Bradley Wiggins says that 'inspiration' Lance Armstrong was singled out

Being a big, brash, American, very average bike rider were Lance's early crimes.

Using Cancer as a mask, an alibi, and becoming a hero based on it were horrendous.

Suggesting to Walsh that his son may still be alive if Walsh spent less time 'accusing' Armstrong; well that's another level!

Was lance singled out? Yes. Definitely.

Deservedly so? Arguably yes.

Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault all controlled the peoloton as much by force of nature, as well as some fear for transgressor's careers if you read books of the time. However, just about every single one of those patron's fellow riders believed they ruled fairly and decently (according to the books of those years). None of those leaders, who all cheated to some degree set out to deliberatly scuttle anyone's career. Not one of them launched a lawsuit against someone who was telling the truth. Ultimately Lance was an arsehole through and through. An unbelievably talented arsehole, but he got found out, and as many believe, his just desserts. And Lance is still ok. He lives in fine houses, surrounded by modest luxury, still probably the richest former bike racer on the planet. He lost a lot, but still gained more than most ever did in their career on 2 wheels. And all by cheating.

What singles LA out for me, and I guess for most of the public who barely know anything about cycle sports is that he is an icon. He won the the most famous if not the only cycle race that most people (and I include myself in that ignorance) can actually name, multiple times and consistently denied cheating when others started admitting their involvement and actually showed some remorse for their actions.

I resent LA because he suckered me in. I read his books, I believed he was a cancer surviving hero, someone worthy of respect. I resent that he continued to lie after being caught and has proven a habitual liar on occassions since. Something about a car collision if I recall.

It is not my place to judge him in relation to the other cheats, but I do have more respect for those who admit guilt and make some effort to apologise for their involvement.

It is not in my power to forgive his actions or those of any cheat. That is for the competitors who lost out. Who never had their time in the spotlight. Who were cheated out of the podium positions they deserved, who never achieved their dreams to compete at the top levels of the sport and can never get that opportunity back.

If LA gets singled out as the bogeyman, then tough. He has worked long and hard to deserve that epithet as the face of cycle doping. Personally I wish he'd leave cycling alone, and I'd never ride an event associated with him. But as long as he is around he is at least a useful lightning rod and warning to others.

Lance did cheat, but so what? during that same time period it was estimated that 78% of the peloton were doing the same thing!  You can read about it more here:  https://www.businessinsider.com/lance-armstrong-doping-tour-de-france-20...       This wasn't about doping because the Federation KNEW cyclists were cheating, this was about some "stupid" American winning Europe's sweetheart race that belongs the Europeans; had Lance only won once or twice there would have never been a big deal made of it, but 7 times in a row? that was an insult to Europeans and it had to be stopped. 

It's now believed that Miguel Induran EPO cheated to win those 5 TDF's, yet no one ever checked him? in fact the evidence shows that all the winners from 1991 to 2006 (and probably before those and after those years) were known to be doping, and that makes it unfair to Lance.  Miguel actually said this: "I am for rehabilitating the 1990s dopers. I’ve said it many times. Everyone was doing it, all the riders, all the teams, and most importantly, the UCI, whose structure was set up to not only not enforce the rules but to drive everyone into the arms of the EPO doctors. I’m not saying that made it right; I’m saying only that I understand, that no one rider or small set of well-known riders should bear all the blame for an era that was corrupt from top to bottom. I bet you would have been a top cyclist who enjoyed a memorable career without doping, and I’m sorry we won’t ever really know".

If UCI want's to stop the cheating then they need to get serious and check EVERY SINGLE rider before and after EVERY SINGLE race, and cover the cost by raising the fees.  If they don't want to get serious then stop altogether and let them cheat to their hearts content (no pun intended).   Performance, being the best tactician, being a great bike handler, and being a powerful time trialist is what wins races, if everyone doped the result would be the same if no one doped...we would still have the same winner because that person and his team excels at those things and wins, only the times of events would change a tad.

Cheating has been going on long before Lance came around and it's still going on today and it will into the future.  Doping is as much in the history of the TDF (and other races) as the TDF is to history.  This is why I kind of think sometimes that the governing body ought to just forget it and allow it, it would save a bunch of money and headaches, then the only thing UCI has to watch for is mechanical cheating which is a lot easier, simply impound all the bikes after a race and either x-ray them or tear the down like NASCAR does with the winning car, except tearing down a bike is FAR simplier and quicker.

Did the American cheat also use jiffy bags - cause if he did then that would explain him being a inspiration wouldn't it.

Looking at the comments above, seems like Armstrong is super guilty because he cheated and won 'aggressively'.

If you cheated 'quietly' and didn't win too much - you are fine.

The problem with Lance wasnt the doping. The problem with Lance was Lance.

This, plus the UCI are, and always will be, a bag of foosty cunts.

No-one has ever pointed Armstrong out as the sole bad guy. As others have said, a lot of the flack he got was for his behaviour off the bike and his abuse of the power he had at the time.

I'm with robthehungrymonkey

Armstrong - whatever his natural talents (which we'll never know) - put himself in a different league with his appalling behaviour.

Maybe other cheats should have been punished more. But not Armstrong less.

And Wiggins attitude says quite a lot about himself.

Let them dope. These guys are so fit they probably aren't healthy if you know what I mean. 

I know the argument would be that it become a science experiment but it's almost like that now anyway with aerobikes, power meters, earpiece race management and marginal gains.

As for Armstrong, the whole era was a sham so he was simply king of shamsters. Who knows who would have really won if everyone had actually been clean. It's also funny how guys like Pantani become tragi-heroes rather than cheats and (as mentioned previously) Mercx i just accepted as Mercx even though he probably was nowhere near as clean as portrayed. 

Sounds like he's gearing up for a confession.

Professional "sport" is no such thing - its a circus; an entertainment. As such, its populated by entertainers whose job is not to act out sporting fair play but to provide a spectacle that all the wee fans and celeb-followers can gawp at, in awe at their glamour.

From this point of view, the cheating and dope-taking of the likes of Armsrtrong (and others, no doubt) not to mention the self-publicsing of otherwise defunct former entertainers, are irrlevant to real life.....

...Unless of course you can't distinguish real life from The Spectacle and all of its theatre.

But perhaps the scandals and various cries of condemnation or support for the scandalous are also part of the entertainment? Many prefer watching the fiddle players playing the merry jigs and hop-abouts than noticing the burning smell filling their real lives.

Cugel

FatBoyW wrote:

It was endemic at the time, but hey ho, Floyd is OK so is Tyler, Jan Ulrich, Bjarne Riis, Virenque etc

Hmm, not sure. Floyd especially. 

I disagree with the posts above. Armstrong is treated differently because it was not about the cheating it was the way he attacked so aggressively in his defence costing others their livlihoods, money and reputation that is the issue. It is for me anyway. 
He also gained more by his cheating than anyone else, so naturally has more to loose when found out (although, he's still probably richer than any pro before or since). 

It does feels a bit disengenuous from Wiggo with a book coming out.. who knew, that he was actual mates with Lord Voldemort!

Wiggo is however not wrong.... when has any Closed Door French Mens Cycling Club for Political Climbers ever been about fair play or consistency.

No, the rot is at the door of the UCI, regardless of how they cut up the pie or butter their shoulders. Doping happened before Lance and since but he is the only caught cheat to face such sanctions.

Saint Mercx is still wheeled out every year and he was a horrible bar steward by all accounts and was caught numberous times cheating.

I can't see that cycle sport will ever lose it's cheating reputation, but what the hell, I'll still like watching it and I still view Lance as an icon, I'd love him round for dinner once night, I bet he's great fun after a few beers.

Good to see a reaction that does not over simplify the complex situation.

The question I think that is being referred to is does the punishment fit the crime and is it equitable when viewed to those contemporary to Armstrong and the treatment they have received since being found to be a cheat?

It was endemic at the time, but hey ho, Floyd is OK so is Tyler, Jan Ulrich, Bjarne Riis, Virenque etc

Oh and our current world road race champion (what races did he affect in 2010?)

Nope, I do not think you should be punished more because you were succesful or maybe the punishment when caught should be a straight lifetime ban from ALL sport...

Quite frankly, who cares? Wiggo has a new book out, cashing in on the run up to christmas with his views on icons of the sport? Really, who cares? Drivel.

The TdF is the pinacle of road racing. Lance cheated in 7 of them. I don't think he was singled out for punishment. I think he singled himself out for all he got.