USADA charges Lance Armstrong and others in relation to "massive doping conspiracy" spanning 1998-2011

Armstrong's "Star Chamber" accusation seems appropriate, but not in the way he meant it. The Star Chamber was brought into existence in order to prosecute individuals who were too powerful to be convicted by lower courts, and conspiracy is one of the offences it developed.

Worth reading the charge sheet as linked above. Serious stuff! This might be a USADA action but the rules that are broken are all UCI rules, which makes their radio silence a little uncomfortable (don't like being shown up by USADA??!).

Armstrong is cited as a conspirator and as a rider, this is probably why they are going after 'just' him. It's pretty obvious he was the boss of the team with JB.

This is one of the most illuminating pieces I've read about the whole affair, and is a wider insight into the efforts that the anti-dopers go to.

There are accusations and counter-accusations, but this lays out some parts of the argument very well.

http://nyvelocity.com/content/interviews/2009/michael-ashenden

Whilst all the headlines focus for obvious reasons on Armstrong, the really interesting thing about this case is how it is going for team management.

To assume that a rider as a member of team functions (performance wise) in a private and hermetically sealed world has always been a fairy story too far. If not complicate in some way with doping then Team management is morally guilty of at least failing to attend to the overall welfare of their athletes and of the sport they espouse to love.

Bruyneal's focus and meticulous attention to: preparation, condition, team discipline,detail and organisation. All gave USpostal(plus his subsequent teams) and its athletes years of success. It also implies that if doping occurred then he would have at least known and at least not acted. Bruyneal is so closely associated with Armstrong's successes that if one falls the other is bound to follow.

We will have to wait and see what if any new evidence has become apparent in the 2012 season and how this contributes to the USADA case. However, the cases expansion to include 2009 to 2011 suggests new evidence. It also suggests that Wiggins may already be the first Brit to have got on the tour podium.

L'Equipe made the same allegations about Armstrong and EPO in 2005 but where ignored what's changed since?

For what it's worth, my view is that USADA must have secured some new evidence, in addition to the 2009-11 samples they quote. The allegations go back to 1998.

Is there any correlation between this and the announcement from George Hincapie that he's to retire after the Tour? He was previously subpoenaed by the Feds and it could be that his evidence is what nails Lance this time. Intriguing...

There are zero positives coming out of this. Lance is one of the few people that transcends our sport, trashing him trashes cycling, and this has been going on for years. Focus should be on catching dopers now. If he doped I'm pretty sure he was not the only doper in a clean peloton so its essentially pointless.

I can easily believe it’s a vendetta, just read the anti-Lance comments on this message board to see the strong feelings against him.

Is there a vendetta against Lance, yes, but remember he has personally built himself into the biggest fraud in professional sport.

I find the 'let's all brush it under the carpet' attitude of many far more damaging than the 'let's tackle the issue' attidute taken by others.

Either:
Accept that the past was unfortunately a golden era for dopers, not just one individual, and let it go.

Or:
Build a case and charge him, while also doing the same in other sports. Why is it that agencies claiming to be sports-agnostic (USADA, WADA etc) seem to be leaning on cycling more than others? Why did the whole of top-flight tennis suddenly develop a taste for muscles on their muscles?

If you can't devise a test for it, and you can't catch someone with it, all you're left with a anecdotal he-said/she-said nonsense, and Lance was quite adept at acquiring enemies.

For what it's worth I think LA may well have doped, but he was protected by the same military-levels of team discipline and focus that ensured, for example, that he never crashed or suffered a mechanical during his 7 Tour wins. That many of his team-mates were caught once they moved on to other teams without the same culture seems to bear this out.

I'm sad for the wider sport, and sadder that this might mar a summer of what promises to be some awesome racing.

Many good clean cyclists suffered during the DopeStrong era.

It is important to still pursue this as at least two of the accused are still actively involved in pro-cycling Buyneel, and Pepe Marti (Contador's coach/doctor).

In order for the sport to be clean in the future the UCI needs to clear out the serial cheaters. There are still too many 'doctors' in the sport.

Great timing

I do find this distasteful. If they had found irregularities in his blood it would have come up by now. This is a witch hunt by some high up people in the USADA trying to make a name for themselfs. Lance Armstrong has never been pulled up for doping and these so called 'what if' allegations just brings the sport down and should have no merit inc court. If I went to court claiming my lord this guy nearly cut me up, what if he had ...... and it was many many years later. My feet would not touch the ground leaving the court. Well i don't think I would finish the opening sentence.

You may like or dislike Lance Armstrong him personality, it strong and assertive which can be grating but you can't deny what he has achieved not just on the bike but off it as well. What is it with many many of us that seem to want to denigrate those that are successful and do good.

This will be twisted to look like he has done something wrong. I am coming to the conclusion that is some respects the world doping agencies are getting as bad as the legitimate dopers who cheat. It seems we have to catch someone regardless of the conditions of the allegeded offences. Take Contador, miniscule amounts that wouldn't have affected a snail.

Its a vendetta and until someone takes control of how these agencies act and have to become much more legally responsible so that the real cheats are systematically caught and punished and not trawling and catching others then our sport and many others will suffer from this continued zeal.

Well that's enough of my rant.

For all those doping apologist who believe that this should be forgotten, perhaps you'd like to explain to the likes of Betsy Andreu, Greg Lemond and anyone who didn't swallow the propaganda why they should have suffered from years of abuse and litigation from Lance's cronies? The careers of countless riders who tried to ride clean were destroyed by the Armstrong machine and I'm pleased to see the whole edifice of false idolatry come crashing down.

It's obviously Landis, funding it from his millios that he was given by the US media for, and after doping, trying to get one over on the guy who became Americas most popular cyclist in front of him.

Controversh

If they go back far enough we are not going to have a tour winner between 1920 and ... whenever. Tommy Simpson will lose his WC, Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, Indurain etc all struck from the record.

Ridiculous.

I dont see anybody gaining from this.
Our sport will now be damaged again just by the press headlines surrounding the latest allegations, true or not.

I'm actually starting to feel some sympathy for Armstrong, who I have mainly disliked.

What is the point of creating another circus, after the tent fell down on the last one.

USADA CEO says:

As in every USADA case, all named individuals are presumed innocent of the allegations unless and until proven otherwise through the established legal process.

Yet, Lance is immediately suspended from all triathlon competitions. Weird.

I have no idea of whether he may be guilty or not but Armstrong does have a point about being the only rider targeted in an investigation into a wide-ranging conspiracy.

whats the point in dragging up old dopers lets stop the one that are doing it now and in the future the pasts been and gone

Lance says USADA is pursuing a "vendetta". What is their motive?

PDF of USADA accusations posted on WSJ website.