How many people in the U.S. have such name recognition that you can just call them by their first name and most will have heard of him/her?
This investigation into whether Lance Armstrong used EPO and other performance enhancing drugs during his pro bike career bothers me. He is retired. What good does it do to drag this all up? What real proof can be found? He passed every drug test throughout his career, whether it was 100x or 500x he was tested, it doesn't matter. If Lance and his trainers knew how to beat the system, as some people attest, then why didn't they share that knowledge with other cyclists on his team (like Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis)? It used to be the French seemed totally against Lance. Now it's the U.S. leading the witch hunt.
George Hincapie, Lance's teammate for more than a dozen years, has never tested positive either. Is George also guilty? Shouldn't the Feds be going after George? Did Hincapie take PED's during his 18 year pro career? According to the experts he must have, right, or else how could he have been at such a high level for so long? In fact he still rides with the best in the world.
Supposedly "everyone" was doing it (taking PED's). I'm not sure I believe that. Yes, drug usage is high in cycling, similar to baseball, football, tennis, wrestling and probably many other sports that don't bother to test. We know that if nothing else, there are PED's you can take that will help you recover faster, thus allowing for more times you can exercise at a high intensity. This is a huge advantage in any sport. But, since several baseball players, such as Manny Ramirez, are known drug users, does that mean all of them are? Is Jeter? Must be, right? How could he possibly be playing at such a high level for so long without PED's?
People say Lance must have taken PED's, he couldn't possibly have won without them against such a high quality of competition, especially since we have tests results that prove they were taking drugs. The Tour, though, isn't just about one rider. You do not win those types of races without a team. You have to build an entire organization dedicated to training and race strategy. Every detail has to be looked after. The Tour de France is not always the same course. Armstrong would train over and over again during preview rides of the course so he knew when to attack. His team worked towards nothing but getting Lance to be the victor. He peaked for the Tour de France, not every rider or every team did this. Lance trained through other races, sometimes performing well, other times not. His focus was France.
People and teams that win over and over again have systems built up that help them succeed. On a very modest level, the Byron-Bergen girls track teams were like this. Once they won one Section V championship, the coaches figured out how to maintain this level of success. Recruiting, training properly, peaking at the right time, staying healthy, same coaches, parent support, school administration support in addition to the talent of the girls, all played a role in winning the title 6 out of 7 years, with the non-winning year a second place by 2 points. Armstrong and his team leaders figured this all out, albeit on a significantly higher level of athleticism. But the basics are still the same.
Truth be told, I don't want Lance to be guilty of taking PED's. I don't want to be disappointed again. I can still watch repeats of some of his stage victories in the Tour and be impressed. I really don't want that to change and it will take more than known users such as Hamilton and Landis coming out and accusing Lance to convince me that he did it.
I want a hero.
