USADA now after Lance

^^^It is a good way for Lance to spread around the blame of ruining pro-cycling.

With the UCI going down the tubes with Lance, I'm more interested in how the 2013/14 pro races will actually function. The amount of money and legitimacy leaving the sport is depressingly incredible. It's like seeing a friend who's lost himself to drug addiction.

What a mess.

 

The LA jock sniffers literally crack me up. A month ago, they were BELLIGENT about how "he never failed a test" ...and how it was "all a big conspiracy"....and "it's all here say"...or maybe "F**K the USADA". Well, whoooooooops!!!!!! No, the guy is a turd among turds, cheater, liar as everyone said. But you know, maybe I could let much of it go, except for this:

• He SUED people, thus trying to RUIN their lives for telling the truth. Yea, he SUED people (and won).
• Anyone who refused to take drugs and cheat lost, and most had to quit the "sport".
• Anyone who wanted to get into competitive cycling, HAD TO begin taking drugs....or else quit.

If he didn't sue people, I wouldn't care so much. But he did. He is one of the worst people on this planet.

 

Yeah he is horrible. He took all these people's money on some fake thing called cancer.

 

I was duped! He was doped. Ohwatagoosiam... He had better dope than the rest of the dopes.
Sure hope I don't get any more heros anytime soon. Humans are such jerks. Wish I was a dog.

 

The suits have ZERO to do with his medical conditions. They are in regards to the (now obviously) false libel suits against news organizations for reporting on his drug use, for fraudulent winnings, and for sponsorship dollars that were given while he was clearly in breach of contract.

Mark, where did you get from anywhere that he was being sued because of his cancer? That leap of logic defies me.

 

We can only hope! You know, they're now talking about removing all cycling from the Olympics until the UCI cleans-up it's act (4-8 years)!

Pat and his cronies have so utterly mismanaged our sport, it's now about to be given the death sentence. Meanwhile, back in Lausanne, it's business as usual. The big press release of the day today from the UCI: The International Cycling Union (UCI) today officially launched its 24-hour confidential anti-doping helpline for professional riders. 'A day late and a dollar short' as they say. Keep up the good work Pat.

 

I guess what most people don't get at this point is the USADA Armstrong case is now bigger than Armstrong -- believe it or not it's now become an issue bigger than his ego and narcissistic entourage ever was. This now threatens a very old sport with an amazing tradition (yes, stories of some sort of drugs in the sport go way back) that some of us really enjoy.

The ramifications of this bubble finally bursting is going to cause real problems with not only the governing body and organization (needs to change anyway), but promoters and sponsors. Huge amounts of money has already been flowing out of the sport and I think it's only the tip of the iceberg. It is going to put the sport in jeopardy of continuing forward. Then again, it could be a good thing -- get back to the grassroots level and let it grow again, but not at the loss of the classic races.

Speaking for myself, it is a shame. It's a beautiful sport with a rich history. I know most in the States don't appreciate it -- especially since our domestic scene has become nothing but criteriums, something about 'mericans liking to race around in circles (I know there are a handful of stage races left) -- but for people that enjoy road racing, this is our NFL.

Armstrong wasn't alone, but his vehement denials, intimidation, and letigious nature has prolonged a real resolution and created a scenario much more detrimental to the sport. I've moved on from "anger", skipped over "bargaining", dipped a toe in "depression", and am getting comfortable with "acceptance" over the possibility of losing the sport.

 

Just ordered...

 

So, there's a report that DIck Pound/IOC would like to give cycling some time off from the Olympics.
I'm wondering if he's including mountain biking and bmx as well?

 

Yes, in theory the ban would include all cycling since all disciplines (Road, MTB, BMX, Track) are governed by the UCI and the UCI has proven itself incompetent and corrupt.

 

Wow. Thats crazy. Its like cancelling swim back in the 80's cause of the Womens German swim team....

 

He said he was one of the worst people on earth. To be that bad he must have taken all those peoples money for that fake cancer deal and kept it(livestrong).

 

No. The issue is not with one team or country. It's the UCI, the governing body of the entire sport, worldwide. The IOC has no confidence that the UCI can deliver a safe and fair sport for participation in an Olympic games.

 

Judging from the UCI's track record with this, I'd say that the IOC has a valid point.

It's unfortunate, but the sport has brought this upon itself.

 

The fact that UCI can apparently be bribed puts the whole sport at risk. Can somebody tell me how the French came to be in charge of everything (FIA, FIM, UCI) anyway? It would suck if cycling were removed from the Olympics because of these asshats.

But the larger issue is I now assume that everyone who wins a race is doping. I've even seen it at the amateur level. Go look at the legs of some of the guys in the Masters classes (no testing) at a crit race - they didn't get that big naturally. The theme seems to be if you don't dope, you can't win. So the assumption is winners=dopers. Oh, and I'm lumping all you people who finish in front of me at OTH into that. You should be ashamed of yourselves!

I think we all wanted to believe Lance was different. Our American hero, who overcame cancer to win the TDF. But, not only is he not different, he's worse than the others, the mastermind behind it all and suing the people who called him out. The sad part is he probably could have won one or two without doping. The work he did with the Livestrong Foundation is worthy and to be lauded. He helped raise a lot of money for a good cause. But that doesn't make his other actions null and void. Nope, Lance is a bad man, and he's just committed his most heinous act yet – forcing me to watch Oprah.

 

Pat McQuaid has to step down as well as anyone else at UCI that let this shit go on. It is ironic the IOC has no confidence since they have their own shady history of bribery.

And i though professional baseball and boxing was bad..................

 

You would be naive to think otherwise. Doping in Amateur cycling, and especially Masters racing, is rampant. There is 0 chance of getting caught. There's basically no testing at races except for Nationals and there's no out-of-season testing. So, if you are an ethically challenged cyclist... cheat all you want, just be sure to taper-off and be clean for one week out of the year if you plan to go to Nationals.

I'm not faulting anyone here. (Except the cheaters) Testing is very expensive. It would be unreasonable to expect USA Cycling or Race Organizers to be able to bring a comprehensive testing program to the masses.

 

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012...-growing-grass-roots-or-trampling-them_270056

This is another reason I think it would be great if Lance could speak against the UCI. The current UCI is doing nothing for our sport.

 

don't forget the NFL

 

Great read. The UCI isn't the only corrupt governing body in cycling... USA Cycling has a nice little rap sheet itself. While the UCI was paid to look the other way, USA Cycling staff and coaches were actually administering the drugs! Anyone wondering why Chris Carmichael is laying low through all of this???

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-500164_162-284958.html

This is why we need independent organizations (Like USADA and WADA) to enforce anti-doping policies and laws. The governing bodies of sport can not be trusted.