Full Lance Armstrong statement

[Times Roman]

http://msn.foxsports.com/cycling/sto...charges-082312

''There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, ''Enough is enough.'' For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA's charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA's motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.

If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA's process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and — once and for all — put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?

From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA's improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA's own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers' expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.


The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It's an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It's just not right.

USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart.

Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.''

[MickeyKnox]

[JohnnyVegas]

The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced.

He didn't claim to be clean, and the above line shows the parsing he is doing. He isn't saying he didn't dope, he is saying he followed the same rules as everyone else. He played the game and won...until now.

I do feel for the guy, but I don't worry about him. He has had a successful carrier and is ending the game with a loving family and a big pile of cash. He will be fine.

[Times Roman]

and Fvck Tom Cruise too!

[austinite]

About time.

[Tigershark]

I still do not think he doped for his races. I think he was an amazing athlete and just decided to give up. There is and never has been any proof he has doped and I think he decided he knows what he accomplished and that was enough for him.
By the way, his foundation icreased donations by 25% after this news broke because his fans are behind him.

[Times Roman]

I would like to see some proof before anyone strips away any of his titles, or bans him, or throws mud on him in any way.

innocent until proven guilty, right?

[system admin]

I met an EPO rep who says he knows first hand that Lance has been doping for a long time. There is no doubt in my mind the guy was doping, but then again, so is half the other competitors. Jose's next video on Thursday is about this also. I say good for him for making a lot of money and for raising 500 million for cancer, but you its going to be very hard to convince me that he was not using PED's

[Razor]

I met an EPO rep who says he knows first hand that Lance has been doping for a long time. There is no doubt in my mind the guy was doping, but then again, so is half the other competitors. Jose's next video on Thursday is about this also. I say good for him for making a lot of money and for raising 500 million for cancer, but you its going to be very hard to convince me that he was not using PED's

Anyone else ever raised $500million for cancer..nope!

[Penwrath]

Still not sure whether he doped or not. It wouldn't surprise me since in a lot of cases, you do what you have to, to win

[Times Roman]

Million dollar question.

If he doped, then why was he NEVER tested positive?

[jimmyinkedup]

Million dollar question.

If he doped, then why was he NEVER tested positive?

And in my mind this means case closed.
I really dont care ..if he did he was the best of all the ones that were doing it anyway. The guy has been a genetic freak since he was a kid.
Plus I dont think he cares or see that as his true legacy- neither do I. If you read his books ("Its not bout the bike" and "Every second Counts" the man has a greater purpose. A more important purpose than yellow jerseys.
He has done more for cancer research fundraising and awareness than any other human being in history (as far as I know) - Id say thats a little more important in the grand scheme of things.
It does fry my ass that a US agency is in on the witch hunt. I could see if it was the butthurt french faggots mad cause he whipped their ass on their own soil ...but a US agency? Cmon man.

[Far from massive]

You know its funny/SAD how blind we Americans are...we trust our press to feed us unbiased information.

The reason I say this is at my prior job (1990-2005) we had a French speaking girl from the ivory coast. Her being of French origins and me being an x bicycle racer we both had a great interest in the Tour De France. Back before we invaded Iraq she asked me what we were going to do when we did not find any weapons of mass destruction? I asked her what she meant to which she laughed and said that we were the only ones who believed this nonsense and that the American press kept us as blind to this as it did to Lance using steroids . I asked her what she meant about both issues and she went on the net and showed me headlines in French papers stating that there were no weapons of mass destruction and we were being baited into a war by a combination of the CIA and the Jewish media. On the Lance deal she said that all the people on the sides of the mountains with signs saying dopaeh or however doper was spelled in French were doing so because Lance took testosterone from his doctor to keep his levels at the UCI allowed peak, while others would naturally have theirs drop as they suffered through the hundreds of mile of alpine climbs. She told me that only in the US did we not know that our great champion was being given Testosterone because of his lack of a testicle.

Keep in mind this was all before the war had started or Lance's had ever been accused of any funny lab test manipulation. When I look at the issue of Lance now knowing what I know of the bodies testosterone production it seems rather clear that a man with one testicle would certainly need TRT to maintain himself at world competition levels and I can also certainly understand how other competitors would have trouble keeping their natural levels at peak under the strains of this kind of month long event.

Food for thought.

FFM

[Penwrath]

Million dollar question.

If he doped, then why was he NEVER tested positive?

Exactly agree! How can they say that he's guilty of doping after constant tests that were negative? I'm not exactly sure how that works? But how come he gave up fighting to prove his innocence if he was truly innocent?

[LevMyshkin]

Exactly agree! How can they say that he's guilty of doping after constant tests that were negative? I'm not exactly sure how that works? But how come he gave up fighting to prove his innocence if he was truly innocent?

Money's one potential answer. It's not as if challenging all these allegations for so long is free.

[JohnnyVegas]

The new evidence has come out and is pretty damning. I think their actions against him were a vendetta, but it was caused by years of him doping (my opinion) while giving them the finger. The code of silence has been broken and a lot of people are coming forward now. Armstrong will try to demonize each one of them, but I don't believe it.

Personally, I don't care if he doped. He is naturally gifted, has an insane work ethic and competed in the dirtiest sport in the world. I think his actions were par for the course (assuming he doped).

It is ridiculous to hand his wins to the second place finisher...because you know they were probably doping as well.

I fear there will be lawsuits and I hope Armstrong isn't ruined by this since most sports fortunes are probably built on PEDs.

[LevMyshkin]

The new evidence has come out and is pretty damning. I think their actions against him were a vendetta, but it was caused by years of him doping (my opinion) while giving them the finger. The code of silence has been broken and a lot of people are coming forward now. Armstrong will try to demonize each one of them, but I don't believe it.

Personally, I don't care if he doped. He is naturally gifted, has an insane work ethic and competed in the dirtiest sport in the world. I think his actions were par for the course (assuming he doped).

It is ridiculous to hand his wins to the second place finisher...because you know they were probably doping as well.

I fear there will be lawsuits and I hope Armstrong isn't ruined by this since most sports fortunes are probably built on PEDs.

Yeah, I don't know if there's any validity to this, but I heard that they're not even sure to whom the wins should go now because so many of the people who came in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc., have also been subjected to bans for subsequent use or admitted to using PED's.

[jimmyinkedup]

You know its funny/SAD how blind we Americans are...we trust our press to feed us unbiased information.

The reason I say this is at my prior job (1990-2005) we had a French speaking girl from the ivory coast. Her being of French origins and me being an x bicycle racer we both had a great interest in the Tour De France. Back before we invaded Iraq she asked me what we were going to do when we did not find any weapons of mass destruction? I asked her what she meant to which she laughed and said that we were the only ones who believed this nonsense and that the American press kept us as blind to this as it did to Lance using steroids . I asked her what she meant about both issues and she went on the net and showed me headlines in French papers stating that there were no weapons of mass destruction and we were being baited into a war by a combination of the CIA and the Jewish media. On the Lance deal she said that all the people on the sides of the mountains with signs saying dopaeh or however doper was spelled in French were doing so because Lance took testosterone from his doctor to keep his levels at the UCI allowed peak, while others would naturally have theirs drop as they suffered through the hundreds of mile of alpine climbs. She told me that only in the US did we not know that our great champion was being given Testosterone because of his lack of a testicle.

Keep in mind this was all before the war had started or Lance's had ever been accused of any funny lab test manipulation. When I look at the issue of Lance now knowing what I know of the bodies testosterone production it seems rather clear that a man with one testicle would certainly need TRT to maintain himself at world competition levels and I can also certainly understand how other competitors would have trouble keeping their natural levels at peak under the strains of this kind of month long event.

Food for thought.

FFM

Yeah but what she failed to mention is virtually every top tier competitor was taking test , keeping their levels at the top end as well. Leave it to the ****ing french to BLAME a guy for losing one nut and beating testicular , brain and lung cancer LOL ...so arrogant.

[JohnnyVegas]

Yeah but what she failed to mention is virtually every top tier competitor was taking test , keeping their levels at the top end as well. Leave it to the ****ing french to BLAME a guy for losing one nut and beating testicular , brain and lung cancer LOL ...so arrogant.

No secret that the French (seeming every single one of them) hate Armstrong. Heh.

[zaggahamma]

is the government wasting time and money again just like BASEBALL....geez ...but no help in benghazi


leave the biker alone for Gods sake

[Times Roman]

Next question. for those that say they "know" lance was doping....

"What does 'DOPING' mean"?

Let's think about this. He was open about his TRT protocol he was on due to cancer recovery.

Is this what people mean by his doping?

What exactly was he doping, and did he not ever fail a drug test?

Some big questions there guys!

[zaggahamma]

doping is when dopes bother successful athletes because they are jealous pencil neck geeks that never could play sports

no cheating in biking unless you throw tacks in the road behind you or have trees cut down to block the road end of story

[JohnnyVegas]

Next question. for those that say they "know" lance was doping....

"What does 'DOPING' mean"?

Let's think about this. He was open about his TRT protocol he was on due to cancer recovery.

Is this what people mean by his doping?

What exactly was he doping, and did he not ever fail a drug test?

Some big questions there guys!

I have always thought of his doping as EPO. TRT and optimal Test levels is probably a gray area and I don't know what the rules are...but the rules definitely say no EPO.

I think he never failed because he had the best doctors, running the best programs. I doubt that the team doctor (Ferrari, was it?) was chosen for any reason than his reputation for running a great drug program. I also think he had the inside line on when and what was happening with testing. On top of that, he may have been given special treatment (obviously not by the USADA).

Much of my thoughts are speculation, but I have done some reading about Armstrong over the years, and a lot lately. They evidence seems overwhelming.

[jimmyinkedup]

I have always thought of his doping as EPO. TRT and optimal Test levels is probably a gray area and I don't know what the rules are...but the rules definitely say no EPO.

I think he never failed because he had the best doctors, running the best programs. I doubt that the team doctor (Ferrari, was it?) was chosen for any reason than his reputation for running a great drug program. I also think he had the inside line on when and what was happening with testing. On top of that, he may have been given special treatment (obviously not by the USADA).

Much of my thoughts are speculation, but I have done some reading about Armstrong over the years, and a lot lately. They evidence seems overwhelming.

Early on in his career epo wsnt a banned or tested substance. After it became one they switched to blood doping (where they draw and store thier own blood nd re introduce it to increase rbc ) ..then they discovered iv use of epo immediately pre race was undetectable by tests post race. Im sure he doped. They all doped. My friend rode for US Postal Service Continental team (raced just in US ) When lance was on the intntl team. He would never say if Lance did or didnt , but he did say all the guy on the continental team did. Thats not even the worlds biggest stage.
So they all doped , and he was the best.
They have no failed drug tests , but they have TONS of circumstance evidence in the for of eye witness and first hand testimony. He did it. I dont care. He has done what every sports icon should do - used his fame and resources for a deeper purpose. A truly meaningful purpose in the form of Livestrong.He beat cancer - he never gave up - he won the worlds most difficult bike race 7 times and he has raised 500 million dollars for cancer research. Oh yeah ..he is also an inspiration to millions. Hmm ..yeah what a jerk ....
I honestly , after reading his books etc , think hes sees the big picture and really doesnt care at this point.
The sport was and prob still is to a degree rampant with it.

[JohnnyVegas]

^^^^ Agreed.