Al,
One of the contentions of the Lance "Nay-sayers", is that cycling is
generally a very competitive sport, meaning that it is exceptionally
rare for anyone to dominate within it. Many others who have achieved
top results (including recent TDF winners), we have found later to have
been dopers.
When discussing physiology, the press often talks about how there are
"other athletes" and then there is Lance, and why he is phsiologically
so much better than the other competitors. In reality, many of
Lance's competitors in the TDF match (and in many cases exceed) his
supposed geneitic superiority. When racing at this level, even the
last guy up the mountain tends to be leagues beyond any of "us" in
terms of fitness levels.
Average speeds in the TDF have drastically risen (abnormally, some
might add) since the widespread adoption and abuse of products such as
EPO in recent years. With so many of the "lesser" athletes testing
positive for these drugs in recent years, it leaves many insiders
questioning the possibility that in such an artificial and drug
infested field, how can one man rise above the artificial
pharmacological aids and consistently outdo the others, given the
limits of human performance and the intense competition Lance faces.
It is as if Barry Bonds broke his own record 7 times in a row. Lance
has been very closely linked with a wide variety of people who are well
known to be the gurus/proponents of illegal doping advice. Do a little
research into last year's incident where Lance chased down Simeoni
during one of the flat stages as punishment for breaking the code of
silence. If you are willing to dig a little deeper, and see a little
bit more than what Phil Ligget shows you on OLN, you can see how many
people could have the huevs to accuse Lance of being a doper. And yes,
Lafferty would be one of those people.
The press has taken a very "softball" approach to questioning Lance
about the dope allegations, mainly for fear of being denied access to
an incredible human interest story. Lance, being a cancer survivor is
rather untouchable. He's the great white hope. And many in this forum
believe that Lance can do no wrong...But this group has many visitors,
including some of us who knew Lance (and his dark personality) well
before his journey with Cancer and TDF stardom began.
Let's just say that Lance has hired some very good publicists and has
benefitted from those decisions immensely.
Or perhaps you just might like to keep your head in positive territory
(as many do, right Ken?). It is certainly far easier to believe that
Lance is continually under the grace of God. Myself, I can not ditch
the information I already knew about Lance, so it is harder for me to
be a cheerleader. But I do acknowledge his immesnse accomplishments
and even consider myself a somewhat "fan" of his. But I also know that
pro cycling is a sick, sick sport that has been very corrupted by quite
a few unsportsmanlike people.
al said:Ernst Noch said:also content that LA is _not_ the best racer ever (there's some other
european dude mentioned frequently)I would not know anything about "the best racer ever", given as I noted
earlier that I have not followed bike racing before this year, but I do
know, as must even the most casual observer, that winning as demanding
a competition as the tour must be, seven years in a row, is a special
achievement; one that I am not sure has been or could be rivaled in any
other competitive arena, with the exception of a future "tour" champion
winning more.