Lance Armstrong charges

I read earlier today that LeMond's wife alleged (during the SCA trial in 2005?) that Nike may have well helped fund a pay-off from Lance directly to Verbruggen. They've got to feel pretty ashamed of themselves right now

sunama said:
Stuff
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Why is it, when you quite clearly aren't completely knowledgeable about a subject (you've not read the report, your knowledge of cycling seems limited, you're clearly catching up with stories about this as you post), you still try to act like the great all-knowing?

Don't go claiming every current cyclist cheats when you probably couldn't name 10 in the sport, please.
 
A friend of mine posted on Facebook that Nike had to drop Lance' endorsement because it was interfering with their third world sweat shop image.
 
Vonhelmet said:
A friend of mine posted on Facebook that Nike had to drop Lance' endorsement because it was interfering with their third world sweat shop image.
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Haha. It's slightly interesting that Nike have chosen to drop him when they didn't with other sportspeople who were embroiled in scandals - Marion Jones, Alex Rodriguez, Tiger Woods et al continued to enjoy the support of Nike, at least until their contracts were due to expire. The first two were found guilty of drugs offences so that's presumably not the sole reason that Nike have taken action. This article provides a bit more information on the issue.

Michael Vick is the only other one I'm aware of that the company chose to terminate the agreement early with and he was involved in illegal dog fighting (not to mention being a generally unpleasant sort if it's not somewhat tautologous to say so) which puts Mr Armstrong in a rather special category of people to be dropped. I'd imagine it's not a particular badge of honour though. That said Michael Vick was later re-signed by Nike so maybe the same awaits Mr Armstrong.
 
There was no way Livestrong could stay associated with him in that capacity and I am amazed he's remained on the board at all. His image is so tarnished I could actually see people avoiding donating to Livestrong if he was at the helm.
 
To be honest, looking at where money has gone over the years of Livestrong, the charity seemed as much about raising Armstrong's profile worldwide as that of cancer.

I also find it extremely worrying that Lance Armstrongs private jet - which I believe was in fact paid for by the charity, probably to fly him for various talks - also seems to have been used by Armstrong, Hamilton and others to fly to Spain in order to deposit their blood pre-season.
 
oli collett said:
To be honest, looking at where money has gone over the years of Livestrong, the charity seemed as much about raising Armstrong's profile worldwide as that of cancer.

I also find it extremely worrying that Lance Armstrongs private jet - which I believe was in fact paid for by the charity, probably to fly him for various talks - also seems to have been used by Armstrong, Hamilton and others to fly to Spain in order to deposit their blood pre-season.
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If there's any serious concern about that sort of thing, then I imagine that whatever body governs charities in America will be investigating it in short order.
 
Reaction to Rabobank decision seems to be very negative, that they are turning their backs on clean riders who have worked hard for the team, all the bank is doing is making the situation worse.

It also seems pretty silly that they are going to honour the contract still next year but with no sponsor name on the jersey of the team. What if they were to win the three grand tours, would they still be sticking by that?

Also they want to continue sponsoring lower level teams and Marianne Vos, but they need to find a way how? That seems a bit pointless to me, you are either getting out of cycling based on their statement or you aren't.

Not the first time a Bank has made bad decisions though is it!
 
Big Chris said:
Rabobank have now pulled sponsorship of their team after 17 years in Pro Cycling:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/20001685

Stating that "We are no longer convinced that the international professional world of cycling can make this a clean and fair sport."

I wonder what other high profile organisations are looking to distance themselves from all this.
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Talk about shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted.
 
Weebull said:
Don't go claiming every current cyclist cheats when you probably couldn't name 10 in the sport, please.
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How many stories do you have to read before you agree that a very high percentage of pro cyclists have been doping to various levels (and probably still are)? Doping was/is rife. Its how the sport has developed. I don't blame the cyclists in question. It is afterall their livelihood. They can either dope and be competitive or leave the sport (at elite level) OR attempt to compete cleanly and get beaten by a big margin. This was basically the argument used by a lot of those who have admitted to doping.

The article which I referred to, stated that 20 out of 21 pro cyclists (on the podium of Le Tour for the 7 years of LA's wins) have been implicated in some form of doping scandal.

Does that not tell you something or are you completely ignoring this?

Another tip: you shouldn't be offended at someone elses opinion. If you don't agree with it, then by all means state your argument, but to suggest that someone shouldn't state their opinion because it differs from your own is ridiculous and certainly won't work on me. This is a public internet forum on which you may read things which you do not agree with.

Another tip, is to use the "ignore" button...this may help you to reduce your stress/anger levels. I promise you, I will not be offended if you quietly put me on your ignore list.

Peace out bro and don't take a public internet forum so seriously.
 
sunama said:
Guff.....
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I think people are getting annoyed because you're trashing a sport they identify with on the basis that you assume, because there was a culture of doping, by extension it must still exist now. Which is garbage.

The sport has cleaned up massively over the last 5 years and continues to do so. And the fact that even the mightiest won't be allowed to get away with cheating highlights the determination that exists to clean the sport up.

Yes cycling was incredibly dirty, but for you to be adamant it still is with no proof is just irritating to people.

Average speeds have started to drop off again, which is unusual since in most sports athletes continue to get faster\stronger, no matter how marginal the gains have become: http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdfstats.html

I thought David Millar's open letter to Rabobank was interesting. :)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ope...&ns_source=cyclingnews&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0
 
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Murf said:
I thought David Millar's open letter to Rabobank was interesting. :)

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/ope...&ns_source=cyclingnews&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0
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Thanks for the link, you're right about it being interesting. It's a well written, argued and reasoned piece but then again I'd expect no less from the man. He made a terrible mistake in doping before but he's done more than most to try and make sure that cycling is clean now because he clearly loves the sport.

Radobank do seem to have waited too long for this to appear as a valid reason, a decade ago and you could see the argument better perhaps but now cycling does at least seem to be making strides in the right direction to have a clean sport. I've got no doubt there will always be people trying to cheat but it's far fewer now than it was even five years ago.
 
Murf said:
The sport has cleaned up massively over the last 5 years and continues to do so. And the fact that even the mightiest won't be allowed to get away with cheating highlights the determination that exists to clean the sport up.

Yes cycling was incredibly dirty, but for you to be adamant it still is with no proof is just irritating to people.
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Whilst the UCI are at the helm it's difficult to believe much has changed and until they're brought to task I'll remain a sceptic.
 
Get it round you Lance :)

Chances of a prison spell? Marion Jones went down for lying under oath. When you add witness intimidation to the mix...
 
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