrong's lawyers have repeatedly attacked the credibility of USADA's case, describing the proceedings as a "kangaroo court" and a "witch hunt" on the eve of the report's release.
"USADA has continued its efforts to coerce and manufacture evidence from other riders through threats and sweetheart deals and generated self-serving media coverage through leaks and piecemeal release of tired, disproven allegations," Armstrong's attorney, Timothy Herman, wrote in a letter to USADA.
"This reasoned decision will be a farce ... while USADA can put lipstick on a pig, it still remains a pig."
Several former team-mates had already spoken out publicly against Armstrong but USADA has named all 11 for the first time: Frankie Andreu, Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.
"It took tremendous courage for the riders on the USPS Team and others to come forward and speak truthfully. It is not easy to admit your mistakes and accept your punishment," USADA said.
"But that is what these riders have done for the good of the sport, and for the young riders who hope to one day reach their dreams without using dangerous drugs or methods."
The agency said that the evidence amassed in this investigation demonstrated that a "code of silence" regarding performance-enhancing drug use in cycling has been shattered, but more needs to be done.
Audio: Anderson concedes Armstrong evidence overwhelming (The World Today)
"From day one, we always hoped this investigation would bring to a close this troubling chapter in cycling's history and we hope the sport will use this tragedy to prevent it from ever happening again," it added.
The UCI has been heavily critical of USADA for not releasing its findings sooner.
The UCI can appeal the decision to ban Armstrong for life, even though Armstrong decided not to fight the case, but the governing body said it would not respond until it had studied the report.
"We have nothing yet," president Pat McQuaid said.
"We will put out a press release as soon as we receive the document."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-11/a ... ed/4306544
What a douche. I don't really give a toss about cycling, but I'm surprised by how much this makes me angry. This guy was such a role model and inspiration, and it turns out he was not just cheating himself, but was a ringleader in pushing doping on other cyclists. Anyone who wants to use the "oh everyone was doing it" defense should heed the comments contained in the reports that said "He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team. He enforced and re-enforced it."
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