.............

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.

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I think this would be a bad move. Even if there was no EPO in his blood when he gave it you can bet your life that it is in there now. The samples tested were not handled using proper protocal....who knows exactly who has had access to them?...who knows what opportunities people have had to adulter these samples. I think that the real problem here is that l'Equipe or whoever initiated the testing did so without proper protocal....I wonder why...if you want to find the truth then following proper protocal would provide the truth...by not following proper protocol you have destroyed the possibility of anyone ever finding the truth. Who benefitted from the lack of protocal and who suffered...obviously l'Equipe benefitted from the lack of protocal since now LA has no way of vindicating himself.

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

Look at the ex reporter for the newspaper Kat.It's in his interest to "get" LA.

Again, if Lance is not guilty...why does he not go for DNA tests etc.He's as guilty as the rest of the pricks in this sport.he is just unlucky enough to be the best.Call it tall poppy or French hatred if you wish.If he had been Australian or Fijian..they would have done the same. To call it yank bashing is a crock though.

.............

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.

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I think this would be a bad move. Even if there was no EPO in his blood when he gave it you can bet your life that it is in there now. The samples tested were not handled using proper protocal....who knows exactly who has had access to them?...who knows what opportunities people have had to adulter these samples. I think that the real problem here is that l'Equipe or whoever initiated the testing did so without proper protocal....I wonder why...if you want to find the truth then following proper protocal would provide the truth...by not following proper protocol you have destroyed the possibility of anyone ever finding the truth. Who benefitted from the lack of protocal and who suffered...obviously l'Equipe benefitted from the lack of protocal since now LA has no way of vindicating himself.

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Nothing to do with the lab mate....just the newspaper.read the article a few posts up.

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.

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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.

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Listen funny man, as usual you are talking out of your ignorant redneck ass.

"Le Tour" is on local shit channel that nobody watch, it's not prime time until the last day. It only gets mentioned at the end of the "20 Heures" to please the French Redneck. Nobody gave a ###### over in Europe about "Le Tour". Only the yanks saw an "opportunity" to take "Le tour" because it was "neglected" by Euros. You never heard of "Le Tour" before Lance got into it. Period.

Fact 1. Parisians are fuking happy that they didn't get the Olympics. It was going to be a nightmare for traffic and local housing. Only "Le fag" Parisian Mayor "Notre Dame de Paris" was pissed. He is a little turd and he only used this Olympics hype so he could get re-elected in the coming election. Now he is toasted. Good ridance.

Fact 2. BFD. The fact remains that he was using drugs. Period. He was not clean. Do you get that or do you need me to spell it for you ?

Fact 3. They followed the process using anonymous samples. You are just trying to spin this drama because your little Texan cowboy happen to be a cheater like the rest of them and you are pissed that he is not an "honnest" Texan because everybody know that all Texans are "honnests"

Everybody agree that Lance is great for TdF, including the French. You are just too "naive" to think he did it without cheating. Others disagree.

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

Look at the ex reporter for the newspaper Kat.It's in his interest to "get" LA.

Again, if Lance is not guilty...why does he not go for DNA tests etc.He's as guilty as the rest of the pricks in this sport.he is just unlucky enough to be the best.Call it tall poppy or French hatred if you wish.If he had been Australian or Fijian..they would have done the same. To call it yank bashing is a crock though.

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What's with the shades all of a sudden?

Yeah, I saw that the ex-reporter Ballester is also one of the two authors of the book that Lance tried to block.

I'm not arguing that L.A. is squeaky clean. I think it will be bad for him, and cast a shadow on his success. But I hardly believe that his "career is built on lies" or other such shit because the man has proven himself beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Would it be the same if he were English, Italian, or someone other than an American? ... a big resounding NO, because everyone knows that the British and Europeans love nothing more than to hate Americans. This is nothing new, and I'm surprised that there is so much denial about it.

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.

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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.

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"Le Tour" is on local shit channel that nobody watch, it's not prime time until the last day. It only gets mentioned at the end of the "20 Heures" to please the French Redneck. Nobody gave a ###### over in Europe about "Le Tour". Only the yanks saw an "opportunity" to take "Le tour" because it was "neglected" by Euros. You never heard of "Le Tour" before Lance got into it. Period.

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Actually, that's not true. People who know very little about France know about the TdF. That's been the case long before L.A.

"Only the yanks saw an "opportunity" to take "Le tour" because it was "neglected" by Euros."

This is just a backhanded way of saying that L.A. rose to the top of a neglected sport because Europeans cared little about it. Sort of like '"you can have it, because we don't want it".

Well, they sure seem to care now

Kat,the French hate the pommies more than they hate anybody....goes backto 1066.

If you have Windows Media player, then listen to this interview.It might surprise you a little.BTW,in the interview, they refer to a bloke called jack Swart.he is a kiwi and was a team mate of LA.

http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/audio2/26125011.wma

I can't access the link right now; I'll try again tomorrow on another computer.

This is just a backhanded way of saying that L.A. rose to the top of a neglected sport because Europeans cared little about it.  Sort of like '"you can have it, because we don't want it".

Well, they sure seem to care now 

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Not really. The sport lost its appeal in the early 80s after a string of drug scandals. It became popular again when an unknown "French" guy started to win again. That was in the mid-90s if I remember correctly. The "French" guy got caught years later like Lance was last week, and I think he lost some of his "trophy". It was brutal. Before the popular French guy, winners were mostly Italians and Spanish. Nobody would give a fuk except the Italians and the Spanish (NOT all Europe), it's always been popular over there.

Lance came in, and it was such a breath of fresh air, that everybody loved him because nobody believed he would win. We now know that he just had better "doctors". EPO is extremly powerful. It can make an average "rider" become a superhero. Ask the Festina team when their average "rider" who never won anything before became suddently a winner in 1998.

Look, idiot,

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By the way, I'm sorry for the previous salutation. You are obviously not an idiot, but I thought your reasoning at the time was spurious.

Look, idiot,

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By the way, I'm sorry for the previous salutation. You are obviously not an idiot, but I thought your reasoning at the time was spurious.

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I have a thick skin, unlike some here

I forgive you until next time

There won't be a next time - your posts have kind of grown on me ..... unless you deserve a next time, of course

Does this mean case closed?

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-ar...ov=ap&type=lgns

Look, idiot,

By the way, I'm sorry for the previous salutation. You are obviously not an idiot, but I thought your reasoning at the time was spurious.

I have a thick skin, unlike some here

What you're really saying there B-Fly is that thing above your sholders that's thick!

They all cheat.LA is still the best rider IMO.

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They all cheat. He cheated best. Wait and see.

Why would France bash this guy, if he's clean, when he revived the Tour with his popularity in the States and all over the world?

Cycling body criticizes world doping authorities, French newspaper over Armstrong allegations

GENEVA (AP) -- Cycling's world governing body criticized world doping authorities and a French sports newspaper for alleging seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong used performance-enhancing substances six years ago.

The UCI said Friday it was still gathering information and had asked the World Anti-Doping Agency and the French laboratory which tested the samples taken from Armstrong in 1999 for more background. It also wanted to know who commissioned the research and who agreed to make it public.

``How could this be done without the riders' consent?'' the UCI said.

Last month, Armstrong was accused of doping by L'Equipe, which reported that the blood booster EPO was found in six of his 1999 urine samples.

Armstrong has angrily denied the charges, saying he was the victim of a ``witch hunt.'' He questioned the validity of testing samples frozen six years ago, and how the samples were handled.

``I'm pleased the UCI is investigating this entire matter thoroughly because any professional investigation will reveal that the allegations made by a French sports tabloid have no basis because I never used any performance-enhancing drugs,'' Armstrong said in a statement. ``Based on the translation I read of the press release, I'm pleased that the UCI seems to be asking many of the right questions.''

The UCI also asked WADA to say if it allowed the results to be disseminated, which the cycling federation says is a ``breach of WADA's anti-doping code.''

``We have substantial concerns about the impact of this matter on the integrity of the overall drug testing regime of the Olympic movement, and in particular the questions it raises over the trustworthiness of some of the sports and political authorities active in the anti-doping fight,'' the UCI said.

The UCI also said it had received no evidence of doping despite requests.

``The UCI has not to date received any official information or document'' from anti-doping authorities or the laboratory reportedly involved in the testing of urine samples from the 1999 Tour de France, the cycling federation said.

UCI president Hein Verbruggen has asked for harsh sanctions against dopers and suggested Armstrong should face sanctions if he were shown to be guilty.

He also told Friday's Le Figaro that Armstrong had proposed before the Tour that all of his urine samples be kept for tests over the next 10 years.

UCI said it was still ``awaiting plausible answers'' to its requests to WADA and the laboratory.

``We deplore the fact that the long-established and entrenched confidentiality principle could be violated in such a flagrant way without any respect for fair play and the rider's privacy,'' it said.

UCI singled out WADA president Dick Pound for making ``public statements about the likely guilt of an athlete on the basis of a newspaper article and without all the facts being known.''

It also criticized the article in L'Equipe as ``targeting a particular athlete.''

L'Equipe said it would react of UCI's criticism in Saturday editions. Tour de France organizers had no immediate reaction, spokesman Matthieu Desplats said.

Claude Droussent, the editor of L'Equipe, denied his newspaper targeted Armstrong because he is American, and said it would have treated a French rider the same.

Armstrong retired after winning his seventh straight Tour title in July, but said this week he is considering a comeback. He plans to attend the Discovery Channel team training camp this winter.

-AP News

By UTA HARNISCHFEGER, Associated Press Writer

September 9, 2005

Well, it looks like Lance Armstrong has not been found guilty of any wrongdoings by the International Cycling Union (UCI).....

I guess now he can concentrate on banging his new fiance, Sherly Crow.....