Some Thoughts on Lance Armstrong

Allegations continue to swirl around now-retire cycling giant Lance Armstrong. In the latest go aroung, French tabloid L'Equipe has published a story that urine samples given by Lance in the 1999 Tour tested positive for a substance called EPO. EPO can boost endurance by increasing an athletes red blood count and has been banned since 1990 but there was never an accurate test until now (and that's open to question, too).

The story is, as I understand it, that a French lab developed an accurate test and used old samples to prove it. The lab released its results and the tabloid was able to match the code numbers with Lance's coded samples apparently from another source.

Not everybody is buying it, however. Several riders complained that samples should not be tested so long after the event and questioned the legality of doing so. Some even questioned the accuracy of the new test. Lance for his part issued his usual denial. The Tour Director called for Armstrong to explain.

What should one make of this? EPO was apparently widely used by cyclists because it was undetectable. This does not excuse Lance if he used the substance, but does put it in a broader context. If we are going to test 6 year-old samples, lets test everyone's urine and release all the results. You also have to question whether the samples could have been tampered with over such a long period.

Second, Base10 just doesn't buy it. L'Equipe has run other lurid stories about Lance and has previously accused him of doping. None of these allegations ever panned out. Lance Armstrong, as he often says, was the most tested athlete in the world. If he was using banned substances, wouldn't he have been caught red-handed?

The problem for Lance is that there is no way he can counter these allegations other than by a denial. He can't exactly pull out his way-back machine and get a fresh sample from 1999 to test.

I for one believe Lance until it is proven to me otherwise. French journalism (an oxymoron if there ever was one) has just gotten it wrong so many times before that Lance gets the benefit of the doubt in my book.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the story on AP.
- posted by Base10 @ 11:45 AM