Lance folds on drug charges

what we don't know Mr B is who else DB was courting at the time he signed Barry - maybe he had other options he would have preferred, but he was unable to get their signature for whatever reason, so chose to go with his 3rd, 4th, whatever'th choice as perhaps Barry was.  DB needed to get a winning team put together so he had to make compromises but that's the nature of any business - you never know until the race is over if you made the right choice

as you say, it's a toughie - DB was to an extent damned if he did, damned if he didn't.

If this didn't involve LA would it have made such news?

In every sport the teams, players, coach's, doctors are trying to invent the next best way to win and then governing bodies, drug testers, rule makers are always playing catch up.

If it didnt involve Lance? You mean if it didnt involve a decade of negated race results? If it didnt involve federal, and national crimes? If it didnt involve systematic bullying and the ruination of several people's careers? If it hadnt been denied over and over and over? If it hadnt come down to lawsuits? If journalists weren't sued over it?

Well, no, then probably not. If he hadnt doped, you probably wouldnt know who Lance was - pre-cancer he wasnt really all that hot. 

VERY well said Flyers!

Bassie - not everyone at USPS was taking stuff.  Brian Smith has said that he didn't.

Mind you - he never got to ride the Tour for them....

I think the cost and the dangers of testing positive meant that it was essential for lances team for the Tour (and any riders hoping to support him in the Tour) but if you weren't that good  - then you could well have been cut out of the loop ?

Er and then sacked.....

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/othersports/article-2216492/Lance-Armstrong-latest-Brian-Smith-told-cyclist-hed-drugs-sacked.html

'Brian Smith has said that he didn't.'

Take out Brian Smith and re-insert any name* (even Lance) and then think about it.  Now in this instance I'm saying nothing about Mr Smith but FFS after the last 2 days let alone the last 2 decades aren't we past the 'he said he didn't' excuse being anything but water tight?

As we were? 

* except the very few with zero suspicious performance spikes or dubious associations (unless of course you're Michael Rogers and you only got 'training plans' from Dr Ferrari - FFS so you really think anyone is thick enough to buy that anymore?  Cyclists with doping questions is akin to footballers with Twitter.)

flyaway wrote (see)

Well, no, then probably not. If he hadnt doped, you probably wouldnt know who Lance was - pre-cancer he wasnt really all that hot. 

Apart from winning the world champs and TdF stages, obviously, although he was doping then too, supposedly.

I guess we'll never know what difference the doping made, but I'm not convinced it would turn an otherwise also-ran into a 7 time winner who never really looked like losing.  I suspect he'd have been the Cadel Evans of his day - close but not quite there for years until he sneaks a TdF win when no-one's looking.

It made him a stack more money than he'd have had otherwise, that's for sure.

I see Spartacus is thinking of leaving Radioshack because Bryneel's been named in the report.  A bit late Fabien, I can believe (just about) that it's now possible to get to the top in cycling without doping, but don't pretend this is all news to you.

just read that piece by Spartacus on CN - sounds a bit of a toy/pram/floor interface from him.  it's not as if he hasn't been around these guys for a few years - he was with Riis at CSC for 4 years and I do believe Riis confessed to a bit of doping during his time as a pro during this period.

sounds like he's brown nosing the team owner and trying to protect his corner 

Spartacus may want to get out of the team as it seems to have fallen to pieces ? 

Maybe he should go to nice and clean Astana run by Mr Vino....

FC has been looking to bail on NRS for ages. They dont have a team to deliver anything. Andy is crocked Frank is doped, the rest are rubbish. This is just a useful way to get some leverage to get out.

He should go to Katusha. They are a clean team. Even if you are found guilty you are then found innocent ala Kolobnev

I see that Bruyneel has just been handed a large hessian bag to climb into by Radioshack. Let's hope the purging carries on for a while yet.

I sent an 'Incensed from Tunbridge Wells' type email to Brailsford yesterday in a most uncharacteristic fit of peak pointing out a few things that people may justifiably be sceptical about. Fortunately enough I'm not holding my breath for the response.  The guy's heralded as some sort of genius so he can't be so dumb as  not to be aware of stuff or unable to join the dots and at least realise after 2 decades of smoke generally indicating a fire (and of late a raging effing inferno) that there's a few things (performances, decisions, staff) that might be on the hickory smoked side of raw.  Anyone read the USADA stuff or Tyler's book and not retrospectively do the Roger Moore over Rob Hayles' high haemocrit reading a couple of years ago and DB's defence of it. Imagine he was a Johnny Foreigner and you'd maybe less likely to accept it?

Fabian's clean - he's got a motor on his bike remember.  That said you couldn't descend like him if he's not on something!

As you were. 

God, this is depressing. Andy trots out the old rubbish about moving forward and things being better these days:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-cycling-needs-to-focus-on-the-future

I'm particularly disappointed in Cav.

We had the "that was the old days, cycling is much cleaner now" way back in 1999, FFS!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/tour_de_france/397095.stm

"The 27-year-old (Andy) added that he thought stirring up cycling's past was not a useful way to clean the slate." 

Has he never heard of learning from our mistakes? If we don't highlight them how on earth is it EVER going to change? 

Basson hits the nail on the head when he says,

"One problem in cycling is the doping. The other is the code of silence."

Pro cycling seem to be a bunch of ostriches with their head stuck in the sand!

Of course Schleck said that - remember his big bro was implicated in Puerto back in 2006 - paying 7000 Euros to Fuentes - for 'Training Plans'......

That's a lot of training manuals - when he'd have been better off listening to Barlos. 

And Schlecks - FFS - learn to time trial. You're as aero as bricks. Numpties.