USADA files doping charges against Lance

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  • timoid.
    timoid. Posts: 3,133
    mididoctors wrote:
    Timoid. wrote:
    Where does all this leave Contador and his 2007 Disco Tour?


    there is no letter sent to him so I assume......


    But if he's part of the conspiracy and its proven by USADA, then doesn't the UCI have to act?
    It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.
  • ellerslierd
    ellerslierd Posts: 266
    In the past hour, I've gone from "I hope this blows over" to "I hope things don't get even worse"
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,793
    knedlicky wrote:
    This news has made my day/evening. Up to now I thought LA would happily go to his grave without ever definitely being found guilty – even if he foolishly didn’t realise that no one would ever bother or think to go to his funeral.

    As far as I understand it, the statute of limitations in any land is purely to do with legal and tax aspects. However, it doesn’t mean the UCI can’t strip LA of earlier victories because they aren’t bound by such rules.

    It could also mean French authorities decide to take up a legal case against him, although that might be more complicated since their present statute of limitations is for most instances 5 years but up to 2008 it was 30 years. I don’t know how they handle cases which were within 30 years ago but not yet over 5 years ago.

    I think ATEOTD it will be "Lance its official you are a massive knob".... lets just "sort of" pretend nothing happened and hope it fades away in time...and it will given a decade or two.... if you keep going all of banestos stanglehold on yellow comes up next
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Rule74Please
    Rule74Please Posts: 307
    dope control can only act back 8 years. that's why many thought it would come out next year in August
    Don't know the Rules?

    http://www.velominati.com/blog/the-rules/
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,550
    Spooling a bit back here, but some of the stuff on that list of charges looks distinctly criminal to me. I'm fairly sure that a number of them are criminal offences in various countries, and have been for a fair while now.

    So what of the grand jury investigation?
    My understanding was that it was a fraud investigation - it needed to show misuse of public funds (from the US Postal service) - which meant it needed to show both that doping was going on and that it was financed with the sponsors money.

    But was it restricted to that, could they have brought different charges if they'd found anything illegal going on?

    Just wondering if the implications go further than USADA bans... Anyone else going to get a full set of the grand jury documents?
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,793
    Timoid. wrote:
    mididoctors wrote:
    Timoid. wrote:
    Where does all this leave Contador and his 2007 Disco Tour?


    there is no letter sent to him so I assume......


    But if he's part of the conspiracy and its proven by USADA, then doesn't the UCI have to act?

    How the fvck should I know.... :lol:

    it baffles me how the accountant kept riding after being busted and totally screwing up a giro and tour in the process
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,793
    the real winners in all this will be the lawyers
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,793
    he has a hell of a lot to answer for armstrong...... the more I think of it... that comeback of his strikes me as so ridiculous given what was happening that I can almost blame the rest of peloton from not fliciing him into the nearest ditch repeatedly until he went away.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    Ehhhm should be roundabout 6.30pm in Minnesota just now - I reckon Greg LeMond will be having an extra cup of tea just after his dinner tonight ?? 8)
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,793
    The hope here is that its such a massive scandal teams are permanently scared into being clean[er] for sponsorship reasons

    bedtime
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • No_Ta_Doctor
    No_Ta_Doctor Posts: 14,550
    mididoctors wrote:
    The hope here is that its such a massive scandal teams are permanently scared into being clean[er] for sponsorship reasons

    bedtime

    That was the hope in 98 as well :-(

    But there's dirty laundry that still needs to be done, if it isn't then cleaning things up is even harder.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format
  • Tusher
    Tusher Posts: 2,762
    No-one has yet pointed a finger at the major culprit in all this- Carlos Sastre, I'm looking at you.

    If 'Mr Clean' Sastre hadn't won the 2008 Tour, LA would still be sitting on his front porch sipping cold beers and wallowing in fame.

    But it was Sastre's win which fuelled him to announce his comeback, and we all know the rest. Sastre pushed over the first domino.

    Just imagine- a Spaniard as well.
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    Aye blame poor Carlos - Your as bad as the rangers fans "It wiznae oor fault"

    I hope everyone gets their comeuppenceworth and good riddance to the lot of em.
  • Tusher
    Tusher Posts: 2,762
    Ach, haud yer wheesht.
  • Tusher
    Tusher Posts: 2,762
    This has been one of the most enjoyable evenings I have ever had in my years following cycling.

    <hic>
  • Bakunin
    Bakunin Posts: 868
    I just read the letter -- a very sweet day.

    Lance cannot ignore this, dismiss it, or contest it -- it seems that people close to him gave him up (about time).

    And this has to be the end for the Hog.

    I hope the UCI gets pulled into the vortex as well.

    Whether it is Lance, Bruyneel or Dr. Fast Car -- the one word that sticks out is trafficking.

    Hate to see you go, get the hell out...

    Sweet.
  • Wheelspinner
    Wheelspinner Posts: 6,662
    Long_Tumbleweed.jpg


    Anyone else think this is what the Vuelta start line might end up like at this rate? :D
    Open One+ BMC TE29 Seven 622SL On One Scandal Cervelo RS
  • BikingBernie
    BikingBernie Posts: 2,163
    Where are all the 'innocent until proven guilty' mob now, I wonder? And to think of all the crap that I have been given over the last few years for pointing out much of what is now confirmed in that USADA charge sheet. I wonder if everyone will now start praising people like Kimmage, Walsh, Lemond and Betsy Andreu for their integrity and determination to see the truth prevail. Oh, I see that has already started...

    As to the dropping of the FBI case, I can't help wondering if that was always going to be the outcome, with the use of FBI agents being little more than a way to ensure the investigation had adequate 'leverage'.
  • richard wants a baum
    richard wants a baum Posts: 744
    The outcome of this will be very interesting, hopefully this sends a message to all the young guys coming into the sport. No matter how important you may seem to the sport's marketability you can be brought down, because in the end it's not going to change the fact Armstrong stood on the top step 7 times. He and some people will still think (rightly or wrongly) that he deserved to, the only real benefit of fighting this is for there to be more pressure for current and new riders to not dope.
    Take care of the luxuries and the necessites will take care of themselves.
  • BikingBernie
    BikingBernie Posts: 2,163
    I see that Cycling Weekly devotes most of its coverage of this story to acting as a mouthpiece of Armstrong.

    http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... t-him.html

    What on Earth will it take for the mainstream cycling press to grow some balls with regards Armstrong and his cronies?
  • iainf72
    iainf72 Posts: 15,784
    BikingBernie wrote:
    What on Earth will it take for the mainstream cycling press to grow some balls with regards Armstrong and his cronies?

    All of the CW journos I know certainly do have balls and make their opinions on Armstrong quite clear.

    Why are l'equipe a mouthpiece for Armstrong too? http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-rout ... ent/291124
    Fckin' Quintana … that creep can roll, man.
  • inkyfingers
    inkyfingers Posts: 4,400
    Wow, crazy stuff.

    The reason that many journalists have been loathe to speak their mind is because they, like the riders rely on advertisers to keep a roof over their head.

    I find this all quite exciting and depressing in equal measure.
    "I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    That. Is.


    I don't know the right word.

    Massive.

    Beautiful understatement there Rick. You're so refined ;)

    Just read the PDF Iain linked to myself (Thanks Iain). OMFG! I wonder whether this may be the straw that breaks Pat McQuaid's back? If these allegations are true then Pat has to go. There's no way he could have been in the dark. The money Lance donated to the UCI? All of these skeletons will come back out of the closet.

    I fear a painful period for our sport, but if it survives, then it will be cleaner and more genuine.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    TheStone wrote:
    But why did the FBI give up? Surely this is massive fraud against a number of high profile american companies?

    Because the FBI investigation was focused (I believe) on whether Federal money was used to fund the doping. On balance they must have concluded that this wasn't the case, but not that the doping didn't happen.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    iainf72 wrote:
    If LA sticks to his "not going to fight it" line well....where does that leave things?

    If he won't defend against it, but JB etc do....

    It's a bizarre position to adopt really. If he isn't going to defend himself, then the obvious approach would be to fully cooperate with the aim of reducing the damage to a minimum. The 'bury your head in the sand' middle ground is only going to cast further suspicion.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    Rick Chasey wrote:
    I'lll be honest - something super exciting about a conspiracy being unravlled - especially in a sport you've followed so closely.

    As long as it doesn't cause irreparable harm from a sponsorship point of view, then I'd tend to agree. I'm more concerned about the short, medium and long term impact on our sport though.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    afx237vi wrote:
    Puts some fuel on the fire with regards to the Horner snub too.

    Very good :)

    'You've grassed me up you ****. No you ******* can't ride the Tour!' ;)
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    sherer wrote:
    Frank only pays money for training plans. The UCI even looked into it

    I have always wondered about this. Why would a rider approach a Doctor for training plans? That makes no sense at all. Surely a cycling coach would be the best person to provide such help? It's a bit like me calling a plumber to fix my electrics!
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    iainf72 wrote:
    Why are l'equipe a mouthpiece for Armstrong too? http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme-sur-rout ... ent/291124

    I suppose they have to defend him, because the impact on the perception of the TdF is going to be massive. French race, French Newspaper, vested interests. Simples.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    Right, I've posted a wall of replies - going to work. Hope to see lots more by the time I get to the Wharf! ;)

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