Spareribs
Headphoneus Supremus
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- May 24, 2006
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Strangely, most Americans seem to admire Lance Armstrong but have no idea what the Tour de France is.
Who doesn´t love winners lol. They are great until they are caught cheating.
Lance Armstrong is obviously guilty or else he wouldn´t mind defending his innocense knowing there is no evidence. Obviously there is and thus he is doing a bit of an Assange and go for the "conspiracy".
I don´t think anybody who know anything about the bicycle sport is surprised. You could hardly win these tours going clean with competitors that took steroids and what not to just endure the pain. You can win a single race perhaps but not an entire tour without help with recovery. So he is guilty like the most top runners. Read an article where Rasmussen which finished seventh claimed he would get the gold. He claimed that he should got the gold in some of the Tour de France tours because 5 of the 6 front runners had got caught later using dope and the other was one that had charges against Lance and was biased. Same Danish that escaped doping tests by lying about where he was and got a two year suspension
I was the Outdoor Life Network's (OLN) senior video editor for the last 6 of the 7 Tour de France races Lance Armstrong raced in and won. During that time I was also the senior video editor for the Giro d'Italia and the [size=x-small]Vuelta a España. I cut most of the features for the Tour de France, [/size]Giro d'Italia, and the [size=x-small]Vuelta a España not to mention every single stage of each of those races for 6 years. In all that time I've never seen a single cyclist work as hard as Lance Armstrong on his racing technique. He was by far the hardest working cyclist among any I've witnessed, no one even came close. He was driven like no one on two wheels. After he won each Tour he would take maybe 2 weeks off and get back on the road training. He practiced different pedaling cadences for different situations, uphill, downhill, straight away, time trails. He slept in an oxygen chamber, the food he digested was measured in joules and when he urinated his urine was measured for its joule content just to see how much energy his body was using during his training. He never let up. When the stages of each tour were announced he would go and ride each stage and then on the next day ride it again just to become familiar with the route. In terms of training and will power there was Lance in one universe and every other rider in another far off lesser universe. I've spent a lot of time with [/size]Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, and Bob Roll during those races and there was never a mention or suspicion that Armstrong did anything illegal. But one never knows. Personally I find it very hard to believe that he did. His training regime was relentless. He worked incredibly hard at every aspect of his cycling, made himself ready for any situation. I don't know of any athlete who worked as hard as Lance, I used to think if only the other cyclists worked half as hard as Armstrong they might have chance against him but none of them seemed to have his amazing work ethic. Certainly not Jan Ulrich. So I don't really know if Lance doped or not, with my experience working those races I find it very very hard to believe. It has always seemed to me that there has been a long witch hunt against him.
After each Tour everyone of staff got a cool Tour Memento. Of all the ones I have this one is my favorite.
In his books about cycling, cancer, fame and family and how they have intertwined to make him who he is, Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, delves into fine detail about the roles his top teammates played on his champion teams.
He talks about how those riders became as close as family and how George Hincapie, his road captain and longtime lieutenant, grew to know him the best.
“There have been times when I’ve practically lived out of the same suitcase with George Hincapie,” Armstrong said in “Every Second Counts.” “In cycling, we’re on the side of a mountain for weeks, in small hotel rooms, sharing every ache, and pain, and meal. You get to know everything about each other, including things you’d rather not.”
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Because Hincapie is considered a credible and reluctant witness, his testimony could be the most damaging evidence against Armstrong, who is accused of doping and playing a key role in a vast doping conspiracy. According to people with knowledge of the case, Hincapie has told the United States Anti-Doping Agency about systematic doping on Armstrong’s teams, of which Armstrong played a part.
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If Hincapie does testify, it has the potential to be one of the starkest, most jarring revelations in a sport known for its code of silence regarding doping.
Hincapie is likely to know more about the behind-the-scenes activity on Armstrong’s squads than any other rider; he was the only one to be at Armstrong’s side for all seven of his Tour victories.
Joe Papp, a former professional cyclist and convicted steroid trafficker turned antidoping advocate, said Hincapie’s word would be “unimpeachable” and “will finally lead people to the point where they don’t believe Lance is innocent anymore.”
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He [Hincapie] then provided evidence about Armstrong and the organized doping on their teams to the antidoping agency.
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He’s [Hincapie] a guy who fundamentally wants to do the right things, but he is also fantastically loyal,” Stapleton said. “But when George talks, people are going to listen. You’re talking about the most liked and most respected American cyclist, maybe ever. We called him Captain America, for all the good reasons.”
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In a film about Hincapie called “A Ride With George Hincapie,” Armstrong was asked how he would describe Hincapie in a word. “I’d have to choose loyal,” he said. “He was loyal to me as a team captain, he was loyal to me as a friend.”
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