Do you think Armstrong Cheated ?

[luckyjackson]

Please...stop muddying the issue.

1. Is it cheating to use EPO?
Answer is yes.

2. Could freezing the sample somehow skew the test so that you'd get a positive result without EPO having been in the athlete's blood?
Answer is no.

3. Is there a chance that a test following proper WADA protocols would have produced different results?
Answer is...Yes, a very very slim chance.

Those are the basic facts. Everthing else is chaff.

 

[Mudd Stuffin]

Unfortunately, the first tour win in '99, he didn't quite have the team he had in the last five years, and his body was still in recovery mode so he prbably needed it then; and the Tour that year needed a big name winner as both Pantani and Ulrich did not compete that year, so effectively, things may have been swept under the rug that year. Cycling had just come off the doping problems that really sufaced in the 98 Tour & wanted the feel-good winner.
Moral of the story: he probably was on it that year.

However: Why do you think Miguel Indurain won his 5 tours in easy fashion. Nobody questions that, however they really should as he was so quickly forced to retire from cycling all-together for heart reasons (which could very wel have been due to repeated use of EPO). EPO has been known to lead to heart failure in some cyclists.

Moral of the story: If you're gonna witch-hunt Lance, witch-hunt Indurain as well.

 

[superquad1968]

Just a couple of clarifications:

MarkII Wrote:
The Russians haven't let an athlete stay in the athlete's village for years..in the summer Olympic's they rent an ocean liner to house their athletes so they cannot be tested.

The athletes from China..the same story.

Unless the events are taking place on the ocean liner they will be tested. Testing is done at the event not in the athlete's village (I was at the 2000 Paralympics and I peed at the venue). No country is exempt from testing we in the west may have an axe to grind but they are all tested.

This story of Ben being set up always makes me laugh. "Us Canadians were targeted'" Poor us. The guy followed Astaphan and got caught. Pure and simple no conspiracy. Please take your tin foil hat off.

Drug testing in the early days was heavily skewed towards the athletes. While not perfect, it is more even then it ever was.

While disabled athletes have none of the gains able-bodied athletes do, All of us want a clean event not an "even". If you want an even event then leave the Olympic movement.