January 19, 2013

Lie Strong

Well, Lance finally came clean that he wasn't so 'clean' after all while riding as a professional cyclist. While I haven't seen the interview with Oprah Winfrey I have read a number of articles on the web and some remark that while Armstrong admits to having used sport enhancing drugs by no means does he reveal everything. Of course his previous position on this matter was untenable. With so many former team mates going on record that they witnessed Lance sticking a needle in his arm kinda ruins the perception of a clean athlete.

I've been a fan of cycling practically all of my life. Learned to appreciate the sport in the early 80s from watching it on television and riding against nasty Dutch headwinds on my way to football practice. When Lance Armstrong started winning the Tour de France, like most people, I felt a great deal of sympathy for him because he was a cancer survivor. I thought it was phenomenal that a person could come back from such a terrible disease and after multiple operations to achieve the highest standard in sports. But I guess that sympathy was partly misplaced.

Could go on a tantrum how Lance is a fraud and so on but that also seems in vain. I do wonder if he's going to pay back (some of) the price money he earned while riding 'under the influence?' Read that Lance is estimated to have $125.000.000 in his bank account. In the past he tried to cut many deals, offering money for investigations to stop, so he's a good old Texas businessman. Likewise, I wonder if he received sums for the Oprah interview?

I'm not shocked or mad, this is what competition and the acquisition of money does to many people, with cycling being one of those more clear examples. It simply makes people corrupt.

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