The fact that when Greg Lemond, a legend in his own right, tried to expose doping in cycling. Was completely ostracized in the cycling community because of Lance. Truly shows how much influence he had in his prime.
Agreed. Like many Lance fans at the time I condemned Greg Le Mond as a bitter resentful man who felt overshadowed by Armstrong’s dominance, but now he’s been fully vindicated with his accusations against him and now stands as America’s greatest cyclist.
Lance didn't have the influence. The people behind the sport or his team had an influence. Surely, Lance couldn't do and maybe didn't want to do the doping if it weren't for the people behind it.
Had Armstrong quit after the seventh tour win, no one would have found out his cheating ways.....But his hubris, arrogance and sense of invincibility brought him back one more time, and because of that, he paid the price...And rightly so.
The biggest problem wasn’t the doping. It’s what he did to silence the people who had the truth. He did all that knowing he was lying to the world the entire time, and destroyed peoples lives to protect his lies. That’s what separates guys like Lance and Alex Rodriguez from other athletes that used PEDs. I don’t feel sorry for what happened to him at all.
Man I’m watching the documentary right now. And I came straight to the internet because I’ve never heard this guy speak. Jeez what a self centered douche this guy is. Definitely don’t feel bad for him at all now. I’m not one to comment because who cares but damn this dude has a horrible character.
In the 'Lance' documentary Armstrong explains how he forged his birth certificate to compete as a 16 year old when he started out in triathlon. His rationale was - quote "Forge the certificate, compete illegally and beat everybody." Interesting how that seems to have set the tone for his future.
Charlie Sheen says he met Lance once and Lance was apparently a total jerk. And it means a lot when Charlie Sheen of all people actually thinks somebody else is a jerk.
Nope, you're wrong, you couldn't be more wrong. Overall he helped millions of people get on their bikes, not only that, he increased the bike industry by huge margins, no one in the history of cycling has done so much for the sport.
@@tushfinger Eddie Merckx did more for the sport than Lance could have ever dreamed of. At any rate, Lance's "popularization" of cycling in America was straight off the heels of Greg Lemond popularizing cycling in America during the eighties. Lance simply recharged the momentum Greg had already started. Thanks to Greg, films like Breaking Away and American Flyers brought cycling to American households a decade before Lance was anybody.
Exactly. It’s one thing to dope. On one hand his cancer survivor story was inspirational. But once it was revealed how he treated people who knew he doped the inspirational side was overshadowed by his narcissistic and antisocial traits.
@@plantbasedanalyst6263 - No, if he had that knowledge, he should have taken it to authorities and WADA to become part of the solution rather than being part of the problem.
He probably would have been great without the doping, but we'll never know. IF he would have been a nicer guy and a better team leader his team might have closed ranks around him (as other teams did) and the story might be different. I think his behavior with his teammates really did him in.
@@le0nz sure he may have had more money and better doping, but you cant seriously tell me that you believe anh of the top riders from that era were clean
Everyone seems to forget that the system was already rigged when he came to it. Also, the true Big Fish never came to light. The actual responsible for allowing this for decades, left untouched. He has certain power but was not the most powerful, so he was sacrificed for the game to continue.
I was definitely a Lance Armstrong fan. He always stated that he was the most tested man on the planet, which proves he was clean. I was heartbroken when he admitted everything about his doping.
Yeh it's in Hamiltons book the secret race I think he mentioned it happened in 2000 or 2001 it would of destroyed armstrong if they'd banned him like they should that's where it should of ended for lance
In my opinion, the man is a psychopath. In addition to his biking "escapades" check out how he conducted himself vis-a-vis relationship with Cheryl Crow. The behavior is of a part
It's both astonishing and annoying how Lance is STILL the only cyclist that most American non-cyclists are aware of. What about Lawson Craddock? Neilson Powless? Brandon McNulty? Larry Warbasse? There's plenty of American pros right now. How about people join the modern world and spread cheer for one of those guys instead? But nope. It's still all about Lance.
@@michaelstratton5223Thats because they are American. Americans need simple black and white stories, they need two extremes, two opposites, to choose one camp and then hate on the other camp. Thats entertainment for them. Lance is to this day the only cyclist that did that. His cancer survival makes for a great hollywood style introduction, then you could pick the he cheats or, cancer made him a super human team and speculate and bash the other side. The cycling isn't important in this, if he did another sport he would have had the exact same fame in America. Its the same way their movies are, always a clearly good guy and clearly bad guy. Their politics are always just two options, both a bit extreme and no one is a centrists who looks at the good and bad in both. Just a different culture i suppose.
The moral of the story, or the tragedy was Armstrong turned a humbling and devastating experience of cancer at 25 into a weapon of revenge and malice (this was always in him) that winning at any cost was the devil's bargain. Sure he won 7 tours, but if he'd not turned to drugs and became that 1 day rider he would have (today) the admiration and respect of both the public and his peers, today he has nothing. A salutary lesson if their ever was one.
He has millions of dollars. Plus there are many people who don't care about the doping. Is that "nothing?" (I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. To me any sport at a high level is simply entertainment. The fact that people get paid such huge sums of money to play games is enough for me not to put much stake in having much investment in this.)
This crap is rampant. When Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal for the '88 Olympics, the gold went to American Carl Lewis who later admitted to be doped, but nothing ever happened. Lewis has become a poster child for great sprinters and has said many times that they were all 'helped with chemistry'.
I don't believe any professional sport is clean (and therefore by dictionary definition, sport does not exist). I knew a body building coach that worked as part of the drug testing programme for the olympic committee, and they were even having to regularly test synchronised swimmers as they were all taking beta blockers in order to reduce their heart rates.
I was a competetive cyclist in my youth. I admired Armstrong for his achievements after fighting back from cancer. I bought his book. I celebrated every of his wins of the Tour de France. Then his doping scandal was revealed and that killed my interest in cycling for good. Sad, but true.
Yes I too have similar history and sentiments but after a decade off the bike and also 4 years after a bone marrow transplant I am happy to ride almost daily for exercise and fun. Cycling can be a pure and empowering sport.
Yep, me too. I work in healthcare, and did a bit of very local criterium racing. When a 'friend' asked me to steal/obtain drugs to help them cheat, I realised that the stench from pro cheaters had reached into the heart of the sport, right down to the roots. I still love cycling. But these days I admire the folks who ride around the world, or produce beautiful travel documentaries. Not the circus of pro racing.
And he bought into Uber when it was starting up, I think he stuck in 200,000 bucks, that's a tidy little earner.... I knew pro riders back in the early 90's mostly MTB guys, who rode for a major US team, They used to openly laugh when they'd hear about Armstrong's latest victories and thundering denials, 91-92 they all told me he was full of prep, everyone knew. When I contradicted anyone is some of the new formed online chat groups, I had so many threats of violence against me, several said they could track where I lived and come and beat me, it was ridiculous... The other side of the coin is he did train hard, my French mate used to see him going up and down this one climb near his house near Argeles Gazost, part of his 7 hour training rides, even full of prep you have to train hard. Millar said you can't just have a injection and instant power, it still hurts like hell, but in your hell, there is no one left chasing you.... The man is a charlatan and he doesn't care, he made it, lost it and still made it... best if he's forgotten forever
Interesting story, thanks. I’ve also heard that he had been doping from early on. Just became more systematic in his approach after his return from cancer. In a completely clean cycling world, he may not even have been a competitive one day racer, but we’ll never know because doping was so widespread back then.
You will never know if after being caught cheating, that there is contrition. The only way to subvert, and protect those not yet competing, is to punish the cheaters. They had their glory days by displacing other hard working individuals, let that be a lesson to the next person who is considering cheating. I have very little respect for Lance and can also see his great potential. Unfortunately for his fans and others, we were denied to know his true abilities because HE chose to cheat. He should be accountable if he was always wanting the accolades. Why this is confusing is beyond me except that I'm surrounded by people who want to cheat but can't. I have no other explanation for defenders of this man.
As a simple reply: no. The long answer: his cancer just didn't kill him (like many others who survive cancer) and then he created the greatest cheating machine in history, incl. legal and media strategies. And it worked - gullible people like you remain convinced even today he is 'great'.
@@rg31404 lol. He for sure is one of the greats of cycling and that’s not even debatable. Doping, no doping, he still had to put in the work, ride the miles, keep on top of nutrition etc. those things aren’t deniable. Accept it. He was untouchable in a world full of doping
If no one else cheated as well as him I think he would have won anyway. its just hat he let us down.I didnt know the ins and outs of bike racing like i do now...jus' sayin'
"You'd have to be an imbecile or hypocrite to imagine that a professional cyclist who rides 235 days a year can hold himself together without stimulants". "You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water". "For 50 years bike racers have been taking stimulants. Obviously we can do without them in a race, but then we will pedal 15 miles an hour (instead of 25). Since we are constantly asked to go faster and to make even greater efforts, we are obliged to take stimulants". All quotes by Jacques Anquetil Tour de France winner 1957, 61, 62, 63, 64
I remember being annoyed that people were trying to bring him down with rumors of PED use - I wish I’d paid more attention and kept an open mind then and I wish more people would pay attention and keep open mind in 2023 to any public figure who is repeatedly accused of cheating/crimes
At about his 5th Tour de France win, I had an argument with my office mate -- a distance rider. "If Armstrong is not taking dope, I said, he is the greatest athlete in any sport of all time." After he won a couple more times, I knew he had to be cheating. Everyone knew by then. It was just a matter of time before it would be proven. He still has his defenders, even today. "Everyone was cheating back then." Uh, no. Armstrong destroyed the lives of so many riders and non-riders because they spoke the truth. LeMond for one.
@@HAL9007 no it’s not. He knew EVERYONE was doping, it natural for him to lash out when he is being singled out. The Europeans hated him because they considered cycling their sport. They targeted him because of it. No one was awarded the titles they stripped from him because EVERYONE tested positive. No one talks about that they just talk about Lance. It was an even playing field, it’s not cheating if EVERYONE is doing it.
Had he’d not made that unnecessary comeback in 2009-10 than I don’t think the forces that be that brought him down would have happened. But Lance’s own arrogance sadly sealed his stripping of the 7 wins. We all know other past winners took substances to enhance performance but Lance went one too many to let him get away with it. Greg Le Mond was unfairly cast as a resentful villain against Lance’s success but he now stands vindicated as he certainly never went down that route.
I felt betrayed when he admitted using EPO.... But when I overlook that, I remembered how inspiring was his Cinderella story, well... I still miss the late 90's to early 2000's, it was an exceptional time to be a cyclist. Now with the new era of Tadej Pogačar, I'm here thinking, please, don't be another Lance to us.
Armstrong was doping all along even as far back as the early Triathlon days. He would never win at the TDF, he was poor at the Time Trials and he could not climb to save his life. He chose EPO for a reason and it was for the climbing stages. He was probably on EPO most of his cycling life and steroid supplements. His reaction to EPO was his downfall since some people react to EPO more than others. He would not be able to win 1 TDF without the EPO, even if had been blood doping ( which was confirmed) without the EPO he could not dominate the climbing. This is identical to 2022 and 2023 they are all doping, but this time in Hyperbaric chambers to increase their Hematocrit levels, this is why see all the dominance from the top riders not only on the TT, Flats but also on the climbings.
Nope. You have no idea wtf you’re talking about. Believe it or not, many top athletes refuse, and are vehemently anti doping. It goes against their values. Just bc you’re an athlete doesn’t make you a liar and a cheat.
@@JohnDough-yr2zt to be the top of any sport you must take PEDS. You think it’s only the legit competitors that are able to break world records and beat other athletes that are taking PEDS. Come on bro, use your brain. They all cheat to compete at the highest level on the world stage. If they don’t cheat they don’t win. Simple as that
@@JohnDough-yr2zt ask yourself this. All these world records that have been set in the past by proven drugs cheats. How can those records be beaten by completely clean athletes? Not possible right?
I was racing even before Lance. I didn’t care for LeMond and Armstrong because it seemed to me they ruined the traditional European racing. By spending millions and millions to win one race and almost forgetting about the rest of them. Almost like Dale Earnhardt race in the Daytona winning and then taking the rest of the season off.
Yeah, Dale Earnhardt, one of only three people who have won 7 championships, definitely took the rest of the season off after Daytona. The year he won Daytona he had a rough start to the season but ended up finishing 8th - not exactly taking the season off.
Try winning a grand tour clean. Even finishing one is brutal for the body. Doping gives you a ticket to possibly win but it's not a guarantee. Lance still worked hard for those wins and deserves his titles. The sport will never be clean. It's just the reality of it.
Agreed indeed. For example…moving to Europe to train on the direct terrain, riding the Swiss Alps, getting the best support team assembled, having a sponsor with deep pockets…friends in the UCI…he was THE CHAMP.
I knew that Lance, like most pro athletes used PEDs. They help with stamina, recovery, body building, hemoglobin production. I appreciate what Lance has done in inspiring cancer patients, in their recovery. Speaking from,experience, Lance inspired me to thrive through the adversity pain, sorrow and loss with my own cancer, and losing others to cancer.
My wonderful Father-in-law had Cancer, Lances comeback was a beacon of hope to him and he wasn’t even a rider. When Lance confessed it cut my Father-in -laws hopes down as he was a man of honour and integrity, he assumed Lance was too. For many, Lances actions cost them the will to live, to hope for a miracle or to simply hang on for another day. Lance had some pedigree for sure, but his ‘second is the first loser’ mantra is hollow, self centred, and Narcisistic, his teams doping and lies for 7 tours showed just how deep this Narcissism ran. May he enjoy his 50 million, yet I wonder if he realises that money will never buy him a peaceful heart.
I dont understand why people continue to bash Lance, he was a Hero to the US and he was and still is a cycling monster, read below before bashing me. What they should have done is to condemn the whole Tour de France for 10 years, everyone doped, and had doped for years. Look at Pantani. I still do not understand Americans going after Lance, he brought cycling to the USA, the US did not care about the Tour the France before Lance , not even Eddie Merkx was able to do that. And lance was a monster , doped or not doped, he was focused, determined , he trained like hell and he had the right physiognomy. Doping increased that base by maybe 10/15%. Doping alone is not enough to win. Since all the peloton was doping, not doping was not an option. I dare anyone to just dope and try to finish 1 mountain stage of The Tour. I am 55, I cycle regularly, I trained hard to the Stelvio Santini Grand Fondo, finished in 8:30 hours, the guy that won did it in less then 4 hours. Top level cyclists are monsters. Lance was the Monster of Monsters, he still has my admiration and respect any day of the week.
He won the Tour 7 times against 2nd and 3rd place winners who were all, also, busted for doping at one time or other. He didn't cheat without the support of the UCI. Unbelievable athlete who took advantage of every training technique used by all of the teams.
@@ronwhite8503 Vilified is fine and deserved. But stripping the 7 titles was ridiculous as we now have 7 years of no TDF winners on record. And his ban was exponentially worse than any of the other dopers. His actions off the bike are the domain of civil lawsuits.
He had a better planned, more sophisticated drug's regime than others, and clearly his body responded very well to PEDs. Add to that the best team around him with the best strategies, a ruthless mentality, UCI giving him a hand here and there, and you get an unbeatable combo.
@@johnwest7993 What is the incentive for cheaters or criminals to atone for their sins if there is no hope for restitution? If outlaws do the right thing by coming forward and serving their time, then society, too, should do the right thing by letting them back in the fold
Lance trying to polish his image, no matter how sincere, doesn’t change the fact he was the worst cheater ever and the fact he acted like a horrible person.
You can't cheat against brain, lung, and testicular cancer. He gave hope and inspiration to many cancer victims. People are so fickle, most cyclists were doping during that time.
It doesn't matter if NEARY all were cheating, (they weren't.) As a former clean pro rider friend of mine who used to ride against Armstrong explained to me, if even ONE rider in a race is clean, that makes cheats out of every single doper.
@@johnwest7993 You're right, cheating is cheating, and I don't support it in any way. But like I said, you can't cheat brain, lung and testicular cancer. He gave hope to lots of people, not just cancer patients. Sure when he was exposed many people were crushed with disappointment. But at the end of the day many people also overcame their struggles because his story motivated them to keep fighting. He is proof that it's possible to beat the unbeatable. In my humble opinion, playing a small part in saving even one life is greater than winning a bicycle race. By the way sorry for your friend who was a clean rider. Good for him sticking to his morals. That too I would say is more important than winning a bike race.
Lance Armstrong almost by himself made the entire cycling world oust cycling legend Greg LeMond with the amount of distancing and covering up he led to cover up his tracks. I get Lance was trying to salvage his career but man he completely ruined the credibility and likeliness of his idol.
I competed in the same era as Armstrong & I NEVER EVER even thought about doping. There were many like me in those days & yet we knew we were competing against cheats. Imagine how it felt for us clean riders? It was sickening & sole destroying. Lance & other dopers had a choice, they chose wrong & so they'll always be cheats in the eyes of their competitors. It was them who made it an uneven playing field & made cycling the drug reputation it got. Us clean riders were cheated & so was the sport. For anyone thinking for a second everyone was doping back then or even now, you've no idea how wrong you are...& it hurts to the very core the respectful & principled clean riders, that you think so. Please consider such riders in your thoughts & blasting comments.
dude just bcuz u were in ur towns bike-a-thon, doesn't mean you're in any way comparable to armstrong lmao. every guy in the tour de france is doping. everyone anywhere near the top of any sport is doping. you were never anywhere near their league, so he didn't cheat you "clean guys"
@@insinty his case demonstrates that cheaters actually prosper. Cheat 150 million and give back 100 million. Anyone would take that deal. If he ended up in jail for life time then i could say no matter how much money he made, he in the end couldn't use. But as it stands cheaters prosper.
The fact that he bullied teammates and retired cyclists. Filed lawsuits and cheats at the same time. Shows his character. Lance is the definition of a cheater and doper. What a legend....one of a kind. Definitely a top caliber douchebag.
@@TrueSportsLore Tyler Hamilton Floyd Landis George Hincapie Michael Rasmussen Jonathan Vaughters David Millar Ivan Basso Jan Ullrich Erik Zabel Frankie Andreu Michael Boogerd Thomas Dekker Roberto Heras Jörg Jaksche Jesús Manzano Eddy Merckx Alexandre Vinokourov Richard Virenque Bjarne Riis Stuart O'Grady Stephen Swart Kevin Livingston Christian Vande Velde Tom Danielson Levi Leipheimer Filippo Simeoni Raimondas Rumsas Marco Pantani Alberto Contador Alejandro Valverde Danilo Di Luca Riccardo Ricco Iban Mayo Andrey Kashechkin Stefano Garzelli Michele Scarponi José Maria Jiménez Santiago Botero Óscar Sevilla Manuel Beltran David Zabriskie Christian Moreni Matthias Kessler Emanuele Sella Mikel Astarloza Bernhard Kohl Stefan Schumacher Alexandr Kolobnev Antonio Flecha Volodymyr Bileka Leonardo Piepoli Alberto Elli Dario Frigo Gilberto Simoni Giuseppe Guerini Laurent Brochard Didier Rous
@@uberkloden of course ferrari would never had called it doping or lead to believe it was , it was nutrient enrichment or some other derision of the truth
Hahahha…”screwed you”? In what way did Lance’s action do harm to you, directly or indirectly? For me, he screwed me by getting caught. (Because of his success) We had races, tv coverage, and cycling became cool. After he got caught, we have spiraled back into relative obscurity and considered a dirty sport.
@Esteban de las montañas as well but Lance was very bad too and the star of the times (Festina killed it too and it doesn't put LA away from his responsibility)
Lance attacked Greg Lemond and had Trek drop Lemond bikes. At the time I started believing that Greg was actually jealous. Until the VO2 max was pointed out, Lance was nothing close to Hinault's and Lemond's VO2 max. Until now I refuse to buy Trek bikes because of how they treated Lemond. I do agree with Lance though, that as a doper he did beat other dopers, Riis, Ulrich, Pantani, and so on.... So in a way, the playing field was even. Unlike Indurain, who was never a GC rider, suddenly started beating Fignon and Lemond. I hate Indurain more than Lance. And as big of an ass Lance is, I do have his autographed next to Lemond's and Hinault's on my wall.
When Lance was there the tour was sooooo exciting... he was simply the best... 7 years straight,.. everyone else doping...and 7 years straight.. he could talk and walk.. he could do everything...absolutely amazing....
You left out the fact that his testicular cancer was the result of the abuse of performance enhancing drugs - Ivan Basso is an example and several others blatantly abused the drugs. He is the worst example of what an athlete should be.
Nope, you're wrong, you couldn't be more wrong. Overall he helped millions of people get on their bikes, not only that, he increased the bike industry by huge margins, no one in the history of cycling has done so much for the sport.
Yes, so his «miracle» recovery from cancer was just the fact that he stopped using the drugs for a while…he was just the worst cheat in history from the very beginning😂
That not a single rider has ever come forward and asked for one of his jerseys tells you all you need to know about the era. Armstrong was/is the greatest Tour rider ever, fact.
It was Lance's bitter attacks on those that accused him of doping that saw him despised by many in the the cycling fraternity, not that he doped per say. He viciously threatened to drag these people (who were telling the truth) off to court, when everyone knew he was a doper. He is no hero to me.
Lance Armstrong didn't bring drugs into cycling they were there when he got there all the top cyclist used them and probably they all did. One of the riders who won 2nd place refused the trophy and said he was proud of getting second place. In other words Lance won them all fair and square
Its not human to win 7 years straight, and even his doped up competitors did not think it was fair that his doping allowed him to dominate the sport. Now he becomes the poster boy for why you shouldn't cheat by doping in competition. That he forced the ITA to purge its corrupt practices and become harder to fool, and for the sport to recognize the problem of doping, was more important than his attracting attention to the sport.
No, they don't "all dope." That's a pathetic excuse. I have a friend who used to be a pro rider who rode against Armstrong. My friend was one of many clean riders. As he pointed out, it only takes one clean rider in a race to turn every doper in the race into a cheater.
@@johnwest7993 That's true, and commendable of your friend. Unfortunately, with the drive for competition and the nature of our system and sketchy doping agency loopholes, it's almost impossible for a natural athlete to compete at the very top. Ironically, the very best who want to win essentially have to cheat. As an example, a natural bodybuilder winning Mr Olympia is never going to happen, even if they are the greatest natural bodybuilder of all time.
Lance even dumped his girlfriend (Sheryl Crow) after she got breast cancer. Among all his other despicable traits, he is even heartless towards the women in his life!
As sad and shameful as his story is, the reality is that he made Trek Bicycles what it is today. The other sponsorships like Nike and Oakley were already big players but Trek was a different story....
trek may be big in your parts of the world but its just another bike brand here in NZ...nothing special about it. everyone knows of nike and oakley....ask them name a bike brand...they'll be stumped.
Trek also bought up original, unique and big names and destroyed them. Klein, Bontrager, LeMond, Gary Fisher and other smaller brands were liquidated by Trek. Ironic that they're now owned by Dorel, no, wait, Pon, nope, it's Roth Distributing, still wrong, now INTREPID owns them. Who are they??? Friends don't let friends ride a tRek.
All the people in the top 10 were doping, at least.. most athletes are on peds. It's kind of irrelevant when this is the case. He was the best of the bunch.
I get your point, but what about the other 180 men in the peloton that weren't? well, probably more like 160...had they also had access to ferrari, blood bags, etc...? everyone who doped cheated, and took something from those non-dopers.
@@chbrosz Who knows if they weren't, and if that is true it's a bit naive to compete expecting a result when knowing the reality of elite sports. It's like going into bodybuilding as a natty and hoping to get a place. I'd blame the corruption of doping agencies and private investors before the athletes, personally but that's just my opinion.
People saying “Everyone else was doing it too” completely miss the point. If it wasn’t a big deal Lance was cheating, why did he ruin the reputations or threaten the livelihoods of anyone who tried to expose his cheating?
For those wondering what he's upto today, he's making shows about awful it is that trans athletes are effectively 'cheating' in womens sports and how awful it is to be cancelled for saying 'cheating' is happening.
I mean, he is obviously right that biological males competing against biological females is in no way a leveled playing field, but that he uses this fact to legitimize his own cheating, is pretty disgusting.
@ 6:26 according to Lance in his own words, He was not looking at Ulrich, He was looking behind Ulrich to see how many riders were left and who else was close to him in the overall.
This was all a well constructed story line that everyone was involved in, however when Lance's head got to big they had to cut him loose! They were all involved people, Lance however was the easiest fall guy based on his attitude and behavior towards the end. This was definitely written by someone at Disney, it was the perfect feel good situation, everyone likes the hero and the villian.
You couldn't have said it any better, I've been saying the same thing as you for years now. Everyone loves a good happy ending, an ending where the villain goes down in flames and everyone cheers lol. Lance Armstrong did nothing wrong in terms of his doping program and winning all the time, but the sport had to make an example out of him to make people believe that the sport is trying to be clean lol. Lets just say that if Lance only wins the Tour 3 or 4 times, instead of 7, I bet my life that they would have left him alone and just allowed him to enjoy his retirement and rest of his life. To me it's so silly and hypocritical that they attacked him, they only attacked him because he just kept winning and never stopped. I also know for a fact that the reason Greg LeMond never liked Armstrong, is because Greg was jealous that Lance took over as the most famous and the best American Cyclist in history, and Greg was angry that people were forgetting about him. It's all about ego, and people were jealous of what Lance was doing.
@@justinexplainseverything1554 couldn't have said it any better! 👏 Lets be honest, all sporting athletes and teams look for an edge, the sporting bodies even know this. I would even go as far as saying Lance clean would have won at least 4-5, his training and mindset were upper level.
Should have been titled "Rise, fall and resurrection" Lance has come a long way since his admission on Oprah. Lance is human, as we all are, and thus deserving of grace. Go Lance, go ♥️🙏🏽
I have a friend who is a former pro rider who always rode clean. He used to ride against Armstrong. Armstrong deserves nothing. He cheated against clean riders. He did it for money, millions of dollars. And he forced others to cheat, too. And he destroyed the lives of honest people who told the world the truth of Armstrong's cheating. It sickens me that you can respect someone like that.
@@johnwest7993 You're wasting your time John. I agree with all you're posting. But it's like trying to convert peoples religious or political beliefs. I was a Lance fan (to be honest, I was always a Sean Yates fan and as such was a Motorola supporter before Lance joined the team). The only thing I can admire Armstrong for is his freakish genetic ability (though in testing he was on a fairly level playing field against other pros when it came to natural haematocrit levels) and his drive (though this seems to have come from largely sociopathic tendencies rather than a strong sense of sportsmanship). He's a difficult guy to like (the feeling was the same among the pro ranks). He will never fail to have loyal fans, though I'm not ignorant enough to now be one of them. Ignorance, as they say, is bliss.....
I know he was a cheat and a bully but to do what he did against others that also doped AND keep it up for the duration he did was still impressive to maintain that commitment and will to win... Still an obnoxious bugger and personally I think he took the brunt of the criticism that could have been aimed at nearly every rider at that era of cycling.. Glad the sport seems a lot cleaner now.
Sadly the sport likely isn’t any cleaner. The guys at the highest level these guys like pogacar, Ewan, Van Aert, Roglic, and many more have to be on serious rocket fuel
I competed in the same era as Armstrong & I NEVER EVER even thought about doping. There were many like me in those days & yet we knew we were competing against cheats. Imagine how it felt for us clean riders? It was sickening & sole destroying. He & other dopers had a choice, they chose wrong & so they'll always be cheats in the eyes of their competitors. It was them who made it an uneven playing field & made cycling the drug reputation it got. Us clean riders were cheated & so was the sport. For anyone thinking for a second everyone was doping back then or even now, you've no idea how wrong you are...& it hurts to the very core the respectful & principled clean riders, that you think so. Please consider such riders in your thoughts & blasting comments.
@@anthonylarson7919 Please name the people whose lives were "ruined"? Please describe this so called "ruin"??? For fun?.........Do you mean to protect his image?
@@billkallas1762 Frankie and Betsey Andreau....Emma O'Rielly...Greg LeMond...Christophe Brassons...for a start. LA is a first ballot hall of fame POS. If one even considers otherwise, they need to make some better life choices. IMHO.
was better at it~ the top 30 riders of ANY year (YES…Gregg L as well…c’mon Stage 17 of his second win??? came back from a massive deficit and won??…and he said NOPE 2 DOPE???….nope don’t believe it.)
Absolute legend , got millions into cycling , set up livestrong charity donating millions to cancer research raised awareness of cancer , saved millions of lives , worldwide , EVERYONE DOPED ............, How much did Contador , Vinokourov , ullrich, Hamilton or Landis give back to society ...FUCK ALL ........like him or hate him he was an epic cyclist matching Pantani one of the greatest climbers on Ventoux ,
The GOAT! Only idiot closed minded individuals villainize Lance. He joined a sport with doping already in place. The difference is he did it scientifically and trained really hard leaving nothing on the table. He did what he did because the other teams were doping also. He was crucified for what others were doing also. It was proven and his closest rivals were also doping. This made the battlefield level. The people in power told him to retire but he was greedy and arrogant which was his downfall. It was true that he never tested positive. He was outed that is why he was caught and he was forced to confess. EPO vanishes within an hour and cannot be traced by any test. Its the perfect PED. Think about that. Today's riders can be using but they are a lot more careful (maybe???). I hope nobody gets caught for their sake. This video piece is just another Lance is a villain piece.
Did you hear about the rumour that subscribing gives you a yellow jersey?
not if you dope
There’s a rumor of dopeing
DUMB ONE BRO
No but it sounds like bollocks.
I'll take that 🤣🤣🤣👍
The fact that when Greg Lemond, a legend in his own right, tried to expose doping in cycling. Was completely ostracized in the cycling community because of Lance. Truly shows how much influence he had in his prime.
Agreed. Like many Lance fans at the time I condemned Greg Le Mond as a bitter resentful man who felt overshadowed by Armstrong’s dominance, but now he’s been fully vindicated with his accusations against him and now stands as America’s greatest cyclist.
Greg acted like a complete nut. His hatred made him pathetic.
greg lamond was a hater.. and a loser
@@stormhawk3319 greg was bitter... hes the asshole
Lance didn't have the influence. The people behind the sport or his team had an influence. Surely, Lance couldn't do and maybe didn't want to do the doping if it weren't for the people behind it.
Had Armstrong quit after the seventh tour win, no one would have found out his cheating ways.....But his hubris, arrogance and sense of invincibility brought him back one more time, and because of that, he paid the price...And rightly so.
Agreed. But he’s still the winner of 7 yellow jerseys 🥇
@gainknowledgeandinsight Those wins mean nothing because he was stripped of them and went down in infamy as a cheating, lying, doping pos.
@@TexasChick45 What about the second place and third place guys? I guess they were totally clean. 😂😂😂
@lpr5269 What about them? They lost so, no one cares. lol And, you know that I'm telling the truth. However, doping is all over that sport.
Floyd out-it him when Armstrong wouldn't give him another chance on his squad
I have won the Tour de France as many times as Lance Armstrong did.
The biggest problem wasn’t the doping. It’s what he did to silence the people who had the truth. He did all that knowing he was lying to the world the entire time, and destroyed peoples lives to protect his lies.
That’s what separates guys like Lance and Alex Rodriguez from other athletes that used PEDs.
I don’t feel sorry for what happened to him at all.
True point.
Truth. All the top riders were doping. He would have been forgiven if he hadn't tried to destroy people.
Man I’m watching the documentary right now. And I came straight to the internet because I’ve never heard this guy speak. Jeez what a self centered douche this guy is. Definitely don’t feel bad for him at all now. I’m not one to comment because who cares but damn this dude has a horrible character.
Thank god he was only a sportsman, not politician.
Word was a huge Arod fan until the scandal. Dude literally killed my childhood.
In the 'Lance' documentary Armstrong explains how he forged his birth certificate to compete as a 16 year old when he started out in triathlon. His rationale was - quote "Forge the certificate, compete illegally and beat everybody." Interesting how that seems to have set the tone for his future.
hes a winner... your a bot
Still beat everyone. Legend
The typical USA imperialist mentality: cheating, robing, killing... Very bad...
@@tbrowniscool if I win a boxing match against a blind man am I a winner?
I think a lot of people could have forgive him for the cheating but the way he tried to ruin peoples lives is what really makes him a monster.
Charlie Sheen says he met Lance once and Lance was apparently a total jerk. And it means a lot when Charlie Sheen of all people actually thinks somebody else is a jerk.
Nope, you're wrong, you couldn't be more wrong. Overall he helped millions of people get on their bikes, not only that, he increased the bike industry by huge margins, no one in the history of cycling has done so much for the sport.
@@tushfinger Eddie Merckx did more for the sport than Lance could have ever dreamed of. At any rate, Lance's "popularization" of cycling in America was straight off the heels of Greg Lemond popularizing cycling in America during the eighties. Lance simply recharged the momentum Greg had already started. Thanks to Greg, films like Breaking Away and American Flyers brought cycling to American households a decade before Lance was anybody.
Being a monster doesn’t invalidate his 7 wins. It was a farce to strip his medals because it makes it look like the whole field wasn’t taking drugs
@@tushfinger "he helped millions of people get on their bikes"
- Yeah, the pandemic did that as well and we're all glad that's a distant memory.
What he did to silence the people who threatened to reveal his doping was brutal. He destroyed lives.
Exactly. It’s one thing to dope. On one hand his cancer survivor story was inspirational. But once it was revealed how he treated people who knew he doped the inspirational side was overshadowed by his narcissistic and antisocial traits.
Absolutely. Everybody doped but he proved to be an extraordinarily bad person and deserves what he got.
Yeah, but wouldn't you do the same thing. I mean those people where trying to destroy him.
@@plantbasedanalyst6263 - No, if he had that knowledge, he should have taken it to authorities and WADA to become part of the solution rather than being part of the problem.
Levi is doing just fine.
He probably would have been great without the doping, but we'll never know. IF he would have been a nicer guy and a better team leader his team might have closed ranks around him (as other teams did) and the story might be different. I think his behavior with his teammates really did him in.
Great non dopers don't beat average dopers. Ferrari was asked about training, he laughed and said so whatever training you want
No he wouldn't, everyone else also doped, he would maybe have been a good non doper, but he would never come close to winning a tour without doping
@@andemandefarthat was his defence, but not true he had more money, resources and more. He is a monster.
@@le0nz sure he may have had more money and better doping, but you cant seriously tell me that you believe anh of the top riders from that era were clean
Everyone seems to forget that the system was already rigged when he came to it. Also, the true Big Fish never came to light. The actual responsible for allowing this for decades, left untouched. He has certain power but was not the most powerful, so he was sacrificed for the game to continue.
I was definitely a Lance Armstrong fan. He always stated that he was the most tested man on the planet, which proves he was clean. I was heartbroken when he admitted everything about his doping.
are you so naiv...
He tested positive in 1998 or 1999, but the UCI decided to leave it at that.
He paid them
if he gave me couple of mil, i would leave it at that too
Yeh it's in Hamiltons book the secret race I think he mentioned it happened in 2000 or 2001 it would of destroyed armstrong if they'd banned him like they should that's where it should of ended for lance
@@edwardojg not to mention the Tour
The 1999 Tour de France cortisone positive that Armstrong produced a backdated excuse of “saddle sores” after the UCI asked for “a reason “
He admitted in 2020 that it was his extensive use of human growth, hormone and testosterone among many other drugs that actually caused his cancer
And thats the point i don‘t get : why the f… he doped again after his comeback? Thats so stupid…
@@dgenerationx5855 Because he is nothing without his sport. The man has no self worth. He only is what he does.
@@dgenerationx5855 Cause he didnt care. He beat the cancer. He could beat anything
In my opinion, the man is a psychopath. In addition to his biking "escapades" check out how he conducted himself vis-a-vis relationship with Cheryl Crow. The behavior is of a part
And then used his cancer as a PR campaign to make him look like a hero. Despicable.
Dope content as usual
I remember the peak of Lance mania in the early 2000s. It was wild. At least it got a bunch of people interested in cycling.
An unbelievable time, couldn't even name a top class cyclist now. Back then Pantani, Lance, the German lol, unreal.
It's both astonishing and annoying how Lance is STILL the only cyclist that most American non-cyclists are aware of. What about Lawson Craddock? Neilson Powless? Brandon McNulty? Larry Warbasse? There's plenty of American pros right now. How about people join the modern world and spread cheer for one of those guys instead? But nope. It's still all about Lance.
@@michaelstratton5223 Feline AIDS is the number one killer of domestic cats
@@michaelstratton5223Thats because they are American. Americans need simple black and white stories, they need two extremes, two opposites, to choose one camp and then hate on the other camp. Thats entertainment for them.
Lance is to this day the only cyclist that did that. His cancer survival makes for a great hollywood style introduction, then you could pick the he cheats or, cancer made him a super human team and speculate and bash the other side. The cycling isn't important in this, if he did another sport he would have had the exact same fame in America. Its the same way their movies are, always a clearly good guy and clearly bad guy. Their politics are always just two options, both a bit extreme and no one is a centrists who looks at the good and bad in both.
Just a different culture i suppose.
@@michaelstratton5223 not really, lots of non cyclist US people would have heard of Greg Lemond.
The moral of the story, or the tragedy was Armstrong turned a humbling and devastating experience of cancer at 25 into a weapon of revenge and malice (this was always in him) that winning at any cost was the devil's bargain. Sure he won 7 tours, but if he'd not turned to drugs and became that 1 day rider he would have (today) the admiration and respect of both the public and his peers, today he has nothing. A salutary lesson if their ever was one.
He has millions of dollars. Plus there are many people who don't care about the doping. Is that "nothing?"
(I don't have a strong opinion one way or the other. To me any sport at a high level is simply entertainment. The fact that people get paid such huge sums of money to play games is enough for me not to put much stake in having much investment in this.)
Without drugs he wouldn't have been a professional to begin with, and that goes for everyone.
@@josiahr1375 So what if he has money? Money needs respect. His perception is permanently destroyed.
@@clouds-rb9xt what are you smoking? Did you read what I posted?
@@josiahr1375 Yes, I did.
This crap is rampant. When Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal for the '88 Olympics, the gold went to American Carl Lewis who later admitted to be doped, but nothing ever happened.
Lewis has become a poster child for great sprinters and has said many times that they were all 'helped with chemistry'.
I don't believe any professional sport is clean (and therefore by dictionary definition, sport does not exist). I knew a body building coach that worked as part of the drug testing programme for the olympic committee, and they were even having to regularly test synchronised swimmers as they were all taking beta blockers in order to reduce their heart rates.
I was a competetive cyclist in my youth. I admired Armstrong for his achievements after fighting back from cancer. I bought his book. I celebrated every of his wins of the Tour de France. Then his doping scandal was revealed and that killed my interest in cycling for good. Sad, but true.
Yes I too have similar history and sentiments but after a decade off the bike and also 4 years after a bone marrow transplant I am happy to ride almost daily for exercise and fun.
Cycling can be a pure and empowering sport.
@@MegaFclef Yes, the sweet pain in your thighs can be addictive. Have fun!
Oh c’mon. Everyone that competes at that level ..dopes. It’s actually extremely unhealthy to do the Tour de France …it is what it is
Yep, me too.
I work in healthcare, and did a bit of very local criterium racing. When a 'friend' asked me to steal/obtain drugs to help them cheat, I realised that the stench from pro cheaters had reached into the heart of the sport, right down to the roots.
I still love cycling. But these days I admire the folks who ride around the world, or produce beautiful travel documentaries. Not the circus of pro racing.
@@PatriciaMarie100that everyone doped makes it even worse.
Tyler Hamilton’s book the secret race is very interesting and explains the whole system
Tyler Hamilton was and is a crybaby who never accomplished anything, so he has to capitalize on lances downfall, just to get attention.
And he bought into Uber when it was starting up, I think he stuck in 200,000 bucks, that's a tidy little earner....
I knew pro riders back in the early 90's mostly MTB guys, who rode for a major US team, They used to openly laugh when they'd hear about Armstrong's latest victories and thundering denials, 91-92 they all told me he was full of prep, everyone knew. When I contradicted anyone is some of the new formed online chat groups, I had so many threats of violence against me, several said they could track where I lived and come and beat me, it was ridiculous...
The other side of the coin is he did train hard, my French mate used to see him going up and down this one climb near his house near Argeles Gazost, part of his 7 hour training rides, even full of prep you have to train hard. Millar said you can't just have a injection and instant power, it still hurts like hell, but in your hell, there is no one left chasing you....
The man is a charlatan and he doesn't care, he made it, lost it and still made it... best if he's forgotten forever
I heard him say he invested $1M and it returned $30M when he got out of Uber.
@@charliedillon1400 Hi mate! Thanks for the clarification .. I wasn't sure the amount, but I knew it was a nice little earner for him...
Interesting story, thanks. I’ve also heard that he had been doping from early on. Just became more systematic in his approach after his return from cancer. In a completely clean cycling world, he may not even have been a competitive one day racer, but we’ll never know because doping was so widespread back then.
You will never know if after being caught cheating, that there is contrition. The only way to subvert, and protect those not yet competing, is to punish the cheaters. They had their glory days by displacing other hard working individuals, let that be a lesson to the next person who is considering cheating.
I have very little respect for Lance and can also see his great potential. Unfortunately for his fans and others, we were denied to know his true abilities because HE chose to cheat. He should be accountable if he was always wanting the accolades. Why this is confusing is beyond me except that I'm surrounded by people who want to cheat but can't. I have no other explanation for defenders of this man.
if he didn't dope he'd be carrying water like everyone else who didn't DO you think lemond was clean as well or indurain
I hated him back in the Ullrich-Era and pity him today. His narcissism and arrogance ruined a lot.
Still a hero in my books to go from seriously ill with cancer to winning grueling cycle races in a short time is an amazing achievement.
Yup
As a simple reply: no. The long answer: his cancer just didn't kill him (like many others who survive cancer) and then he created the greatest cheating machine in history, incl. legal and media strategies. And it worked - gullible people like you remain convinced even today he is 'great'.
@@rg31404 lol. He for sure is one of the greats of cycling and that’s not even debatable. Doping, no doping, he still had to put in the work, ride the miles, keep on top of nutrition etc. those things aren’t deniable. Accept it. He was untouchable in a world full of doping
If no one else cheated as well as him I think he would have won anyway. its just hat he let us down.I didnt know the ins and outs of bike racing like i do now...jus' sayin'
@@dilligaf2818 exactly
"You'd have to be an imbecile or hypocrite to imagine that a professional cyclist who rides 235 days a year can hold himself together without stimulants".
"You can't ride the Tour de France on mineral water".
"For 50 years bike racers have been taking stimulants. Obviously we can do without them in a race, but then we will pedal 15 miles an hour (instead of 25). Since we are constantly asked to go faster and to make even greater efforts, we are obliged to take stimulants".
All quotes by Jacques Anquetil Tour de France winner 1957, 61, 62, 63, 64
The stimulants back then were a far cry from the stuff Armstrong and co. put into their bodies.
I remember being annoyed that people were trying to bring him down with rumors of PED use - I wish I’d paid more attention and kept an open mind then and I wish more people would pay attention and keep open mind in 2023 to any public figure who is repeatedly accused of cheating/crimes
Great videos amazing editing!
At about his 5th Tour de France win, I had an argument with my office mate -- a distance rider. "If Armstrong is not taking dope, I said, he is the greatest athlete in any sport of all time."
After he won a couple more times, I knew he had to be cheating. Everyone knew by then. It was just a matter of time before it would be proven.
He still has his defenders, even today. "Everyone was cheating back then." Uh, no.
Armstrong destroyed the lives of so many riders and non-riders because they spoke the truth. LeMond for one.
That does not mean those riders weren't also c
Doping
He is one of the greatest athletes of all time. EVERYONE WAS DOPING. EVERYONE
@@chrishenry5945 That's an exaggerated, dopey comment. Read any reputable article or watch any documentary.
@@HAL9007 no it’s not. He knew EVERYONE was doping, it natural for him to lash out when he is being singled out. The Europeans hated him because they considered cycling their sport. They targeted him because of it. No one was awarded the titles they stripped from him because EVERYONE tested positive. No one talks about that they just talk about Lance. It was an even playing field, it’s not cheating if EVERYONE is doing it.
You glossed over a lot of information in this "expose". He strong armed innocent people into being quiet.
There have been several feature length documentaries on this topic.
This is a 14 minute UA-cam video... obviously not everything can be covered.
Had he’d not made that unnecessary comeback in 2009-10 than I don’t think the forces that be that brought him down would have happened. But Lance’s own arrogance sadly sealed his stripping of the 7 wins. We all know other past winners took substances to enhance performance but Lance went one too many to let him get away with it.
Greg Le Mond was unfairly cast as a resentful villain against Lance’s success but he now stands vindicated as he certainly never went down that route.
Agree 100%. Well said.
I can see Lance’s influence still remains in these days by reading the comment section. This is crazy.
I think that in his book he says he was told a the time it was 50/50, though later his doctor said in reality it was 3%?
I felt betrayed when he admitted using EPO.... But when I overlook that, I remembered how inspiring was his Cinderella story, well... I still miss the late 90's to early 2000's, it was an exceptional time to be a cyclist. Now with the new era of Tadej Pogačar, I'm here thinking, please, don't be another Lance to us.
I think a lot of people was jealous of Lance achievements he will always be a champion a lot of the same cyclist who complain did the same 🤔
Armstrong was doping all along even as far back as the early Triathlon days. He would never win at the TDF, he was poor at the Time Trials and he could not climb to save his life. He chose EPO for a reason and it was for the climbing stages. He was probably on EPO most of his cycling life and steroid supplements. His reaction to EPO was his downfall since some people react to EPO more than others. He would not be able to win 1 TDF without the EPO, even if had been blood doping ( which was confirmed) without the EPO he could not dominate the climbing. This is identical to 2022 and 2023 they are all doping, but this time in Hyperbaric chambers to increase their Hematocrit levels, this is why see all the dominance from the top riders not only on the TT, Flats but also on the climbings.
Lance Armstrong is the engineer in team fortress 2
ALL the best athletes dope. They just haven’t been caught yet.
That's exactly right, you cannot be at the top of any pro sport without being doped
Nope. You have no idea wtf you’re talking about. Believe it or not, many top athletes refuse, and are vehemently anti doping. It goes against their values. Just bc you’re an athlete doesn’t make you a liar and a cheat.
@@JohnDough-yr2zt to be the top of any sport you must take PEDS. You think it’s only the legit competitors that are able to break world records and beat other athletes that are taking PEDS. Come on bro, use your brain. They all cheat to compete at the highest level on the world stage. If they don’t cheat they don’t win. Simple as that
@@JohnDough-yr2zt they’re hardly going to be great advocates of doping and publicise it, are they? …..
@@JohnDough-yr2zt ask yourself this. All these world records that have been set in the past by proven drugs cheats.
How can those records be beaten by completely clean athletes?
Not possible right?
I was racing even before Lance. I didn’t care for LeMond and Armstrong because it seemed to me they ruined the traditional European racing. By spending millions and millions to win one race and almost forgetting about the rest of them. Almost like Dale Earnhardt race in the Daytona winning and then taking the rest of the season off.
You seem to be confused.
Yeah, Dale Earnhardt, one of only three people who have won 7 championships, definitely took the rest of the season off after Daytona. The year he won Daytona he had a rough start to the season but ended up finishing 8th - not exactly taking the season off.
He made David Copperfield look like a Rookie when playing his magic act with Drugs.
They banned Lance Armstrong for life but Lance and his team at The Move still have the best coverage and play by play of bike racing to date.
I don’t know how he can show his face in the sport. What an embarrassment to cycling he is.
Hardly the best. It is one big commercial break and almost no analysis. Maybe the best american coverage, but that doesn't say a lot.
Try winning a grand tour clean. Even finishing one is brutal for the body. Doping gives you a ticket to possibly win but it's not a guarantee. Lance still worked hard for those wins and deserves his titles. The sport will never be clean. It's just the reality of it.
It has happened. It would happen more often if they were more stringent about therapeutic exemptions.
Agreed indeed. For example…moving to Europe to train on the direct terrain, riding the Swiss Alps, getting the best support team assembled, having a sponsor with deep pockets…friends in the UCI…he was THE CHAMP.
It was not about the doping you jacka**. The MAFIA behaviour!
Are you lance? Lol stop it he worked at nothing hard.
I knew that Lance, like most pro athletes used PEDs. They help with stamina, recovery, body building, hemoglobin production. I appreciate what Lance has done in inspiring cancer patients, in their recovery. Speaking from,experience, Lance inspired me to thrive through the adversity pain, sorrow and loss with my own cancer, and losing others to cancer.
How many times do we have to rewind this? Would be nice if a narrator was used that could pronounce the last names.
Those Yellow livestrong bands sold like hot cakes when he advertised them.
I think I still have some around the house somewhere 😂
My wonderful Father-in-law had Cancer, Lances comeback was a beacon of hope to him and he wasn’t even a rider. When Lance confessed it cut my Father-in -laws hopes down as he was a man of honour and integrity, he assumed Lance was too. For many, Lances actions cost them the will to live, to hope for a miracle or to simply hang on for another day. Lance had some pedigree for sure, but his ‘second is the first loser’ mantra is hollow, self centred, and Narcisistic, his teams doping and lies for 7 tours showed just how deep this Narcissism ran.
May he enjoy his 50 million, yet I wonder if he realises that money will never buy him a peaceful heart.
My aunt got to meet him at a cancer clinic and she said he came off as an asshole.
@@supernova44 Basically everyone that has met him in person says the same. Tells you a lot about him.
I dont understand why people continue to bash Lance, he was a Hero to the US and he was and still is a cycling monster, read below before bashing me.
What they should have done is to condemn the whole Tour de France for 10 years, everyone doped, and had doped for years. Look at Pantani. I still do not understand Americans going after Lance, he brought cycling to the USA, the US did not care about the Tour the France before Lance , not even Eddie Merkx was able to do that.
And lance was a monster , doped or not doped, he was focused, determined , he trained like hell and he had the right physiognomy. Doping increased that base by maybe 10/15%. Doping alone is not enough to win. Since all the peloton was doping, not doping was not an option.
I dare anyone to just dope and try to finish 1 mountain stage of The Tour.
I am 55, I cycle regularly, I trained hard to the Stelvio Santini Grand Fondo, finished in 8:30 hours, the guy that won did it in less then 4 hours. Top level cyclists are monsters.
Lance was the Monster of Monsters, he still has my admiration and respect any day of the week.
I’m absolutely THRILLED to have discovered this channel today. I’ll be subscribing. Something for me to look forward to for a change!!!
I THANK YOU!!
He won the Tour 7 times against 2nd and 3rd place winners who were all, also, busted for doping at one time or other. He didn't cheat without the support of the UCI. Unbelievable athlete who took advantage of every training technique used by all of the teams.
And was a vicious bastard, ruining the lives of people who spoke against him. That's why he's vilified, not for the cheating.
@@ronwhite8503 Vilified is fine and deserved. But stripping the 7 titles was ridiculous as we now have 7 years of no TDF winners on record. And his ban was exponentially worse than any of the other dopers. His actions off the bike are the domain of civil lawsuits.
@@ronwhite8503 and why were they speaking against him? for their own gain..who gives a fck..not me
He had a better planned, more sophisticated drug's regime than others, and clearly his body responded very well to PEDs.
Add to that the best team around him with the best strategies, a ruthless mentality, UCI giving him a hand here and there, and you get an unbeatable combo.
@@livingbeing1113 Yep, they shouldn't have penalized him extra for cheating better than all other other cheaters.
Let’s face it. He was the best EPO taker evar. We should celebrate that 🎉
They all take EPO. Even today.
He helped Jan Ullrich in his worst days of addiction and they became best friends! From hero to zero back to hero again!
He never came back to hero. He can't. That's the problem with cheaters. They are forever jokes.
@@johnwest7993 Back in those days everyone cheated! Even if they didn’t use dope we wouldn’t be able to keep up with those guys! Amazing cyclist!
Yeah JUST LIKE BRADY..BEST CHEATER IN THE NFL..So somebody strip his titles
@@johnwest7993 What is the incentive for cheaters or criminals to atone for their sins if there is no hope for restitution?
If outlaws do the right thing by coming forward and serving their time, then society, too, should do the right thing by letting them back in the fold
Lance trying to polish his image, no matter how sincere, doesn’t change the fact he was the worst cheater ever and the fact he acted like a horrible person.
You can't cheat against brain, lung, and testicular cancer. He gave hope and inspiration to many cancer victims. People are so fickle, most cyclists were doping during that time.
It doesn't matter if NEARY all were cheating, (they weren't.) As a former clean pro rider friend of mine who used to ride against Armstrong explained to me, if even ONE rider in a race is clean, that makes cheats out of every single doper.
@@johnwest7993 You're right, cheating is cheating, and I don't support it in any way. But like I said, you can't cheat brain, lung and testicular cancer. He gave hope to lots of people, not just cancer patients. Sure when he was exposed many people were crushed with disappointment. But at the end of the day many people also overcame their struggles because his story motivated them to keep fighting. He is proof that it's possible to beat the unbeatable. In my humble opinion, playing a small part in saving even one life is greater than winning a bicycle race. By the way sorry for your friend who was a clean rider. Good for him sticking to his morals. That too I would say is more important than winning a bike race.
"most"?? Actually ALL at least all tour cyclist were doping. Doping has been part of tour cycling since the 1920's.
LA was a bully who forced his teammates to dope!
The Tour De France was sooo respected when I was a kid in the 60s. There was actually a Schwinn bike model named “The TDF”!!
Quelle formidable tricheur. Fascinant de détermination. Acteur de la histoire du vélo. AMERICAIN, HUMAIN, INCROYABLE........
Yeah…Euro boys are clean. Only dirty Americans cheat.
Lance Armstrong almost by himself made the entire cycling world oust cycling legend Greg LeMond with the amount of distancing and covering up he led to cover up his tracks. I get Lance was trying to salvage his career but man he completely ruined the credibility and likeliness of his idol.
I competed in the same era as Armstrong & I NEVER EVER even thought about doping.
There were many like me in those days & yet we knew we were competing against cheats. Imagine how it felt for us clean riders? It was sickening & sole destroying.
Lance & other dopers had a choice, they chose wrong & so they'll always be cheats in the eyes of their competitors.
It was them who made it an uneven playing field & made cycling the drug reputation it got.
Us clean riders were cheated & so was the sport.
For anyone thinking for a second everyone was doping back then or even now, you've no idea how wrong you are...& it hurts to the very core the respectful & principled clean riders, that you think so. Please consider such riders in your thoughts & blasting comments.
Cycling and doping are as old as the beginning, Armstrong did not invent it.
dude just bcuz u were in ur towns bike-a-thon, doesn't mean you're in any way comparable to armstrong lmao. every guy in the tour de france is doping. everyone anywhere near the top of any sport is doping. you were never anywhere near their league, so he didn't cheat you "clean guys"
@@fwblok836 How is that fuc** relevant is a mistery to me. Take your propaganda to your political meetings.
@@fwblok836 oh really, Armstrong didn't invent doping? That absolutely clears him of all wrong doing
just shut up and fetch the water,
He didn't lose everything. He made millions doing this that stays.
@@lisafoos8976 yepp
@@insinty his case demonstrates that cheaters actually prosper. Cheat 150 million and give back 100 million. Anyone would take that deal.
If he ended up in jail for life time then i could say no matter how much money he made, he in the end couldn't use.
But as it stands cheaters prosper.
The fact that he bullied teammates and retired cyclists. Filed lawsuits and cheats at the same time. Shows his character. Lance is the definition of a cheater and doper.
What a legend....one of a kind.
Definitely a top caliber douchebag.
can you do a video on every rider that cheated between 1999 and 2012? and not just the winners ;p
Give us some examples and we'll see what we can do!
@@TrueSportsLore Tyler Hamilton
Floyd Landis
George Hincapie
Michael Rasmussen
Jonathan Vaughters
David Millar
Ivan Basso
Jan Ullrich
Erik Zabel
Frankie Andreu
Michael Boogerd
Thomas Dekker
Roberto Heras
Jörg Jaksche
Jesús Manzano
Eddy Merckx
Alexandre Vinokourov
Richard Virenque
Bjarne Riis
Stuart O'Grady
Stephen Swart
Kevin Livingston
Christian Vande Velde
Tom Danielson
Levi Leipheimer
Filippo Simeoni
Raimondas Rumsas
Marco Pantani
Alberto Contador
Alejandro Valverde
Danilo Di Luca
Riccardo Ricco
Iban Mayo
Andrey Kashechkin
Stefano Garzelli
Michele Scarponi
José Maria Jiménez
Santiago Botero
Óscar Sevilla
Manuel Beltran
David Zabriskie
Christian Moreni
Matthias Kessler
Emanuele Sella
Mikel Astarloza
Bernhard Kohl
Stefan Schumacher
Alexandr Kolobnev
Antonio Flecha
Volodymyr Bileka
Leonardo Piepoli
Alberto Elli
Dario Frigo
Gilberto Simoni
Giuseppe Guerini
Laurent Brochard
Didier Rous
i read his book watched him racing then he screwed me and heaps of others ...Cadel won without cheating and was beaten by cheats as well.
Cadel won without cheating, nice jaw Cadel
@@zaphod_beeblerox had it all his life so Fo.
Cadel worked with Ferrari. He didn’t dope, though.
@@uberkloden of course ferrari would never had called it doping or lead to believe it was , it was nutrient enrichment or some other derision of the truth
Hahahha…”screwed you”? In what way did Lance’s action do harm to you, directly or indirectly?
For me, he screwed me by getting caught. (Because of his success) We had races, tv coverage, and cycling became cool. After he got caught, we have spiraled back into relative obscurity and considered a dirty sport.
Synonymous (I would've never have gotten even close to spelling that correctly. High praise for autospell today yo!
He almost killed this sport and a generation of riders
This sport nearly was killed by Fuentes, not L.A.
@Esteban de las montañas as well but Lance was very bad too and the star of the times (Festina killed it too and it doesn't put LA away from his responsibility)
Great vid!
Thanks!
Lance attacked Greg Lemond and had Trek drop Lemond bikes. At the time I started believing that Greg was actually jealous. Until the VO2 max was pointed out, Lance was nothing close to Hinault's and Lemond's VO2 max. Until now I refuse to buy Trek bikes because of how they treated Lemond. I do agree with Lance though, that as a doper he did beat other dopers, Riis, Ulrich, Pantani, and so on.... So in a way, the playing field was even. Unlike Indurain, who was never a GC rider, suddenly started beating Fignon and Lemond. I hate Indurain more than Lance. And as big of an ass Lance is, I do have his autographed next to Lemond's and Hinault's on my wall.
So thats just typical USA hippocracy, one thing a lot of you guys do so well. So u dont have morals then? Sounds about right again.
When Lance was there the tour was sooooo exciting... he was simply the best... 7 years straight,.. everyone else doping...and 7 years straight.. he could talk and walk.. he could do everything...absolutely amazing....
The drawing in the thumbnail looks like John Dupee.
Sometimes when stories sound too good to be true-- they are.
You left out the fact that his testicular cancer was the result of the abuse of performance enhancing drugs - Ivan Basso is an example and several others blatantly abused the drugs. He is the worst example of what an athlete should be.
Nope, you're wrong, you couldn't be more wrong. Overall he helped millions of people get on their bikes, not only that, he increased the bike industry by huge margins, no one in the history of cycling has done so much for the sport.
Yes, so his «miracle» recovery from cancer was just the fact that he stopped using the drugs for a while…he was just the worst cheat in history from the very beginning😂
That not a single rider has ever come forward and asked for one of his jerseys tells you all you need to know about the era. Armstrong was/is the greatest Tour rider ever, fact.
It was Lance's bitter attacks on those that accused him of doping that saw him despised by many in the the cycling fraternity, not that he doped per say. He viciously threatened to drag these people (who were telling the truth) off to court, when everyone knew he was a doper. He is no hero to me.
who cares if hi is your here or not....he is the hero...
Lance Armstrong didn't bring drugs into cycling they were there when he got there all the top cyclist used them and probably they all did. One of the riders who won 2nd place refused the trophy and said he was proud of getting second place. In other words Lance won them all fair and square
Its not human to win 7 years straight, and even his doped up competitors did not think it was fair that his doping allowed him to dominate the sport.
Now he becomes the poster boy for why you shouldn't cheat by doping in competition. That he forced the ITA to purge its corrupt practices and become harder to fool, and for the sport to recognize the problem of doping, was more important than his attracting attention to the sport.
They all dope, Lance just work hard!
And genetically lucky. Perhaps also a psychological edge.
No, they don't "all dope." That's a pathetic excuse. I have a friend who used to be a pro rider who rode against Armstrong. My friend was one of many clean riders. As he pointed out, it only takes one clean rider in a race to turn every doper in the race into a cheater.
@@johnwest7993 That's true, and commendable of your friend. Unfortunately, with the drive for competition and the nature of our system and sketchy doping agency loopholes, it's almost impossible for a natural athlete to compete at the very top. Ironically, the very best who want to win essentially have to cheat. As an example, a natural bodybuilder winning Mr Olympia is never going to happen, even if they are the greatest natural bodybuilder of all time.
How do we know your buddy was clean? Almost everyone was on gear.
Worked hard at being a vindictive bastard. Or perhaps he was a natural at that.
The doping wasn't the problem. Him being a natural born SOCIOPATH was the real problem IMHO😮
Man on drugs beat other men on drugs, and showed he's the best in the world over and over again.
Except he swore he wasn’t on drugs and again and again he pointed the guilty finger to other racers
@@MegaFclefit’s not right but bottom line he won
Best in the world at using drugs. Not a title that really matters.
Rich people don’t even go bankrupt the same way as we do. Crime really does pay
Lance even dumped his girlfriend (Sheryl Crow) after she got breast cancer. Among all his other despicable traits, he is even heartless towards the women in his life!
USPS, Trek, Nike and Oakley made so much money and still benefit to this day from Lance.
As sad and shameful as his story is, the reality is that he made Trek Bicycles what it is today. The other sponsorships like Nike and Oakley were already big players but Trek was a different story....
And Trek paid him handsomely and also screwed the real American TDF champion, Greg Lemond in the process.
The way Trek treated Lemond because of LA is the very reason to this day I will not ride or buy a Trek. Same as NIKE .
trek may be big in your parts of the world but its just another bike brand here in NZ...nothing special about it. everyone knows of nike and oakley....ask them name a bike brand...they'll be stumped.
Thats more a reason to never buy a trek 😂
Trek also bought up original, unique and big names and destroyed them. Klein, Bontrager, LeMond, Gary Fisher and other smaller brands were liquidated by Trek. Ironic that they're now owned by Dorel, no, wait, Pon, nope, it's Roth Distributing, still wrong, now INTREPID owns them. Who are they???
Friends don't let friends ride a tRek.
7:23 FINALLY, someone who pronounces Nike right!!
That ride through the field could get someone disqualified as he didn’t complete the entire course.
I know its messed up he doped but honestly 99% of people couldnt do what he did on dope or not on dope what he did was insane.
All the people in the top 10 were doping, at least.. most athletes are on peds. It's kind of irrelevant when this is the case. He was the best of the bunch.
I get your point, but what about the other 180 men in the peloton that weren't? well, probably more like 160...had they also had access to ferrari, blood bags, etc...? everyone who doped cheated, and took something from those non-dopers.
@@chbrosz Who knows if they weren't, and if that is true it's a bit naive to compete expecting a result when knowing the reality of elite sports. It's like going into bodybuilding as a natty and hoping to get a place. I'd blame the corruption of doping agencies and private investors before the athletes, personally but that's just my opinion.
People saying “Everyone else was doing it too” completely miss the point. If it wasn’t a big deal Lance was cheating, why did he ruin the reputations or threaten the livelihoods of anyone who tried to expose his cheating?
Lance Armstrong is a hero…and nike cutting ties with lance was like hitler condemning doctor mengele for crimes against the humanity.
Seriously, don't you know that they are all doped? seriously people....Lance won fair and square...
For those wondering what he's upto today, he's making shows about awful it is that trans athletes are effectively 'cheating' in womens sports and how awful it is to be cancelled for saying 'cheating' is happening.
Biological male vs biological female of the same age. Who is going to win 90% or more of the time?
@@nathancook2852 The better athlete. Or the one running a state funded doping programme
I mean, he is obviously right that biological males competing against biological females is in no way a leveled playing field, but that he uses this fact to legitimize his own cheating, is pretty disgusting.
@ 6:26 according to Lance in his own words, He was not looking at Ulrich, He was looking behind Ulrich to see how many riders were left and who else was close to him in the overall.
This was all a well constructed story line that everyone was involved in, however when Lance's head got to big they had to cut him loose! They were all involved people, Lance however was the easiest fall guy based on his attitude and behavior towards the end. This was definitely written by someone at Disney, it was the perfect feel good situation, everyone likes the hero and the villian.
You couldn't have said it any better, I've been saying the same thing as you for years now. Everyone loves a good happy ending, an ending where the villain goes down in flames and everyone cheers lol. Lance Armstrong did nothing wrong in terms of his doping program and winning all the time, but the sport had to make an example out of him to make people believe that the sport is trying to be clean lol. Lets just say that if Lance only wins the Tour 3 or 4 times, instead of 7, I bet my life that they would have left him alone and just allowed him to enjoy his retirement and rest of his life. To me it's so silly and hypocritical that they attacked him, they only attacked him because he just kept winning and never stopped. I also know for a fact that the reason Greg LeMond never liked Armstrong, is because Greg was jealous that Lance took over as the most famous and the best American Cyclist in history, and Greg was angry that people were forgetting about him. It's all about ego, and people were jealous of what Lance was doing.
@@justinexplainseverything1554 couldn't have said it any better! 👏 Lets be honest, all sporting athletes and teams look for an edge, the sporting bodies even know this. I would even go as far as saying Lance clean would have won at least 4-5, his training and mindset were upper level.
@@FrancoMonet He said himself he couldn't follow the wheels of the best before he started doping. Clean Lance was mediocre.
I remember the cameraman making the eraser gesture.
Took a long time to happen…
he simply got “caught” doing something that literally 95% of athletes performing at the highest levels are doing.
do big retrospectives on famous races with doped riders like cycling highlights used to do but for some reason ceased
Should have been titled "Rise, fall and resurrection" Lance has come a long way since his admission on Oprah. Lance is human, as we all are, and thus deserving of grace. Go Lance, go ♥️🙏🏽
You stole my comment. 👍
I have a friend who is a former pro rider who always rode clean. He used to ride against Armstrong. Armstrong deserves nothing. He cheated against clean riders. He did it for money, millions of dollars. And he forced others to cheat, too. And he destroyed the lives of honest people who told the world the truth of Armstrong's cheating. It sickens me that you can respect someone like that.
@@johnwest7993 You're wasting your time John. I agree with all you're posting. But it's like trying to convert peoples religious or political beliefs. I was a Lance fan (to be honest, I was always a Sean Yates fan and as such was a Motorola supporter before Lance joined the team). The only thing I can admire Armstrong for is his freakish genetic ability (though in testing he was on a fairly level playing field against other pros when it came to natural haematocrit levels) and his drive (though this seems to have come from largely sociopathic tendencies rather than a strong sense of sportsmanship). He's a difficult guy to like (the feeling was the same among the pro ranks). He will never fail to have loyal fans, though I'm not ignorant enough to now be one of them. Ignorance, as they say, is bliss.....
Being a crybaby on Oprah doesn’t change the fact that he behaved horribly. It doesn’t make him a better person.
@@johnwest7993 Did he have cancer and was he missing a nut?
Song at 3:34?
I know he was a cheat and a bully but to do what he did against others that also doped AND keep it up for the duration he did was still impressive to maintain that commitment and will to win... Still an obnoxious bugger and personally I think he took the brunt of the criticism that could have been aimed at nearly every rider at that era of cycling.. Glad the sport seems a lot cleaner now.
Sadly the sport likely isn’t any cleaner. The guys at the highest level these guys like pogacar, Ewan, Van Aert, Roglic, and many more have to be on serious rocket fuel
“Seems” a lot cleaner now, key word is seems.
I competed in the same era as Armstrong & I NEVER EVER even thought about doping.
There were many like me in those days & yet we knew we were competing against cheats. Imagine how it felt for us clean riders? It was sickening & sole destroying.
He & other dopers had a choice, they chose wrong & so they'll always be cheats in the eyes of their competitors.
It was them who made it an uneven playing field & made cycling the drug reputation it got.
Us clean riders were cheated & so was the sport.
For anyone thinking for a second everyone was doping back then or even now, you've no idea how wrong you are...& it hurts to the very core the respectful & principled clean riders, that you think so. Please consider such riders in your thoughts & blasting comments.
Lance Armstrong without PEDs versus Greg LaMond, who won the TDF three times naturally, Greg would have clearly won.
Did he cheat more than others did, at the time, or was he just better at it?
others doped...LA ruined peoples lives for fun. One woman from Detroit fought back.
@@anthonylarson7919 Please name the people whose lives were "ruined"? Please describe this so called "ruin"???
For fun?.........Do you mean to protect his image?
@@billkallas1762 Frankie and Betsey Andreau....Emma O'Rielly...Greg LeMond...Christophe Brassons...for a start. LA is a first ballot hall of fame POS. If one even considers otherwise, they need to make some better life choices. IMHO.
was better at it~ the top 30 riders of ANY year (YES…Gregg L as well…c’mon Stage 17 of his second win??? came back from a massive deficit and won??…and he said NOPE 2 DOPE???….nope don’t believe it.)
Guy is still famous all over the world and sits back enjoying a 50 million + fortune.
Zero..don't know bout dat !
All comments are the same, Still my Hero.
sad that he did not humble himself after finding out about the cancer.
Absolute legend , got millions into cycling , set up livestrong charity donating millions to cancer research raised awareness of cancer , saved millions of lives , worldwide , EVERYONE DOPED ............, How much did Contador , Vinokourov , ullrich, Hamilton or Landis give back to society ...FUCK ALL ........like him or hate him he was an epic cyclist matching Pantani one of the greatest climbers on Ventoux ,
The GOAT! Only idiot closed minded individuals villainize Lance. He joined a sport with doping already in place. The difference is he did it scientifically and trained really hard leaving nothing on the table. He did what he did because the other teams were doping also. He was crucified for what others were doing also. It was proven and his closest rivals were also doping. This made the battlefield level. The people in power told him to retire but he was greedy and arrogant which was his downfall. It was true that he never tested positive. He was outed that is why he was caught and he was forced to confess.
EPO vanishes within an hour and cannot be traced by any test. Its the perfect PED. Think about that. Today's riders can be using but they are a lot more careful (maybe???).
I hope nobody gets caught for their sake. This video piece is just another Lance is a villain piece.
Nope. The GOAT was Eddy Merckx.
He's vilified because he was a nasty piece of work who tried to destroy the lives of people who called him out.
Sub zero - he and those who dope/cheat damaged the sport.
Lance was a legend. Will always be. (apart from the, treating people badly part) They all doped - he was just the best overall.
All of the best spinner climbers are all dopers.
A Legend Criminal lol
A legend in his own mind - and to those who also see no issue with cheating to get ahead.
What he did to Greg LeMond alone…he is a selfish sick individual
Greg LeMond rode CLEAN. My inspiration.
Bullshit no one was clean do some research into the history of the tour de France and then look into how every sport they are doping