ProCyclingNow

Cheater.  Liar.  Deceiver.  Those words could very soon be describing a 7 time Tour de France champion.  For many years the rumors of Lance Armstrong doping have run rampant around the world of pro cycling.  The Lance camp has always been hasty and direct in shooting down anyone who points the finger in his direction and accuses him of cheating.  Somehow the accusations come and go and never offer much traction into the truth.  That is changing, and changing fast.

When Floyd Landis made his accusations a year ago, it sent shockwaves through the sport.  Many believed Floyd.  A good number of people also doubted the claims.  Landis had his Tour de France title stripped for a positive test for testosterone and mounted an expensive defense.  He lost his case in appeal and last year decided to come clean.  The Lance camp immediately denied all claims levied against them and attacked the credibility of Landis.  I believed what Floyd said and still believe him to this day.

I heard many people say via Twitter and around the web that another person needed to step forward and back up Floyd’s claims.  Enter Tyler Hamilton.  On the CBS News program 60 minutes, Hamilton described the doping culture on the US Postal team, including seeing Lance Armstrong participate in illegal practices.  This time the Lance camp started their smear campaign days ahead of the program being aired on television.  They said Hamilton just wanted publicity for a book he was planning on writing.  They also denied everything.  I believe every word that Tyler Hamilton said.  I am sure Floyd Landis does too.

The most damning piece of information from the 60 minutes program to this story of Armstrong was not related to anything Tyler Hamilton said.  CBS reported they had spoken to someone with the knowledge of the investigation.  Whoever this was, told them that George Hincapie had testified that he had doped while riding for the US Postal team and so did Lance Armstrong.  This was the equivalent of an atomic bomb being dropped into the dead center of the Lance camp.  Why you may ask?  The Lance camp cannot smear George Hincapie.  Lance has often said that Hincapie was like a brother to him.  I guess even brothers get tired of covering up wrongdoings sometimes.  If this information is true, it could single handily seal this case.

What baffles me is the massive amount of people who believe Lance is clean, despite of all the information that keeps surfacing.  There are some that feel he should get a pass because of what his Livestrong organization has done.  While I respect whatever good has come out of Livestrong, this does not give anyone a free pass for wrongdoing.  I know for a fact there are people who found hope in the story of Lance Armstrong, and now feel cheated.  People who were wearing the yellow bracelet in memory of someone have now ripped them off their wrist.  For me, this is the saddest part of this story.  A hero too many is now being seen as a villain.  And the world loves to see a villain brought to justice.