guilty as charged, y’honour
So Lance Armstrong was guilty of being a doper all along. Surely now, that following the decision of the most decorated, celebrated and controversial rider in cycling history, to refuse to contest independent charges of doping, drug trafficking and administering drugs to others, we can finally and unequivocally say, without fear of argument or worse, Lance you’re a doper. After years of denials and the usual petulant “never tested positive” statements, Lance has had his seven Tour de France victories struck from the record books, is now officially banned from all officially governed sport, for life, and finally shows that it was indeed not about the bike…it was all about the EPO, testosterone and blood bags.
By metaphorically taking his ball home and not coming out to play, Lance can continue to contend that the process is flawed, that he’s been the victim of a witch-hunt, that the TEN former team mates are all liars and protest his innocence until he’s blue in the face, as it doesn’t matter a jot any longer. There’s no denying that virtually everyone of that cycling generation was doing the same, but that doesn’t make it right and certainly does not absolve any of them, Ivan Basso, Jan Ulrich, Eric Zabel, Alexander Vinokourov, Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Marco Pantani, our very own David Millar et al, of the guilt they must accept.
The ultimate drug taker’s argument that they all had no choice as everyone was at it, holds no water. They did not have to do it. Admittedly, they wouldn’t have won anything but they didn’t have to do it! As our own squeaky clean Tour winner, Bradley Wiggins has oft stated, to prevent doping, the temptation to dope needs to countered in the athlete’s mind with ‘why would I?’ as opposed to ‘why wouldn’t I?’ This ruling, along with the example set by Wiggo goes some way to establishing this credo.
The irony is I’ve loved Lance in the past and still hold his greatest achievement, of coming back from almost-terminal testicular cancer (which had spread to his lungs and brain) to race fiercely and competitively at the highest level, as being nothing short of phenomenal. Furthermore, anyone who can remember ‘the look’ that he gave Jan Ulrich on the slopes of Alpe D’Huez as he rode away from the tough (and doping) German cannot fail to admire the guy. In a way it’s sad to realise that this was not achieved through willpower alone and betrays those who believe positive thinking can overcome any hurdle. Yeah, it helps but it ain’t everything. In reality, victory doesn’t always go to he who ‘wants it the most’ it sometimes goes to he who is willing ‘do the most’.
