Out to destroy cycling . . .

In the past 11 years of allegations, accusations and investigations, Lance's most common response to his detractors (besides "I've never tested positive" and "I am the most tested athlete in history") has been: "He/She/They is/are out to destroy cycling". This accusation was made about Philipo Simeoni in the USPS days all the way to LeMond and Landis more recently. Let's explore the logic of such repeated none sense:

1. Let's pretend that doping doen't exist and that Lance loves cycling.

2. Lance sees people like Landis, Andreu, Lemond, WADA, Dick Pound as thugs who are trying to tarnish cycling by making up a problem (doping) that does not exist. This makes beautiful, clean cycling look ugly and dirty which in turns make Lance upset because he loves his clean and beautiful cycling milieu. Lance therefore is the grandest warden of justice.

3. To stand by the premise that pro cycling is clean, it presupposes that Landis is making up the story of his own use of PED, that Frei's admission of micro doping is a lie (this guy just wanted to commit athletic suicide), Operacion Puerto was been made up by a powerful mafia whose godfathers were probably Landis, Andreu, Lemond, WADA, Dick Pound and the like, that Virenque, Dufaux, Zulle, Meier felt they were underpaid by their sponsor and to punish their employers they falsified their tests results to make them come out positive, and that Tom Simpson probably died of old age on the slopes of the Mont Ventoux.

4. Point #3 is not very likely. Pro cycling IS dirty.

5. Maybe Lance doesn't know that. That makes him a cute, naive veteran cyclist then. And the above mentioned thugs (Landis and the like) are just mean, really, really, really mean bullies! Mommmyyyyy! I need my mom! Make them go away . . .

6. Enough already! You say. Lance knows everything about everybody he works with and against. That's one of he biggest strengths. Therefore he knows that doping happens. Now if he does, how do you reconcile him saying that people who are trying to clean it up are out to destroy it?

7. Lance enjoys dirty cycling. Everybody who wants to dope, dopes, leave us alone, it makes us look bad. Ultimately Lance is for legalized doping. That way nobody is guilty, there is nothing to clean up and dirty means clean.

8. . . . pfffffffff . . . what baloney! I won't waste anymore of my or your time.

We all know it, some of us still have to come to terms with it but:

Lance was dirty, is dirty, will be dirty. He has beaten anti-dope testing because he has the means to do it. His only defense is to attack the character of those who accuse. He will be brought to justice and will be exposed. And eventually he will get a title that he truly deserves: the biggest scam in sport history.

Understanding David Millar

In this article David Millar is quoted to say the following about Floyd Landis:

"He's reached the end of the road and I just find it disgusting," said Millar from his home training base in Girona, Spain. "He has nothing left in cycling so he just wants to burn the house down."

In this whole affair it is one of the most surprising things I have read so far. David Millar (convicted of doping after authorities raided his place and found dope) has come back to cycling with the most exemplary attitude after serving his two year suspension. Unlike so many dopers (Vino, Basso and the like) who kick and scream their innocence even after having been convicted, Millar fessed up, owned up and came back with the desire to be a better cyclist, a better man. That's why his quote surprises me so much.

I think it shows how gigantic of a disconnect exists between true cycling fans and professional riders. Millar can't see Landis' actions as noble but only as destructive for his sport. This type of statements have been used over and over by people like McQuaid, Armstrong, Ekimov (about Simeoni a few years back).

Professional cyclist see whistle blowers as people out to destroy their sport. When we true fans see people like Landis, Bassons, Walsh, Ballester, Andreu point out the obvious, what they witnessed and expose what cycling is behind closed doors, we exult, we rejoice, we cheer them on.

Why? Do you, professional cyclists, ask? Because the truth matters. Because we have nothing to loose. Because we truly love this sport . . . and we love it clean . . .

The Foreign Press

It is so good to have the ability to read what the rest of the world has to say about the Landis-Armstrong affair. This one from the Irish Times is awesome.

Floyd Landis joins, Frankie Andreu, Manuel Beltran, Roberto Heras and Tyler Hamilton in exposing the dirty business that was going on in their USPS team.

The heros of this crusade should be mentioned:

-Greg LeMond

-Christophe Bassons

-Paul Kimmage

-David Walsh

-Pierre Ballester

You must read David Walsh on this topic he is "incontournable".

Landis lays it out.

It was last Wednesday night that a tweet alerted me that Floyd was coming out with something big. Then a little bit later the rumor materialized. And then the responses multiplied. This is big. It could be one of the biggest story in sports scam history. I hope it gets traction. I hope it sticks!