In the latest chapter of “Lance Armstrong vs. Every Cycling Organization Ever,” the United States Anti-Doping Agency has announced that they will be revealing a report stating that not only was he doping his own blood, but that his team ran “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program the sport has ever seen.”
So yeah, it’s getting real, now.
The chief executive of the USADA, Travis Tygart, said, there was “conclusive and undeniable proof” that the USPS cycling team had committed these offenses in a team-wide conspiracy.
Tygart also said they had:
…direct documentary evidence including financial payments, emails, scientific data and laboratory test results that further prove the use, possession and distribution of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong and confirm the disappointing truth about the deceptive activities of the USPS Team, a team that received tens of millions of American taxpayer dollars in funding.
Armstrong, who’s long since retired from cycling, decided not to contest the USADA’s findings earlier this year.
The interesting part of Tygart’s statement was the outwardly compassionate tone he took toward cyclists that have admitted their part in the doping scandal, saying they “have been courageous in making the choice to stop perpetuating the sporting fraud, and they have suffered greatly.”
“I have personally talked with and heard these athletes’ stories,” Tygart said, “and firmly believe that, collectively, these athletes, if forgiven and embraced, have a chance to leave a legacy far greater for the good of the sport than anything they ever did on a bike.”
And then he got into the crux of why he was making the announcement today: “Lance Armstrong was given the same opportunity to come forward and be part of the solution. He rejected it.”
So as the report is released, the International Cycling Union will have 21 days to appeal the USADA’s decision or accept the sentence of stripping Armstrong of his titles and banning him for life from professional cycling.
Question: Do you think Armstrong was doping, or was he just too big a target from all his victories?
