Dang....

[kierthos]

An agency that may or may not have the authority to do much has said that Lance Armstrong should be stripped of all of his Tour de France titles, and that's probably just the start of it. (I've updated the text of the link.)

So, here's the deal. An agency that apparently can have Lance Armstrong banned for life from competitions has said that since Armstrong is no longer disputing the doping charges against him, that means he's guilty. (Yes, it does sound odd when it's phrased like that.)

This agency (the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA) says that because Armstrong doesn't want to enter the arbitration process, he's effectively admitting guilt, and is therefore no longer a seven-time Tour de France winner. As they are the U.S. 'branch' that implements the World Anti-Doping Code, they can ban him... which is kind of pointless as he retired already.

Apparently, the USADA thinks they can strip him of his Tour de France titles though. Which.... I really doubt they can. Sure, they probably can point to this decision and recommend that the titles be stripped, but that's not the same thing.

(Edit: I added all the post-link text after realizing that the original version needed something to explain it.)

Comments

[thedeadcat]

He musta really done something to piss them off. And I highly doubt it was doping.

[herlander_refugee]

Winning against all the French in a French race that many times in a row....yeah.

I can't believe they have KEPT screaming about this for so long. No wonder he went "Ah, fuck you all...I quit."

[matgb]

Yeah, an American NGO wants to tell the French who won their signature sporting event and passed all their doping tests while doing so.

I don't see him coming off the list of winners any time soon somehow.

[kierthos]

*shrug* Wait and see, I guess.

[herlander_refugee]

So much for 'innocent till proven guilty' eh? Innocent until you stop making us prove you are guilty?
Soon as one is tired of the bullshit....then they cry "Ahah...you did IT!"

[thedeadcat]

This was a witch-hunt, like the poor man said. He passed HOW many dope tests? Hundreds? Maybe thousands?

"NO, HE DID IT, REALLY!"

[jdack]

Doping? Because of that photo of him with a bong? Or did he use roids?

[kierthos]

Wasn't the guy with the bong photo Michael Phelps?

Anyway, when the USADA says doping, they're usually referring to this substance called EPO. It basically makes you produce more red blood cells. This, in turn, lets you do things like bike really hard for much longer.

So, it gives you an advantage over other athletes who don't use EPO, which is why it's banned.