Lance Armstrong: The Witch Hunt Continues

Let’s face it, the French really hate Lance Armstrong. And why not? He’s an American who has dominated a sport that the Europeans claim as their very own.

Let’s not pretend that the feeling isn’t mutual either. Armstrong’s dislike for the French stemmed from his dumping by professional cycling team Cofidis in the wake of his cancer diagnosis.

Of course, Cofidis were well within their rights, but it was still a pretty low move. Still, Lance got the last laugh.

It didn’t stop there either, L’Equipe embarked on a decade long crusade to discredit Armstrong, culminating in the 2005 allegation that he tested positive to EPO during the 1999 Tour de France.

The testing methodology was at best suspect and was described by the UCI’s official report as “so different from the analysis procedure required by WADA... it doesn't even qualify as a finding."

Not that L’Equipe let that get in the way of their story.

Retirement offered no respite from the allegations and innuendo and the questions were only ever going to intensify when he decided to get back into the game.

And now, the latest in a long line of attempts to bring Armstrong down is a vaguely ridiculous accusation that Armstrong had failed to “respect the obligation to remain under observation of the person in charge of the doping control”.

Not that this was while he was being tested; he didn’t duck off into another room and bring back his urine, hair, and blood samples. He went for a shower while his minders confirmed the identity of the tester.

The testing was all undertaken as normal and the tests came back negative, but now there is this unnecessary mystery and suspicion hanging over the testing.

He was gone for 20 minutes. While an enterprising individual may have had time to catherterise themselves and fill their bladder with dope-free urine, even Lance couldn’t have undergone a blood transfusion and hair transplant to avoid being caught.

Armstrong now believes that the French anti-doping authority, AFLD, will use this procedural issue to prevent him riding in the 2009 version of le Tour. If that’s the case, it will be a massive injustice.

Armstrong has been tested out-of-competition 24 times since he announced his comeback to professional cycling, and this is the best that they can hang on him.

The irony to all of this is that Armstrong is possibly the only rider who openly admits to having used EPO—for what it was intended. While battling cancer, Armstrong needed the drug to boost his hematocrit levels to aid in his recovery.

Sadly, it seems that the world thinks that it’s a habit forming drug and that Armstrong has been using it ever since. His miraculous recovery is the stuff of legend. The sad thing is that while everyone loves a fairy tale, nobody really believes them.

Throughout his career, the allegations have come thick and fast, but none have been proven. It doesn’t take too much imagination to assume that they won’t stop anytime soon.