Lance Armstrong ?

He isnt sports biggest cheat. He wasnt cyclings only cheat.... Far from it. You would probably be safe betting that anybody who was a threat to unseat him any of those seven years was cheating just as much. You could say The Tour is the biggest farce in sports.

Originally posted by tomtom232
He isnt sports biggest cheat. He wasnt cyclings only cheat.... Far from it. You would probably be safe betting that anybody who was a threat to unseat him any of those seven years was cheating just as much. You could say The Tour is the biggest farce in sports.

You're most probably right about anyone challenging him over the years of his dominance...sadly, we have to accept this IF the man himself cannot defend all the claims.
What you've not pointed out though is that the Tour itself is by far and away THE most stringent with regard to dope testing...that may well sound like a nonsense comment given the fact so so many actually 'escaped' the wrath of a dope ban...but no, no other sport is as highly monitored, it was a literal game of hide and seek...working out just when, and how, they'd beat the tests...how long they could take it, how long they had to cease its use before the event etc etc. EPO was initially undetectable, wellllllllll, the tests were just plain unreliable..only the thickness of a cyclists oxygen heavy blood was given as an 'indication' of its presence, not nearly enough actual evidence needed. In that case the cyclist was 'retired for health reasons' along with an open invite for next years event. What else could they do, you can't ban someone if the test isn't 'whole' and without elements of doubt ? Of course now they have a better standard of test that actually truly works lol...and 'out of season' tests are treated as if they were actually competing on a 365 days a year Le Tour...cyclists HAVE to detail where they are available at a DAYS notice, anywhere in the world !
The fact remains that the culture of drug cheating will never be so 'wholesale' as in the professionals that were employed to aid the cyclists. They are far more accountable now, indeed they are all vetted whereas before ANY doctor could be employed...'hiding' Dr's was common as why else would you need a world leading specialist in EPO use.. new and 'undetectable' drugs will no doubt raise alarms from time to time but that's the same for every sport. Don;t blame Le Tour for 'outing' a large group of athletes that ( assisted by the many dopers themselves ) wanted to win at all costs...Le Tour goes way above and beyond the world standard for anti doping, it's exactly why they catch what we all formerly believed to be the best !!

Originally posted by RevRSleeker
You're most probably right about anyone challenging him over the years of his dominance...sadly, we have to accept this IF the man himself cannot defend all the claims.
What you've not pointed out though is that the Tour itself is by far and away THE most stringent with regard to dope testing...that may well sound like a nonsense comment given the fact ...[text shortened]... exactly why they catch what we all formerly believed to be the best !!

The really sad thing is if doping is so rampant in the most stringent sport then how bad is it in other sports?

Originally posted by tomtom232
The really sad thing is if doping is so rampant in the most stringent sport then how bad is it in other sports?

It would appear that 'out of season' it's pretty definite that many sports will have to follow the lines of the cycling, and more recently the athletics bodies doping rules ( following on from the Olympic rules )...it's this out of season time that other bodies seem to forget about, but where they have taken steps to monitor more full time, they start banning EVERYTHING...like the contents of everyday common cold remedies, or myriad other drugs that have all but minimal 'performance abuse' potential. One of the bodies recently taking this stance was motorcycling, the FIM, promptly they started doling bans out like sweets for such nasties as the 'Vick's menthol inhaler' lol..
Also, you'd have to be very wary what meat you eat, and whether the supply has growth hormones of any type in...just how do you defend that one, if accused, when you know full well you've not cheated...and just where does it all end ??