The other Armstrong

[minionofmidas]

Difficult one.

Either Armstrong gave up because it wasn't worth the fight but was innocent or he was indeed guilty. Eitherway the authorities generally suck.

Lance Armstrongs first 'title' can't go to the second place cyclist as he doped and his 2005 title has to go to the 8th placed cyclist because the other 6 doped.

All the title contenders of the era doped, though none doped their team as systematically as Armstrong. I find these to both be statements that can be made with a reasonable degree of certitude.

[minionofmidas]

No, these people conserved and later recycled their own blood. I'm not entirely sure on the mechanics, but it's indeed a little, um, Cronenbergish.

[minionofmidas]

You have to wonder if the testicular cancer he famously overcame might not have been a result of whatever he was taking.

His performances exploded afterwards. Which is perfectly reasonable as his papers as a recovering cancer patient doubled as a fairly comprehensive free doping pass (much like all top cyclers are certified "asthmatics" because such a medical certification legalizes some classes relatively harmless but banned performance-enhancers.)

[minionofmidas]

Everybody knew Armstrong was messing around at least in some ways. That he now decides he doesn't need to see his former team mates help erect the gallows if he is to hang anyway, would be to his credit if he hadn't been so passive-aggressive about the whole thing.

What he did now was the only way to avoid the choice between a public admission of guilt and a jail term for perjury.