Lance Armstrong (USA) was one of the strongest riders in the 1998 worlds, seen here stretching Markus Zberg in an early break(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Expect to see Lance Armstrong in suit and tie this fall if his case goes to arbitration(Image credit: AFP Photo)
The 2009 Tour de France presentation with Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong and Andreas Klöden (Image credit: Sirotti)
Within the next week Lance Armstrong, the UCI and WADA will be sent a file from USADA in which the American anti-doping agency will detail their "reasoned decision" as to why they stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and handed him a life-time ban.
Armstrong's ban was brought forward after the former US Postal team leader chose not to fightUSADA's charges. The exact evidence relating to the case has yet to be released but reports circulated last week that along with testimonies from a number of ex-teammates, USADA are also in possession of positive blood samples. USADA never confirmed as such but what is known is that Armstrong was charged with the use and/or attempted use of prohibited substances; the possession of prohibited substances, drug trafficking, and assisting, encouraging, aiding, abetting, covering up and other complicity involving one or more anti-doping rule violations and/or attempted anti-doping rule violations.
Even so, in a recent interview with LAVA, Armstrong claimed that his conscience was clear, and consistently pushed a for everyone concerned to move on.
"It's their drama. Not mine," he told the US publication.
"I was raised in a way, and maybe my mom was this way, and her life wasn't perfect, it was complicated. But she always looked forward. She looked a day, and a month, and a year, and 10 years from now. Some people don't do that. They sit around and talk about the past. You always get high-school friends who sit around and talk about "hey remember that time?" and I'm like "why are you asking me about that?"
"I wake up and my mind and my conscience and my view on my life and my world, my future and my kids' future is perfectly clear."
Armstrong's decision not to contest the charges was labelled by many as tantamount to an admission of guilt, while even without seeing the evidence, WADA described Armstrong's decision not to recognise UASDA's jurisdiction or fight the charges ""means the charges had substance in them. However Armstrong's resolute stance in public appearances has led to him introducing himself as a seven-time Tour winner and during a recent triathlon in the US he selected the number 7 race number to compete in.
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"Yeah, others won't move on. It's sad. I'm aware that it's out there. It's like, why are you continuing? You got what you wanted; Lance Armstrong never did anything in his life. Great. For some, it's like, shouldn't you be out training and focusing on what you're doing? Fucking move on. So strange."
However Armstrong's own vocal encouragement for everyone to move on is at odds with one element. In July the Wall Street Journal reported that a representative from The Lance Armstrong Foundation discussed the USADA case at Capitol Hill.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "a spokesman for U.S. Rep. José Serrano (D., N.Y.), who sits on the House Appropriations Committee, said his office was visited by a registered lobbyist working on behalf of the foundation, which works to increase awareness of cancer," and the main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the Armstrong case.
USADA's case file is expected to reach the UCI by October 15.
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
