Bye Lance

[MalRees]

Oh he will, and he will quickly work out how hard it is to not be the new Pat McQuaid............

[Toady]

Seems Lance has apologised to Livestrong staff

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21016122

Sorry staff. 

Actually after all the excitement last year I'm a bit bored.  Lance who?

[Rhys W]

Some expert on the Today programme said that a tell-tale sign that a confession is real is that it involves apologising to other people affected...

Anyway, it seems that it's leaking out already that a confession has indeed been made.

[Ham]

The been article linked to upthread starts off "Lance Armstrong, 41" makes you remember just how young he must have been when it all kicked off, which probably explains a lot. So I went to have a look at his Wikipedia entry and in Motorola: 1992–96 and read "1992 ..He .. collected the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of Cycling" and "In 1994, he again won the Thrift Drug Classic". He's always been good at that drug stuff, then.

More seriously, what must it feel like, at 21, to feel you might have the world in your grasp? So do many others, yes, not looking to excuse, just wondering.

[LEE]

A while back, I thought he'd never confess.

Me also.

We can't have it both ways though.  We can't condemn him for not confessing and then condemn him for confessing.

If he does admit to it then I think it will be a big weight off cycling's shoulders.

I'll wait until I see the footage before I comment further because there's still a possibility it could all get even more complicated.

[clarion]

I'm still not sure what I think of this.  PM sort of encapsulates it for me.  Yes, it's a confession and, it seems, an apology.  But the damage is done, and his repeated lying and intimidation of critics has been very ugly.  On the other hand, I don't see how he could have got out of the situation earlier, as it would have torpedoed his career.

The shame is that Lance Armstrong was a strong and talented rider, with great determination, and probably could have achieved a great deal without the drugs.  Now we shall never know.  And nor will he.

[LEE]

The shame is that Lance Armstrong was a strong and talented rider, with great determination, and probably could have achieved a great deal without the drugs.  Now we shall never know.  And nor will he.

This more than anything.

Imagine the news headlines....
"Someone almost certainly about to die of Cancer, is cured, returns to cycling and finishes in the top 5 of the Tour de France 7 times in a row. He made a stand against drugs and refused to use them in order to win the Tour as "cycling is too important for that"
In subsequent years it was found that he was the only rider in his peer-group not to be tarnished with doping offences"

What a hero he would have been forever, a "virtual" 7 times winner, by default (perhaps).

Now he's forever "that lying cheat on a bike". 

Yes, he's rich, but I bet now he'd taken the living legend option and left a proper legacy for his kids.

Yes Lance...kids...you know those little people in your house...the ones that are supposed to look up to you.

[Euan Uzami]

Anyone else noticed a surprising similarity:

[andyoxon]

The shame is that Lance Armstrong was a strong and talented rider, with great determination, and probably could have achieved a great deal without the drugs.  Now we shall never know.  And nor will he.

This more than anything.

Imagine the news headlines....
"Someone almost certainly about to die of Cancer, is cured, returns to cycling and finishes in the top 5 of the Tour de France 7 times in a row. He made a stand against drugs and refused to use them in order to win the Tour as "cycling is too important for that"
In subsequent years it was found that he was the only rider in his peer-group not to be tarnished with doping offences"

What a hero he would have been forever, a "virtual" 7 times winner, by default (perhaps).

Now he's forever "that lying cheat on a bike". 

Yes, he's rich, but I bet now he'd taken the living legend option and left a proper legacy for his kids.

Yes Lance...kids...you know those little people in your house...the ones that are supposed to look up to you.

Yup, all in all, it's a sad and sorry affair... 

[marcusjb]

Anyone else noticed a surprising similarity:

Tony Blair won an election using PEDs?

Bloody hell. 

[Salvatore]

Tony Blair won an election using PEDs?

Bloody hell.

What?

But he never failed a test!

[Bledlow]

Good line from Nicole Cooke last night. Complained about all the bastards making more money from cheating, confessing, & being paid to tell all to a ghost writer than she's made from years of bloody hard work & winning prizes without cheating.

As she said, it's not a victim-free crime. Cheats steal from those who don't cheat.

[clarion]

Saddam never had any PEDs!

[marcusjb]

As she said, it's not a victim-free crime. Cheats steal from those who don't cheat.

Exactly - that is why the defence that 'everyone was at it' is worth *&^% all - not everyone was at it and a lot of great cyclists were denied their chance of sporting success and the associated rewards.

[perpetual dan]

A while back, I thought he'd never confess.

Maybe he needed a few months of training to attempt a winning performance on the Oprah show, complete with learning how to say "sorry" and turning on the water works? A confession (and apology) doesn't mean so much when it's the only way out and the evidence stands up with or without your words. So I'm rather assuming this will be another in a long line of hollow performances.

I'm rather in agreement with Nicole's comments too.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

It'll be interesting to see who else he dumps on. I don't believe that he is doing this just to compete in triathlons and suchlike. It is unlikely that a confession would reduce his ban anyway. This is almost certainly about reducing his legal liabilities and transferring blame to others.

[Hot Flatus]

Be interesting to see if he shops the UCI.

P.s. Bruyneel is rumoured to be writing a book

[Jabba]

Hmmm, doubt very much if the UCI will be dropped in it, though sometimes I wish they would be  , McQuaid and the ilk are a bunch of ....(insert suitable rudeness) eegits, who only want to stifle cycling not spread it around.

As for LA, a confession is a start but even then I'm tempted to paint it with the colours he displayed during his career, i.e. everything is done to suit him not others, so I ask 'What is he after'?

Re-entering the athletic arena, I don't think so, given that there will be so many people after him if he holds his hand up and says 'YES I DID' he'll be mired in courts til kingdom come and long may it last given his treatment of others in the last decade plus.

This is not all black and white but I would be more receptive if on Thursday I hear that LA has fully 'fessed' up and names names and offers the rest of his career as someone (unpaid) who will help eradicate drug use in sport.

Rant over..........

[madcow]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2013/jan/15/lance-armstrong-cost-benefit-analysis-confession

The Oprah confession is all to be stage managed, so that LA can get down to another successful career telling people how wrong it all was and advising testers how to spot cheats like that other Lance Armstrong that he used to know. Its all about timing and keeping control of the agenda. Confessing to USADA , WADA,FBI or the Gendarmerie  would have  lost control of the story.
Lance is doing a very good job of taking the heat off all the others,Hincapie etc who rode with him and made shedloads of money at the same time, whilst trying to sweep his own past under the carpet. He expects us to forget 10 years of cheating and another 10 years of lying just because we are all mesmerised by Oprah Winfrey. Come to think of it, didn't she do a similar confessional some time ago?

[LEE]

Why don't we wait until we've seen the program?

 

[RJ]

Why don't we wait until we've seen the program?

Where's the fun in that? 

[alexb]

My guess is that this will all be about how he went to France expecting to be able to race and win clean and then found out about the scale of corruption, both inside the teams and with the collusion of the sporting bodies (UCI etc.).
He found that the only way to win and thus to have a career was to accept that he would have to do what everyone else was already doing, i.e. take drugs and then pay off the UCI, the testing labs etc. (everyone basically).

So in other words the standard line about everyone else was doing it, so I had to.

Oh, but the UCI are dirty, cheating, stealing bastards who are rotten from the top to the bottom and WADA is exactly the same.

Oh, and I'm very sorry, can I keep my $100m fortune, my big house and stay out of jail please?

[clarion]

That.  Exactly that.  Does anyone expect anything different?

[Hot Flatus]

Mostly that, but in fairness most if that is reasonably true. He will have gone to Europe in the mid 90's and discovered that he was trounced by everyone, and he will have had to face the choice of doping if he wanted to be competitive.

It will be interesting to see if he throws the UCI under the bus. If he does it will be one of the few positives to come out of this. I'm thinking he might. It is in his interest to unload as much responsibility as possible.

[Euan Uzami]

Course he will, that's the only reason he's doing it, surely. Why else would he confess...