and to 'Joe-Six-Pak' who might not even be aware of professional bicycle racing but knows the French track-record

Does joe-six-pak come from the Bible belt and is his mothers name Bert?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Y'all think America is nothing but a "Dukes of Hazzard" re-run or somthin'?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep

But I do like Daisy

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

oh pleeease! Any half-wit short a full deck can see that this is a witch-hunt. The French have been after L.A. since he kept on winning their tournament and wouldn't go away. This is evident to anyone who reads the press after he wins. Let's not try to dismiss the obvious.

That aside, although I think Armstrong is a spectacular athlete and he has proven this beyond a doubt, it will be bad if he lied, and continues to lie about lying.

However, it was his first and only race, in which 15 others tested positive, and at least 40 others in the 1998 race, and he has won 6 more TdF titles since, after beating testicular cancer, so the French public can kiss off.

And I'm not from the Dukes of Hazard by the way. Are you Benny Hill?

That's silly kat...benny Hill was a Pom. I'd prefer to be called Fred Dagg....but you wouldn't know who he was.

All those riders are cheaters..if they catch any then good job.LA is the best, but if he cheated then som nom na.He was always beating his chest that he was clean.I would bet half a weeks salary that he has taken drugs before.

have a listen to the link/interview I posted earlier...

Darn. Benny Hill was funny. I thought you were a POM, but it's good to learn something new everyday

I agree with your other comments, though.

and to 'Joe-Six-Pak' who might not even be aware of professional bicycle racing but knows the French track-record

Does joe-six-pak come from the Bible belt and is his mothers name Bert?

Y'all think America is nothing but a "Dukes of Hazzard" re-run or somthin'?

Yep

But I do like Daisy

And I'm not from the Dukes of Hazard by the way. Are you Benny Hill?

Or George Galloway or maybe a Red Ken?

Cheat!

Saw LA on Larrry King last night and he said he's coming back next year to race again - beat 'em again - rub their noses in it!

Yeah, &lt;deleted&gt;' frogs are just a bunch of sad ****ers, except for my mate down south and a chap from Marseille ; and that magazine is just rubbing it's grubby hands.

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

You're forgetting Baseball or Rounders as y'all call it!

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're forgetting Baseball or Rounders as y'all call it!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Boonie, please remember I'm a Kiwi and don't know what the &lt;deleted&gt; rounders is...but I take your point.

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

You're forgetting Baseball or Rounders as y'all call it!

Boonie, please remember I'm a Kiwi and don't know what the &lt;deleted&gt; rounders is...but I take your point.

Apologies for that, Chuchok. Wrongly assumed you guys inherited some of the Pommy slang.

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

You're forgetting Baseball or Rounders as y'all call it!

Boonie, please remember I'm a Kiwi and don't know what the &lt;deleted&gt; rounders is...but I take your point.

Rounders is the girly, and original, version of the girly game of baseball, ole mate

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're forgetting Baseball or Rounders as y'all call it!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Boonie, please remember I'm a Kiwi and don't know what the &lt;deleted&gt; rounders is...but I take your point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Rounders is the girly, and original, version of the girly game of baseball, ole mate

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ah huh.Does that mean the poms manage to play the game without chewing half a kilo of gum.

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

You're forgetting Baseball or Rounders as y'all call it!

Boonie, please remember I'm a Kiwi and don't know what the &lt;deleted&gt; rounders is...but I take your point.

Rounders is the girly, and original, version of the girly game of baseball, ole mate

ah huh.Does that mean the poms manage to play the game without chewing half a kilo of gum.

Yeah, and they don't need to wear a poofy glove either

and to 'Joe-Six-Pak' who might not even be aware of professional bicycle racing but knows the French track-record

Does joe-six-pak come from the Bible belt and is his mothers name Bert?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Y'all think America is nothing but a "Dukes of Hazzard" re-run or somthin'?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OOOHHHHHH! There are some places Boon Mee, there are some places.

Well I always look at these hyped and pumped athletes and wonder what they are on....its like those aerobics champs s chiseled on rictus.

It would be good to run two tiers.

1.drugged up superpeople

2.natural people.

The drugged up one would obviously be the winner for audience ,imagine the freakshow it could become.

Armstrong Gets Backing From USA Cycling

Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility."

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well what else are the fcukers going to say about probably the most doped up sport in the world

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You're forgetting Baseball or Rounders as y'all call it!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Boonie, please remember I'm a Kiwi and don't know what the &lt;deleted&gt; rounders is...but I take your point.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Rounders is the girly, and original, version of the girly game of baseball, ole mate

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ah huh.Does that mean the poms manage to play the game without chewing half a kilo of gum.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, and they don't need to wear a poofy glove either

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

blah blah blah

(Or maybe go interview your brethren Chavez and Castro and ask them how they think they are going to destroy America by giving away free gas.)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Was that another of your brain farts ?

It just goes to show how desperate you are to win if athletes take risks like this including risking their careers. All comes down to feeling a need to win and not stopping at second best but what happened to the good ol' fashioned "Everyone is a winner" phrase.

Guess the temptation of popping a few pills or whatever is too hard to resist if it causes you to win.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Everyone wants to be a celebrity these days. No doubt that LA is an attention whore. He is certainly guilty of that. Still a cheater, like the rest of them anyhow, so I guess that make them all even when racing

oh pleeease!  Any half-wit short a full deck can see that this is a witch-hunt.  The French have been after L.A. since he kept on winning their tournament and wouldn't go away.  This is evident to anyone who reads the press after he wins.  Let's not try to dismiss the obvious.

That aside, although I think Armstrong is a spectacular athlete and he has proven this beyond a doubt, it will be bad if he lied, and continues to lie about lying.

However, it was his first and only race, in which 15 others tested positive, and at least 40 others in the 1998 race, and he has won 6 more TdF titles since, after beating testicular cancer, so the French public can kiss off.

And I'm not from the Dukes of Hazard by the way.  Are you Benny Hill?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think only a half-wit would believe this is a witch hunt. What you say is not only totally off the mark but also complete paranoia, typical of the yanks when they get caught doing something "bad" and hurt in their little pride. Let me explain you why.

The TdF has always been a sport that only OLD people and idiotic FRENCH redneck would watch. Nobody in Europe think highly of that sport. If it was not for LA, the sport would have lost interest domestically and internationally and the yanks would have never heard of the TdF. The FRENCH are thanking LA for doing the TdF, he has exposed the TdF to a bigger than ever international audience, and has brought the US into the game, something the French could have never dream of by having only Euros winning the TdF. Lance rejuvenated a boring sport. He gave it a new twist. The FRENCH sport journalists, cycling professionals LOVE him, because he was the "unexpected" of the lot and he made something worthwhile to talk about in that industry. French papers sold more stories about cycling and the TdF thanks to Lance. "Le Tour" even got INTERNATIONAL exposure through the #1 sport Mega Channel ESPN and was able to reach a market never reached before.

So instead of "whinning" like you love to do in that topic so you can hide yourself from the truth, try to learn the facts first and you will sound less ridiculous and "half wit"

Armstrong is probably the only non-political issue dealing with American Excellence that highlights the achievments of Americans so the Froggies are just jealous as usual. Ever since de Gauille had to be bailed out of WW2, the pompous French have had a hard-on for the USA. This case with LA is just more blow-back on the part of the Froggies due their lack of influence in world events.

Armstrong is probably the only non-political issue dealing with American Excellence that highlights the achievments of Americans so the Froggies are just jealous as usual.  Ever since de Gauille had to be bailed out of WW2, the pompous French have had a hard-on for the USA.  This case with LA is just more blow-back on the part of the Froggies due their lack of influence in world events.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wash,

Rinse,

Repeat

Look, idiot, it is not paranoia to understand that a large swath of the French public hate everything and anything American, and will throw a hissy fit at the first hint that we all don't fit their dream of being stupid, inept, plaid-wearing country bumpkins. This does not mean that I'm slandering the French or even saying that everyone fits this description, but even a person that does not read understands this undeniable fact. If you are now trying to tell me that this sentiment has no bearing on the current scrutiny of L.A., then let me ask you, who are the other guilty culprits? The international public doesn't know their names because only Armstrong is an issue.

I'm not sure what you deem to be a "typical yank" but I don't think I fit the bill. I don't need to wave a nationalist flag because I am only interested in what is true, and that includes all the garbage that emanates from the states. I think anyone that watches Fox News as a source of news is just as bad as the segment of French citizenry which wouldn't have any other way of transferring their prissy, whining, self-centered French nationalism without their anti-Americanism.

Here are the facts I need: this is issue is rehashed by a French lab, and reported in a French newspaper (again) whose commercial interests are linked to TdF.

Armstrong is probably the only non-political issue dealing with American Excellence that highlights the achievments of Americans so the Froggies are just jealous as usual.  Ever since de Gauille had to be bailed out of WW2, the pompous French have had a hard-on for the USA.  This case with LA is just more blow-back on the part of the Froggies due their lack of influence in world events.

Wash,

Rinse,

Repeat

Well, the truth comes up and smacks ya in the face - don't it!

Look, idiot, it is not paranoia to understand that a large swath of the French public hate everything and anything American, and will throw a hissy fit at the first hint that we all don't fit their dream of being stupid, inept, plaid-wearing country bumpkins.  This does not mean that I'm slandering the French or even saying that everyone fits this description, but even a person that does not read understands this undeniable fact.  If you are now trying to tell me that this sentiment has no bearing on the current scrutiny of L.A., then let me ask you, who are the other guilty culprits?  The international public doesn't know their names because only Armstrong is an issue.

I'm not sure what you deem to be a "typical yank" but I don't think I fit the bill.  I don't need to wave a nationalist flag because I am only interested in what is true, and that includes all the garbage that emanates from the states.  I think anyone that watches Fox News as a source of news is just as bad as the segment of French citizenry which wouldn't have any other way of transferring their prissy, whining, self-centered French nationalism without their anti-Americanism.

Here are the facts I need:  this is issue is rehashed by a French lab, and reported in a French newspaper (again) whose commercial interests are linked to TdF.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

this is what I have read about the event.

ONE French newspaper came out with the story.LA has threatened to sue the newspaper.He has not and most probably will not try and sue the lab, because if he does,he will be made to look like a fool.The Lab in question are no mugs and he would have to prove that their methods are flawed.

Doping allegations return for Armstrong - AP News

By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer

PARIS (AP) -- Seven years after Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France title -- and a month after he won his seventh -- the doping allegations have returned.

According to the French sports daily L'Equipe, six urine samples provided by Armstrong during the 1999 Tour tested positive for the red blood cell-booster EPO.

The drug, also known as erythropoietin, was on the list of banned substances at the time but there was no effective test to detect it.

Tour de France director Jean-Marie Leblanc said the four-page article -- headlined ``The Armstrong Lie'' -- appeared ``credible'' and meticulously researched, adding that Armstrong must have a chance to rebut the claims.

``We are very shocked, very troubled by the revelations we read this morning,'' Leblanc told RTL radio.

Armstrong, a frequent target of L'Equipe, vehemently denied the allegations.

``Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism,'' Armstrong wrote on his Web site. ``I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs.''

The allegations surfaced seven years later because EPO tests on the 1999 samples were carried out only last year -- when scientists at a lab outside Paris used them for research to perfect EPO testing. The national anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry said it promised to hand its finding to the World Anti-Doping Agency, provided they were never used to penalize riders.

L'Equipe's investigation was based on urine B samples -- the second of two samples used in doping tests. The A batch was used in 1999 for analysis at the time. Without those samples, any disciplinary action against Armstrong would be impossible, French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour said.

The governing body of world cycling did not begin using a urine test for EPO until 2001, though it was banned in 1990. For years, it had been impossible to detect the drug, which builds endurance by boosting the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells.

Jacques de Ceaurriz, the head of France's anti-doping laboratory, which developed the EPO urine test, told Europe-1 radio that at least 15 urine samples from the 1999 Tour had tested positive for EPO.

Separately, the lab said it could not confirm that the positive results were Armstrong's. It noted that the samples were anonymous, bearing only a six-digit number to identify the rider, and could not be matched with the name of any one cyclist.

However, L'Equipe said it was able to make the match.

On one side of the page, it showed what it claimed were the results of EPO tests from anonymous riders used for lab research. On the other, it showed Armstrong's medical certificates, signed by doctors and riders after doping tests -- and bearing the same identifying number printed on the results.

``It will be very interesting to see what UCI does and what the U.S. Cycling Federation does and what Lance Armstrong has to say,'' WADA chairman Dick Pound said. ``If the evidence is seen as credible then, yes, he has an obligation to come forward and specifically give his comments, especially after his previous comments that he has never used drugs.

``If anything were found, we couldn't do anything because we didn't even exist in 1999. But it's important that the truth must always be made clear.''

Representatives for Armstrong said he was in Austin, Texas, where he lives and did not wish to comment beyond the statement on his Web site.

A year before Armstrong won his first Tour title, the race faced its worst doping scandal after police caught a Festina team employee with a stash of drugs. Riders were ejected and others quit, almost forcing the Tour to collapse.

Armstrong has been dogged by questions in the French media about how someone whose testicular cancer had spread to his lungs and brain could rise to the top of one of the most grueling sporting events in the world.

Armstrong angrily appeared at a news conference that year to explain that trace amounts of cortisone found in his system were from a prescription skin cream to treat saddle sores.

The following year, Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service team became the subject of a French investigation into whether they used banned substances during the 2000 race. The probe was closed in 2002 for lack of evidence.

L'Equipe, whose parent company is closely linked to the Tour, often questioned Armstrong's clean record and frequently took jabs at him -- portraying him as too arrogant, too corporate and too good to be for real.

``Never to such an extent, probably, has the departure of a champion been welcomed with such widespread relief,'' the paper griped the day after Armstrong's record seventh straight win.

A former L'Equipe journalist, Pierre Ballester, was co-author of a book published last year that contained doping allegations against Armstrong. He wrote ``L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong'' with The Sunday Times sports writer David Walsh.

In the book, one of Armstrong's former assistants claimed that the American once asked her to dispose of used syringes and give him makeup to conceal needle marks on his arms.

Armstrong has taken libel action against The Sunday Times after the British newspaper reprinted allegations in a review of the book in June 2004. The case is to go to trial in London's High Court in November.

Armstrong retired from cycling after his record seventh Tour victory last month. In his parting speech, he addressed the people who think was doping.

The TdF has always been a sport that only OLD people and idiotic FRENCH redneck would watch. Nobody in Europe think highly of that sport.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yet another truly ignorant remark from Butterfly. Jeezus, if you're going to open up a topic and try to debate it, at least know &lt;deleted&gt; you are talking about.

The TdF is carried on live television in the majority of European countries. This live coverage is followed up with nightly repeats and complete summary coverage in the sports segments of the nightly news.

The fact is that professional cycling is a huge sport in Europe, wherein the TdF just happens to be the major story in an entire season of events.

Why is it so hard for people to admit the facts?

Fact 1. The Frogs are 88 different kinds of pissed off from having the Olympic bid "stolen" from them by the Brits (with alleged cooperation from the Yanks). This is one of the few ways they have to show their spite.

Fact 2. The people raising the current stink about LA, didn't even follow proper procedure in conducting their investigation. That in and of itself, makes the whole process flawed and suspect from the get-go.

Fact 3. The actual test that people are screaming about, didn't even exist back in '99. It wasn't part of the testing process. Now people want to go back and rewrite the rules and procedures 6 years after the fact? What's wrong with that picture?

Bottom line?

LA is the best there ever was at the TdF and it makes the Frogs sick to be reminded of the fact that a Yank rules their premier sporting event.

The TdF has always been a sport that only OLD people and idiotic FRENCH redneck would watch. Nobody in Europe think highly of that sport.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yet another truly ignorant remark from Butterfly. Jeezus, if you're going to open up a topic and try to debate it, at least know &lt;deleted&gt; you are talking about.

The TdF is carried on live television in the majority of European countries. This live coverage is followed up with nightly repeats and complete summary coverage in the sports segments of the nightly news.

The fact is that professional cycling is a huge sport in Europe, wherein the TdF just happens to be the major story in an entire season of events.

Why is it so hard for people to admit the facts?

Fact 1. The Frogs are 88 different kinds of pissed off from having the Olympic bid "stolen" from them by the Brits (with alleged cooperation from the Yanks). This is one of the few ways they have to show their spite.

Fact 2. The people raising the current stink about LA, didn't even follow proper procedure in conducting their investigation. That in and of itself, makes the whole process flawed and suspect from the get-go.

Fact 3. The actual test that people are screaming about, didn't even exist back in '99. It wasn't part of the testing process. Now people want to go back and rewrite the rules and procedures 6 years after the fact? What's wrong with that picture?

Bottom line?

LA is the best there ever was at the TdF and it makes the Frogs sick to be reminded of the fact that a Yank rules their premier sporting event.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is the real reason behind it.It is written above as well.LA stopped the book being published in English speaking countries.Sorry, it's not just a yank thing.The whole sport has been dirty and it's also very easy to target the guy at the top.

A former L'Equipe journalist, Pierre Ballester, was co-author of a book published last year that contained doping allegations against Armstrong. He wrote ``L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong'' with The Sunday Times sports writer David Walsh.

This is the real reason behind it.It is written above as well.LA stopped the book being published in English speaking countries.Sorry, it's not just a yank thing.The whole sport has been dirty and it's also very easy to target the guy at the top.

A former L'Equipe journalist, Pierre Ballester, was co-author of a book published last year that contained doping allegations against Armstrong. He wrote ``L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong'' with The Sunday Times sports writer David Walsh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I disagree. That book is just someone's version of "Jerry Springer does cycling." All hearsay and allegations, with no substantiation.

The proof is in the testing. LA underwent the same procedures and testing as every other rider. If he passed then he met the same criteria as every other competitor.

In other words, whatever the rules were/are, he played by the same rules as anyone else, beat their butts, and now 6 years after the fact, the Frogs have a hard-on over it.

If one doesn't like the rules, then change the rules. But don't try to rewrite history because you didn't like the rules 6 years prior.

This is the real reason behind it.It is written above as well.LA stopped the book being published in English speaking countries.Sorry, it's not just a yank thing.The whole sport has been dirty and it's also very easy to target the guy at the top.

A former L'Equipe journalist, Pierre Ballester, was co-author of a book published last year that contained doping allegations against Armstrong. He wrote ``L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong'' with The Sunday Times sports writer David Walsh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I disagree. That book is just someone's version of "Jerry Springer does cycling." All hearsay and allegations, with no substantiation.

I can't agree.Do you know that the book was co-written with David Walsh, a very well respected sports writer....Jerry Springer my arse.Do you know who they interviewed? do you know much about the book or are you just having a guess?

The proof is in the testing. LA underwent the same procedures and testing as every other rider. If he passed then he met the same criteria as every other competitor.

In other words, whatever the rules were/are, he played by the same rules as anyone else, beat their butts, and now 6 years after the fact, the Frogs have a hard-on over it.

No one is changing the rules.They had no test for EPO in those days...although it was still illegal

If one doesn't like the rules, then change the rules. But don't try to rewrite history because you didn't like the rules 6 years prior.

If I was Lance and I wanted to clear my name, I would demand DNA testing of the blood from the lab and further tests (under supervision) for EPO. Bet you a night on the town that he will never do this.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fact 1. The Frogs are 88 different kinds of pissed off from having the Olympic bid "stolen" from them by the Brits (with alleged cooperation from the Yanks). This is one of the few ways they have to show their spite.

Fact 2. The people raising the current stink about LA, didn't even follow proper procedure in conducting their investigation. That in and of itself, makes the whole process flawed and suspect from the get-go.

Fact 3. The actual test that people are screaming about, didn't even exist back in '99. It wasn't part of the testing process. Now people want to go back and rewrite the rules and procedures 6 years after the fact? What's wrong with that picture?

Bottom line?

LA is the best there ever was at the TdF and it makes the Frogs sick to be reminded of the fact that a Yank rules their premier sporting event.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is the real reason behind it.It is written above as well.LA stopped the book being published in English speaking countries.Sorry, it's not just a yank thing.The whole sport has been dirty and it's also very easy to target the guy at the top.

A former L'Equipe journalist, Pierre Ballester, was co-author of a book published last year that contained doping allegations against Armstrong. He wrote ``L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong'' with The Sunday Times sports writer David Walsh.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

WHAT is the real reason behind it? So, the whole sport has been dirty, but funny enough, we haven't heard of anyone else until L.A.

And you want me to believe that this is international news, but only ONE newspaper and no other media outlets in France have reported it, even though the president of the Tdf is commenting on this ONE article .... uh, yeah, right