Lance Armstrong Throws In the Towel

Seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong gave uphis years long fight against charges from the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA) that he used performance enhancing drugs.  Armstrong announced on August 23rd that he would not go through the USADA’s arbitration process, which he pronounced to be unfair.  Armstrong has never flunked a drug test, but the USADA claims it has blood samples that showed evidence of doping, and also to have former teammates (who have been banned for doping themselves) lined up to testify against him.  Armstrong had sued the USADA in Federal Court, saying the agency can’t prosecute him, but the judge said the court had no jurisdiction over the matter, though he did question the USADA’s motivation.

With Armstrong giving up the fight, the USADA has stripped him of his seven Tour titles. Armstrong is retired from racing, but he has also been given a lifetime ban from any participation in the sport, such as coaching.  It seems odd that a highly competitive person like Armstrong would quit without trying to clear his name through the arbitration process, no matter how unfair he thinks it is.  This has led to the inevitable conclusion by many that he was indeed doping.  Travis Tygart, the CEO of USADA, said “this is a heartbreaking example of how the win at all costs culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe, and honest competition, but for clean athletes, it is a reassuring reminder that there is hope for future generations to compete on a level playing field without the use of performance enhancing drugs”.

So now those seven Tour championships will go the second place finishers who were cheated out of them, right?  Well, it turns out all those guys have doping issues of their own. The sport is full of dopers, whether Armstrong actually is one of them or not. At one time, the Tour de France was a magnificent test of speed, strength, and endurance. It has since become a joke and we will have nothing more to do with it even if Tygart somehow comes up with his mythical level playing field.