Armstrong formally charged by USADA

[Alex Simmons/RST]

I was talking about the sport and the negative publicity this is generating and has generated for so long now. Deal with it a damn sight faster and it is a bit easier to move on.

Oh, I thought it was positive publicity. I mean if all those involved are shown to have committed the offences as laid out, then their removal from the sport is a wonderful thing, they will no longer be able to influence the younger generation.

As for speed, well the desire of the current generation for instant gratification I'm afraid doesn't work so well in the world of gathering evidence that requires detailed and thorough investigation of information that is usually well hidden / deliberately concealed.

[norbs]

It wasn't the UCI's money in the first place.
I know one organization who will be wanting their 5 million back especially as they didn't want to pay it in the first place as they said he only earned it by cheating.

5 million? I think they ended up paying out 7.5million.

[warthog1]

Oh, I thought it was positive publicity. I mean if all those involved are shown to have committed the offences as laid out, then their removal from the sport is a wonderful thing, they will no longer be able to influence the younger generation.

As for speed, well the desire of the current generation for instant gratification I'm afraid doesn't work so well in the world of gathering evidence that requires detailed and thorough investigation of information that is usually well hidden / deliberately concealed.

Positive publicity, the 7 time winner didn't win and we can't find some one who did........OK

Those involved will die of natural causes before removal if it proceeds at the same rate.

[Alex Simmons/RST]

Those involved will die of natural causes before removal if it proceeds at the same rate.

Perhaps, but that's due process for you. That is not USADA's fault, it's the fault of those doing the doping and trafficking so aim your laser guns at them.

[Chuck]

And frankly the time limit they have for back testing should be removed. If it takes thirty years for the technology to catch up then so be it. I have no great desire to see shameful cheats maintain the stratospheric respect that befall sports success for the cheats whole lifetime. If they can't be shamed at time of competition then let them be embarrassed later, even in old age.

Well said.

He won at the time, if that was by out cheating other cheaters then he still won. When you struggle to find an alternative winner in the top ten then I struggle to remove him as the winner

You can't say that with any surety, take out the top ten and there's still another 180 guys in the race, we can't declare there actions with any certainty many may well have been cheated by Armstrong, Ullrich etc. What we can say for sure is that not only did Armstrong cheat Bassons, (who rode clean and dared to speak out) he also ran him out of the race with his aggressive behaviour (in defence of the omerta). What about Cadel in 05 ? Every rider who finished in front of him tarnished! Was he cheated ?

I feel sorry for the ADA's i think there is a real lack of understanding of the job they do and how hard it is for them to enforce the rules.

I think that most people thought that ADA's were set up for the right reasons and were pursuing their mandate with integrity. That was until Armstrongs PR machine got cracking.