Well done Brian Smith

Art Vandelay

Some of the responses from within the peloton have been one of the most interesting aspects of the fallout after the release of the USADA document. There's an interview of the forum's very own Brian Smith on the Daily Mail (sorry):

So, as we’re riding side by side, the conversation turns to the subject of performance-enhancing drugs. He wants to know what I think. Did I think everyone was on them? Was the only way to beat them to join them? Would I take them?

My dad was a Scottish international cyclist and before I turned pro he sat me down and made me promise that I would never fall into that world, that I would never take drugs.

I told Lance the story and told him I could never let down my dad. I’d rather fail as a cyclist than do that. We rode on.

Two weeks later, I was called to a meeting with Jim Ochowicz, who played a big part in Lance’s career and at the time was Motorola team manager. Jim told me I would not be getting a new contract for the following season. I was out.

More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/others ... acked.html

Art Vandelay

Would be interesting to hear from Brian about his attitudes and that of his co-commentators during the Lance years.

timoid.

Kudos to Brian. I can't imagine how horrible it would be to see your dreams go up in smoke because you decided to do the right thing.

At least he can hold his head high.

iainf72

Hmmmmm

http://www.heraldscotland.com/mobile/sp ... 68cc375d35

frenchfighter

Art, you will like this thread:
http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=18772

Art Vandelay

FF - I've been dipping into that but as usual there's so much crap on there too.
Iain - you've pit your spoon in the pot - what is the article saying? I'm only getting an executive summary when I open it.

dave_1

.....

frenchfighter

Art Vandelay wrote:

FF - I've been dipping into that but as usual there's so much crap on there too.
Iain - you've pit your spoon in the pot - what is the article saying? I'm only getting an executive summary when I open it.

Yeah true which is why I never go on that site. All the quotes I posted on the main thread on BR were from the cnews thread...weeding out the rubbish!

Richmond Racer

Well, as others have posted up things other people have said in the way of praise about Armstrong in the past e.g, Wiggo....

Brian in 08: 'I got on fine with Lance. I respected his abilities as a bike rider but treated him as I would treat any friend. That’s why I think we still get along… or was it because he thought my accent was funny. Even when I met him at the Tour a couple of years ago he still says “I never could understand a word you were saying!” All that advice I thought I was giving him was going straight out the window due to communication problems. To think what he could have achieved… Lance away from the media was cool and fun and as a rider he was awesome and focused'


No one should be held accountable for a different viewpoint in the past. Just good to remain balanced.

prawny

The article from the herald was published in August I get the impression now that Brian was being careful what he said about lance before it all came out. I know I would have been tbf, Kimmage has dome balls.

ocdupalais

It seems we ain't getting no BS from BS, the DS... Well done indeed: he's played a blinder.

A former team mate of Armstrong manages to maintain his integrity in the face of what, by all accounts, was immense pressure. I hope this story (and Brian) gets more props in the midst of all this poop.

Le Commentateur

The thing is the DM quote is recent, the others aren't. He, like us all, are now on firmer ground about Armstrong than 2008, when he might have less certain that his loss of contract was due to his incorruptibility.

iainf72

Basically he was saying it's in the past and we should concentrate on the future and what's happening now.

What changed in the last month and a half then if we should just move on?

So what next? The USADA has already signalled its intention to push for the Texan-born rider's seven Tour de France titles, acquired from 1999 to 2005, to be revoked and a lifetime ban imposed. Yet, for many, this would be little more than a ludicrous window-dressing PR exercise, given Armstrong's was an era when doping was rife in the sport. Titles can be stripped and passed on, but who is to say the next man in line is any more worthy than his predecessor?

"That's when it becomes farcical," Smith said. "If they award it to Rider X, then who's to say Armstrong won't then have a case to say, 'What are their blood values?'

"EPO use was rife then; it was very much a case of 'if you can't beat them, join them'. If he cheated, so did many others. How far down the line do you go? Most of the peloton was on it."

Millar, the Scot who was banned from cycling between 2004 and 2006 after admitting to having taken EPO, has said he could see "no happy ending" to the Armstrong saga. The rider, who has re-invented himself as a high-profile anti-doping campaigner and sits on the athletes' committee of WADA, has always maintained that the sport needed to draw a line under that era and move on. It is a sentiment echoed throughout the cycling world. Joanna Rowsell, the Olympic gold medallist, said on Twitter: "Can't help but feel whole thing is old news and cycling has moved on since then."

Ned Boulting, ITV's cycling presenter, added: "It is with great regret that today I must announce my intention no longer to think about the Lance Armstrong case. Enough is enough."

Smith fervently agrees. "We should be celebrating the successes within the sport," he said. "Is cycling the cleanest we have ever seen it? We are definitely moving in the right direction. It's time to look forward and not back."

TMR

Clearly the answer is to strip LA of the 7 titles - he doesn't deserve them - and simply annul the results for those years. There were no winners and LA has nothing to b*tch about.

Simples.

tailwindhome

The Mad Rapper wrote:

Clearly the answer is to strip LA of the 7 titles - he doesn't deserve them - and simply annul the results for those years. There were no winners and LA has nothing to b*tch about.

Simples.

+1

Anonymous

It is a bit frustrating when people talk about 'drawing a line under it'. What about the systematic corruption, cover ups, people involved still key players in cycling?

Only when 'the truth' a la "A Few Good Men" comes out can a line be drawn.

RichN95.

coriordan wrote:

Only when 'the truth' a la "A Few Good Men" comes out can a line be drawn.

You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has races. And those races have to be ridden by men with bikes. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Tygart? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Bassons and you curse the US Postal Service. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Bassons's retirement, while tragic, probably won me races. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, wins races...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that mountain. You need me on that mountain.
We use words like omerta, syringe, transfusion...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent winning something. You use 'em as evidence. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very entertainment I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a blood bag and find a vein. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!

Did you order the blood bag?
I did the job you sent me to do.
Did you order the blood bag?
You're goddamn right I did!!



(Up yours Aaron Sorkin - it's not difficult)

Anonymous

I line 'em up, you knock 'em down. Gold.

timoid.

RichN95 wrote:

coriordan wrote:

Only when 'the truth' a la "A Few Good Men" comes out can a line be drawn.

You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has races. And those races have to be ridden by men with bikes. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Tygart? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Bassons and you curse the US Postal Service. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Bassons's retirement, while tragic, probably won me races. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, wins races...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that mountain. You need me on that mountain.
We use words like omerta, syringe, transfusion...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent winning something. You use 'em as evidence. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very entertainment I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a blood bag and find a vein. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!

Did you order the blood bag?
I did the job you sent me to do.
Did you order the blood bag?
You're goddamn right I did!!



(Up yours Aaron Sorkin - it's not difficult)

Chapeau sir!

slim_boy_fat

RichN95 wrote:

coriordan wrote:

Only when 'the truth' a la "A Few Good Men" comes out can a line be drawn.

You can't handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has races. And those races have to be ridden by men with bikes. Who's gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Tygart? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Bassons and you curse the US Postal Service. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Bassons's retirement, while tragic, probably won me races. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, wins races...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that mountain. You need me on that mountain.
We use words like omerta, syringe, transfusion...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent winning something. You use 'em as evidence. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very entertainment I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a blood bag and find a vein. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you're entitled to!

Did you order the blood bag?
I did the job you sent me to do.
Did you order the blood bag?
You're goddamn right I did!!



(Up yours Aaron Sorkin - it's not difficult)

Very good Rich.

andy_wrx

How can you draw a line under it, when it's still going on ?

That Ukraininan, Vlodomyr whatsit, whose affidavit re. Ferrari is part of the USADA evidence - how many current riders does he detail as working with Ferrari ?

This will rumble on for years...