Lance Armstrong

well a lad from Roche’s team tested positive for EPO this week.

And Roche senior is on an UCI committee giving out about lads cycling with their shirts zipped open. Nico won’t rock any boats.

Wasn’t there some drugs suspicion over Roche senior as well, especially after that stage in the Tour de France where is came back from out of nowhere?

So you’re saying junior is following daddy’s footsteps then? For fuck sake.

I don’t think Roche junior is doping but he isn’t helping himself. In fairness to the guy I don’t think he’s all that bright - he’s certainly very inarticulate. He was rambling a bit incoherently on twitter last night as well. He was never going to speak well about the problem of doping and I wouldn’t judge him too much on a media performance when he’s not really capable of putting across his point of view properly.

That said I won’t be supporting his career given his involvement with Riis and having McQuaid as his manager. Cyclists who want to be seen as clean have to be proactive - it’s not enough to just not be caught. Roche is making some very bad associations.

Roche was taking EPO in the 90s according to Italian courts. He hasn’t been convicted purely because of statute of limitations (too much time expired) but it’s very clear that he was doping along with the rest of his team.

Doping was systematic on the Carerra team

The team doctor of the Carrera cycling team, Dr. Giovanni Grazzi, worked with Professor Francesco Conconi at the University of Ferrara in 1993.[8] It was reported in the Rome based newspaper, La Republica, in January 2000 that Conconi was involved with administering EPO to riders on the Carrera team.[9] In March 2000 the Italian Judge Franca Oliva published a report detailing the conclusions of an investigation into a number of sports doctors including Professor Conconi.[10] This official judicial investigation concluded that the riders of the Carrera team were administered EPO in 1993.[11] The riders included Stephen Roche, Claudio Chiappucci,[12]Guido Bontempi, Rolf Sørensen, Mario Chiesa, Massimo Ghirotto and Fabio Roscioli.[8]

Files seized as part of the judicial investigation allegedly detail a number of aliases for former Tour de France, Giro d’Italia winner and World Champion Stephen Roche including Rocchi, Rossi, Rocca, Roncati, Righi and Rossini.[13] In 1997, Claudio Chiappucci told prosecutor Vincenzo Scolastico that he had been using EPO since 1993, but later he recalled that statement.[14]

After watching Roches interview after the Olympics I don’t think he is a doper but just a dope, comes across as an egotistical simple cunt.

I suppose this is true of a lot of professional sports people.:slight_smile:

No but Roche is a legend in the sport and well connected with the blazers. Nico won’t rock the boat.

Its amazing! Tiger was dropped by Nike in a heartbeat for scoring a few playboy models, but lance can lie dope cheat and abuse people and they stand by him. Baffling.

Ah yeah but Lance had cancer. :slight_smile:

That is because he is a textbook sociopath!

Probably too simplistic a view but my take on cycling is that if you’re competitive then you’re on something. I would have thought Roche’s legacy is well tarnished at this stage or is the sport so fucked that known drug cheats are still considered legends? There is only one and there will only ever be one Irish cycling legend.

[color="#0000ff"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL3jQmkj3uI

Armstrong’s mistake was that he was too dominant. He won so much that he raised suspicions. If we was wide enough to let others win the occasional stage he would have come across less as a superman. But he felt the need to drive everyone into the ground.

Really? A member of the Festina team.

Really?

Kelly was retired before EPO became a major issue. He was long gone by 1998.

:lol: yeah and Flo Jo was dead before she was found guilty as well.

He tested positive and Willy Voet commented that he took drugs regularly.

EPO was a major issue long before 1998.

Carrera riders were on EPO in '92 for definite, '91 likely and possibly even 1990.

Indurain was almost as dominant as Armstrong in the '91-'95 period. He’s never discussed. Surely a doper?

I know you’re messing here but the amount of people saying he’s still a legend cos he beat cancer is annoying the hell out of me. There’s millions of people all over the world who have beaten cancer and that have inspirational stories but none of them cheated to earn a platform on which to tell their story.

How fucking dare you.