'Enough is Enough' - Lance Armstrong

Kav0777 · 22-10-2012 3:03pm

No

el tel wrote: »

I wonder if there is any chance that Armstrong or Gunderson might replace Munson in the urban dictionary:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=munson

I don't think that would apply to Armstrong, he only got to the pinnacle of his career by doing the thing that caused his downfall, as opposed to losing it all by doing something when they have already reached the pinnacle...

leftism · 22-10-2012 3:08pm

No

Flandria wrote: »

I suppose he still has Rubiera, a disappointed Ligget, Sean Penn and Mork from Ork - no climbing domestiques though...

Possible contender for post of the thread! Laughing my a$$ off at that one...

Captain Havoc · 22-10-2012 3:20pm

hardCopy wrote: »

You certainly would wonder based on Betsy Andreu's account, but she didn't give any indication of when he started using.

Why are his post 2005 results still listed on wikipedia? I thought he was stripped of everything post 98.

No, he's only been stripped of his TdF titles. There's a management meeting on Friday to discuss what I assume is everything else, who gets those seven TdF titles is definitely on the cards and I assume the rest of Armstrongs results also. If you read into McQuaid's words that cycling should forget Lance Armstrong, that may read he intends to take back all his titles. I actually don't think Pat McQuaid gave a poor performance today.

CheGuedara · 22-10-2012 3:20pm

No

BINGO!!
and that's Oakley gone...

allybhoy · 22-10-2012 3:27pm

No

For anyone interested here is the press release that was given to those who attended the press conference today....

http://road.cc/sites/default/files/Decision%20of%20the%20UCI%20in%20Lance%20Armstrong%20case.pdf

actuallylike · 22-10-2012 3:30pm

el tel wrote: »

I wonder if there is any chance that Armstrong or Gunderson might replace Munson in the urban dictionary:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=munson

Munson had everything going for him, the talent to put him at the top. Lance didn't even have that. It's an insult to Roy Munson to say he got totally Lanced.

Chips Lovell · 22-10-2012 3:34pm

No

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

There was indeed. I should be able to post it up here later on.

Here's the profile of Pat McQuaid from the Sunday Business Post yesterday. There was also a write-off on page two, mentioning how Conor McGrane, Cycling Ireland's medical officer had said it was time for McQuaid to go and his intention to put a motion of no-confidence to the CI AGM.

When Pat McQuaid was elected president of cycling's governing body, the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale), in 2006, he probably knew that he would have to weather more than one doping controversy during his tenure.

However, the Dubliner probably did not expect his presidency to coincide with arguably the biggest scandal in the sport's history. He now finds himself in the spotlight following revelations that Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist who famously beat cancer to come back and win the Tour de France seven times, had doped for most of his cycling career.

At the end of August, the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) concluded its long-running investigation into Armstrong. It found him guilty of numerous offences, including the possession and use of performance-enhancing drugs and encouraging of his team-mates in their use. Armstrong was banned for life and was stripped of his results since 1998, which ensured that he lost all of his Tour titles.

The response from the UCI was muted. The organisation said that Usada was obliged to submit its reasoned decision explaining its actions, and that would make no further comment until this happened.

Earlier this month, that moment arrived. Usada furnished the UCI with more than 1,000 pages of supporting evidence for its decision. The agency also released a 200-page summary of the report. Testimony from numerous individuals, including 11 of Armstrong's former team-mates, outlined how Armstrong, his team director Johan Bruyneel and former doctor Michele Ferrari had built an elaborate and sophisticated drug programme for Armstrong and his US Postal team.

Even for the most cynical observers of the sport, this report made shocking reading. For example, former US Postal rider David Zabriskie testified that he had initially discovered the sport as a teenager and had treated it as a refuge from a difficult home life that had been scarred by his father's own drug addiction. "Seeing what happened to my father from his substance abuse, I vowed never to take drugs," he said.

Zabriskie testified that, in 2003, he was essentially bullied by Bruyneel and team doctor Luis García del Moral into taking the banned drug EPO. He resisted, asking numerous questions about the health risks associated with it, but eventually relented. "I felt cornered," he said. "I had pursued cycling to escape a home life torn apart by drugs and now I was faced with this." He went home to his apartment and broke down in tears.

McQuaid's reactions to the Armstrong revelations have drawn fire from many. The Usada investigation was launched after American cyclist Floyd Landis confessed to doping in 2010. A former Armstrong team-mate, Landis had himself gone on to win the Tour de France in 2006 before being stripped of his victory after testing positive.

"I think Landis is in a very sad situation, and I feel sorry for the guy because I don't accept anything he says as true," McQuaid said at the time. "This is a guy who has been condemned in court, who has stood up in court and stated that he never saw any doping in cycling. He's written a book saying he won the Tour de France clean. Where does that leave his credibility?"

While McQuaid wasn't willing to take Landis seriously, plenty of others were. A federal investigation was launched into Armstrong and his team. Usada launched its own parallel investigation.

While the federal case was ultimately dropped, the genie nevertheless slipped out of the bottle. Facing the prospect of criminal charges, 11 of Armstrong's team-mates came clean about their doping - and Armstrong's.

While the investigation was ongoing, McQuaid questioned Usada's right to conduct it. "The UCI wants that the whole case file with all the evidence is assessed by an independent panel, who shall then decide if the respondents have a case to answer," he wrote in a letter to Usada.

Usada refused, saying that turning the file over to the UCI would be the equivalent of "the fox guarding the henhouse".

McQuaid also made the headlines over his decision to sue Irish sports journalist Paul Kimmage for his reporting on the affair. The UCI, McQuaid and his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen, are seeking damages in the Swiss courts from Kimmage, maintaining that their reputations have been seriously damaged by an interview Kimmage conducted with Landis.

"I was gobsmacked that they were coming after me," Kimmage said. "But that says a lot, because I think it was ultimately about gagging me."

From a PR perspective, the move may have backfired. Cycling fans have launched a defence fund for Kimmage, raising more than $60,000 on the internet to help cover his legal fees.

The trio had also sued Landis, who opted not to contest the charges. Although they won the case by default, the judgment provided some unintentional comedy. Landis was ordered by the court not to repeat allegations he had made in relation to doping and was prohibited from repeating a number of other allegations made in the interview. Ironically, many of these were repeated in the Usada report that was delivered to the UCI.

Specifically, it said that Armstrong had told both Landis and team-mate Tyler Hamilton that he had tested positive for EPO at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland, and that he had been able to make the positive result go away.

Landis recalled Armstrong saying that he and Bruyneel "flew to the UCI headquarters and made a financial agreement to keep the positive test hidden". Usada said McQuaid had acknowledged that, during 2002, the pair visited the UCI and offered at least $100,000 to help the development of cycling. It also noted that the UCI vehemently denied that this alleged meeting was tied to a cover-up of Armstrong's positive test.

A response to the Usada report from the UCI is likely to arrive in the coming days. Given the overwhelming evidence against Armstrong, the UCI may opt not to contest it, in which case the decision will stand. However, this may prove difficult, given the allegations it contains about the UCI's own role in the affair.

McQuaid's presidency of the UCI is the culmination of a long involvement in the sport. As a racer, he won a string of major domestic races during the 1970s.

He was unlucky to miss out on selection for the Munich Olympics, but seemed a shoo-in for Montreal in 1976. However, he and Sean Kelly were discovered to have raced under assumed names in apartheid South Africa, in contravention of the sporting boycott, and were banned from participating.

A PE teacher by profession, when McQuaid quit racing he got involved in the sport's organisation. He served as the national team director, was involved in race organisation and then, in the 1990s, served as president of the Irish Cycling Federation, a predecessor of Cycling Ireland.

He was also one of the key figures behind bringing the Tour de France to Ireland in 1998. He then moved up to the UCI headquarters, serving on its road commission for eight years before being elected president in 2006.

Those who know him speak of him as a tough competitor who managed to channel that drive in later life, displaying the organisational skills that led him to the very top of the UCI. Many in Irish cycling hold him in high regard for his work, but there are others who have begun to change their opinion.

Geoff Liffey, the chief executive of Cycling Ireland, was one of those who defended McQuaid's record. "A lot of this would have happened before Pat McQuaid's time and occurred when his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen, was in charge," he said. "It's recognised that there have been great advances in the past five years, and I think a lot of credit is due to Pat McQuaid for that."
Other in the sport, however, are critical of him.

Conor McGrane, a Dublin GP who is Cycling Ireland's medical officer, said that McQuaid "has to go".

"Over the past 20 years, the leadership of the UCI has repeatedly failed to deal with doping," he said. "Wada [the World Anti Doping Agency] was set up in 1999, and the whole idea behind it was that it should take responsibility for all of the anti-doping activity of sports.

"Even now, it seems that the leadership of the UCI is constantly questioning its authority and its right to impose sanctions."

While McGrane acknowledged that McQuaid's record was probably better than that of Verbruggen, and that some of the initiative in fighting doping in recent years had come from the UCI, he believed that more of the momentum had come from Wada national police forces and customs units.

McGrane said that, as a doctor, he was concerned about the long-term health implications of doping. "The likes of EPO have killed plenty of cyclists in the past. There are lots of concerns about the use of some of the newer drugs on the long term health of riders. I fully expect to see a lot of odd cancers and heart disease in a lot of retired riders at quite a young age," he said.

As a result, McGrane is planning to table a motion at Cycling Ireland's AGM next month, asking for a vote of no confidence in McQuaid. "It is also to express a lack of support for his re-nomination for election as UCI president," he said. "We have gone long beyond the point where we need a change. It's not just McQuaid - it's the whole leadership structure of the UCI."

Article is reproduced with permission from the SBP.

Lusk Doyle · 22-10-2012 3:39pm

No

Fair play to Conor McGrane - I like it when people have the balls to stand up and vocalise what they believe in and take those, who are "supposed" to be the ones actively fighting the corruption, to task.

I applaud him for his righteousness and I wish there were more like him (in this regard).

Beasty · 22-10-2012 3:40pm

No

Related documents (presumably that went into the press pack handed out today) are up on the UCI website here (or linked from that page)

EDIT: Not sure why the link is not working - may be best to go to the UCI homepage - http://www.uci.ch/templates/UCI/UCI8/layout.asp?MenuId=MTYzMDQ&LangId=1 - and click on the link from there

Waitsian · 22-10-2012 3:42pm

No

I'm not sure how I missed this recently but a quote from Roche:

"Is everybody guilty through association? In that case, get rid of everybody. Wipe out half the peloton, half the directeur sportifs, half the managers, half the UCI and then start from scratch."

Yeah, that sounds like a plan, I concur. Let's do that. Sounds good to me. Agreed?

manwithaplan · 22-10-2012 3:42pm

No

Oakley wrote:

When Lance joined our family many years ago, he was a symbol of possibility...

...then of probability and now of outright certainty.

Lumen · 22-10-2012 3:46pm

Lusk Doyle wrote: »

Fair play to Conor McGrane - I like it when people have the balls to stand up and vocalise what they believe in and take those, who are "supposed" to be the ones actively fighting the corruption, to task.

Also, if Pat doesn't quit he'll probably be able to get hold of some chloroform.

Anyone got a van?

Lusk Doyle · 22-10-2012 3:50pm

No

Well, after the motion is put to the floor it's up to those there to carry it or reject it.

I lend my support as a CI member and licence holder to the proposed motion.

Chips Lovell · 22-10-2012 4:05pm

No

The Tour de France want their prize money back.

petethedrummer · 22-10-2012 4:08pm

No

el tel wrote: »

Hmmm, will LA now come clean and bring down the UCI with more revelations of his own?

It would be nice if he would. But I think he'd be opening himself up for more legal actions and an easy perjury case. He's better off spending the next few weeks hiding his money abroad, winding down the charity and moving to a bunker under a volcano to plan his next move.

As for Pat going... the whole UCI will have to go. As according to the lads on Velocast, the next in line will make Hein Verbruggen look like Bambi.

Beasty · 22-10-2012 4:10pm

No

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

The Tour de France want their prize money back.

Make him donate it to his nominated charity - that'll learn him;)

corny · 22-10-2012 4:16pm

No

Beasty wrote: »

Make him donate it to his nominated charity - that'll learn him;)

Thats like transferring money from your left to your right pocket!;)

leftism · 22-10-2012 4:16pm

No

petethedrummer wrote: »

As for Pat going... the whole UCI will have to go. As according to the lads on Velocast, the next in line will make Hein Verbruggen look like Bambi.

Jaysus, that doesn't sound good at all... Think there needs to be a complete purging of the UCI. Scorched earth policy! Actually, lets just go with Roche's suggestion and get rid of everybody!

buck65 · 22-10-2012 4:33pm

No

Including his son?

furiousox · 22-10-2012 4:38pm

No

Armstrong's best TDF finish is now 36th place in the 1995 tour.
Hmm, he's no Greg LeMond is he? :pac:

buffalo · 22-10-2012 4:44pm

No

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

Article is reproduced with permission from the SBP.

pfft, who writes this nonsense?

It's a great piece.

Oppenhe1mer · 22-10-2012 4:57pm

No

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

The Tour de France want their prize money back.

I suspect that will be peanuts (€2.7m?) compared to SCA (€5m) and other contracts that would have breach clauses in them....couldn't happen to a nicer sociopath.

Undercover Elephant · 22-10-2012 5:00pm

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

The Tour de France want their prize money back.

Hmm. So they want the palmares vacant because basically the whole thing was a fake. But they're only asking for the prize money back from the smelliest of the big cheeses. A touch inconsistent?

andyman · 22-10-2012 5:03pm

No

Finally, now the efforts of Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Alex Zulle, Joseba Beloki and Andres Kloden can finally be celebrated.

Oh wait..

Lusk Doyle · 22-10-2012 5:08pm

No

I move that the voting on the poll be stopped in order to save anyone else from future embarrassment and ridicule for voting any way other than the correct way!