Thank-god it's over. Now let's get back to real cycling. Just make this awful man go away.

With the British cycling press, I think we can expect this undue attention given to Wiggins instead. Seems his "Arsenal" was no match for Wigan this year.

Whiteboy to be honest that is a very stupid comment as well out LA the sport wouldn't be in such a good postion it is in.

He has taken the sport to the USA possible to biggest market in the world

Made the sport more suitable for commercial sponsorship

Both these bring in more money which in turn improve the sport

The other funny thing is its just some short sighted fans for don't like him pretty every rider has huge respect for.

whiteboytrash ...... Spot on!

There are still others to weed out of the peleton, before it can be truely a clean sport, but it is clear that progress is being made. Even in seeing how fragile and tired many of the 2010 Tour riders looked towards the end, compared to the past few years, suggests that fewer of them are on the serious juice.

The LandisGate investigation is going to help a great deal in clarifying the true state of the past 10 years of pro cycling and I look forward to seeing what turns up!

No one needs money in cycling so much that it's worthwhile turning a blind-eye to cheating. That way lies a worse future!

Allez! Allez! Allez!

@brindy. Its not really that stupid. The sport doesn’t exist so that more people in the US ride a bike. The sport should be promoted so that all people regardless of what country they come from ride a bike. If taking large amounts of drugs, blood doping, bribing cycling officials and polarising the French and other European nations is a way to promote the sport then I prefer not to have the sport promoted. One might ask why the French have been in a cycling lull for so long? – perhaps comments like “the French have tested positive for being a**holes” might not help the promotion of the sport in that country? Point in case why Armstrong’s marketing was more about himself and less about the promotion of cycling in general. This year at the world junior titles there were several high performing US riders, none of which gained any media attention because some other guy was falling off the back of the peloton in a mid-tier French race who wanted to make some sound bytes.

I think its all time we moved on. Enough is enough. Lets give the sport back to the cyclists and yes market and promote the sport so others may take a what is a beautiful sport. But lets not do it at the expense of athletes being forced to used performance enhancing drugs or having to pay off cycling officials or make suspect donations/bribes or hijack the final ceremonial TDF stage traditionally dedicated to the winner of the TDF being overrun by 28 campaign and other such commercial actives to the benefit of one rider.

I’m sorry that but lets all for the sake of the sport move on. I don’t want to mention Floyd Landis but look at the guy. Love him or hate him but his life was completely decimated by the cycling and what the sport represented at the time. Don’t let others have to experience what he went through.

And so say all of us! Good riddance to the fraud who hijacked this beautiful event.

Why is there all this hatred for Lance Armstrong, the guy has done more single handedly (or with his PR train for the sports) then he ever has single handedly to damage the sport. If he has doped, it was at a time when it was endemic with in the sport. As David Millar has intermated, it was ragarded as almost unprofessional to NOT dope at one stage in his career

there are riders in the peloton still have doped and that are doping, there always have been and their always will be cheats so why try and single one man out.

Also why make the comment 'Now let's get back to real cycling' the guys been a world champion, classics winner and grand tour winner, what isn't rreal about that? its like saying we should turn away from guys like Merckx, Fignon, Hinault, Coppi et al. - these guys are all in the same boat as Armstrong - Absolutely no conclusive proof that they never doped.

I personally think we should be thankful if no tin the least of someone who has promoted media interest in the sport enough to allow it to become screened for us all to enjoy!

“If he doped it was when it was endemic with the sport?” Ah yes they all doped so its ok?

You might have forgotten the Festina affair of 98. It brought the sport to its knees. The Tour that year almost didn’t finish. Rider sit ins, police raids, Interpol, customs officials, EPO being found in suitcases, syringes thrown out hotel windows. It was dark days for the sport. A line was drawn in the sand after Festina. Federal laws were changed in France. Doping and the transportation and supply of doping products became illegal. The French cycling federation implemented blood and hair testing of all its riders. Change was in the air. Then came Christophe Bassons. He was an athletic freak. He remained clean throughout Festina affair and thought 99 was he’s year to shine – the sport will be much cleaner – I now have a chance. Your friend rode up a long side him in that Tour and told him to go home. Clean riders weren’t wanted Mr. Armstrong was heard saying. So to tell me that it was endemic is simply not true. There were voices. There were riders who didn’t want to pump their bodies full of chemicals. The sport wanted to clean up. But all that occurred was that Armstrong pushed it underground. He could have been the real hero of the peloton and clean riding. But what we find out now was that he was happy to pretend to be clean, market himself as this type of rider of being clean whilst drumming out the “real” clean riders like Bassons and Simeoni. If Floyd is to be believed is sounds also like Armstrong was exerting his influence on younger riders in his team to use PED’s. I mean seriously? Is that type of guy you want in the sport? Is this the sort of game we wanted our young riders to enter? It comes back to the promotion was about himself not about the sport. I’m sorry but I would have preferred a hero like Bassons’ than Armstrong. Someone who really had a massive Vo2 max not a made up number built around the use of extensive use of blood doping and EPO. Its not hatred of Armstrong but a love of cycling that I feel this way. Don’t confuse it.

I can't help but be impressed by someone who had cancer and then came back to even do one stage, never mind the whole thing so many times. I thought it was great that he could do it this year without having to worry about trying to win, just for the ride. (Isn't that why we all got into biking, for the joy of the ride?)

I also think that he has never had a positive drugs test so, while I know there are ways round tests, what happened to innocent until proven guilty? Don't begreudge this guy his success.

Has anyone noticed:

1 - Since the comeback LA has trained without numbers, no record of HR, VO2Max, etc. It was just about riding. Is it because the previously published numbers are so much higher that current numbers that it would bring to light LeMond's request to explain the significant swings in numbers pre cancer and post cancer?

2 - How much LA struggled on every climb last year, to the point of cause Kolden an opportunity at the podium. And all of this is due to age?

3 - When he retired almost every real contender for yellow was busted for drugs use

4 - Everyone LA beat during those 7 years has been busted for drugs use. Really? The only clean one of the bunch and he's the only one that wins. Really?

5 - His time away roughly equal to serving a band, simply an interesting point.

6 - 80+% of everyone that rode for him that went to another team was busted for drugs use, Hincapie is the only one that comes to mind that didn't. I'm sure there were others.

7 - Not one rider ever busted for drugs use under Johan, this seems odd

8 - Growth hormone is linked to testicular cancer

9 - EPO is a cancer drug, yet a cancer survivor has never used and return to a demanding sport. Then perform better than pre-cancer days

10 - LA's positive tests were reversed on technicality in court

Yes Americans (where I live) love their hero to over come all odds and be the only guy not playing fair. But seriously, that only happens in the movies. The real danger to LA being honest is the cancer research money. Of course, he even played that card with a quote on this site earlier, that he has done more to help more people than anyone else. He is laying the ground work to a) be forgiven and quietly sweep under the rug again, or b) a strong arm tactic to stop or reduce the investigation, c) remind people (donating to cancer) that It's Not About the Bike. Sorry I could not resist the pun.

@ Brindy

+1

You know your a LA hater when you suggest Landis as being something close to credible. Think what you want about LA, but I don't believe a word Landis says. He took money from his fans to help fund his 'innocence'. What a looser. Please don't cite him as proof that LA doped.

If you're going to make an argument 10000000 words long, ffs use paragraphs.

Armstrong has achieved great things for cycling that is true.

And for cancer research that is true.

And for himself that is also true.

Interesting to think that post 98 there was a chance for a real clean break- is this really so, how can we know it? Many many powerful figures would have had a say in making or breaking this, not just Armstrong by any means.

But his treatment of Simeoni and Bassons marked him down as a w***er to me. He rides down and bullies these guys, he publicly maintains his friendship of Dr Ferrari.

What more needs to be said? It is very obvious to me where his sympathies lie.

I was in the pyrenees last week for the tour , its at these live stages that you get a taste of what Armstrong has achieved for cycling .

Young and old , enlgish , american, french or bloody Russian there in the thousands , Every one screamed they heads off when he passed in the peloton . Lance we love you , the boss , Armstrong , lance the boss , lance the brave and so on .

The turn out at the tour alone would be nothing like the numbers of last year when he was not riding .

To say the sport would be better without him is ludacris .

And to think that he and only a hand full of others cyclist use performance enhancing drugs , transfusions or other undiscovered illegal techniques is naive .

Cycling would not be what it is and where it is , without these things .

From the worlds first longest race ( Bordeaux - paris ) in 1800's to the first six day races in London 1877 , or the first tour de france . None of which would have been possible or more important entertaining to the public , without illegal performance enhancing edges .

And before you ask YES do i believe the Landis claims , but do i give a shit ?

No

And yes i do believe there are cyclist in the pro peloton that are clean of drugs

Wiggins for one , just look at his performance !

But do i think cycling could hold its own , maintain the interest it has and turn over the revenue it does with a enhancement free peloton ? NO

Maybe everyone else got busted becasue they couldn't compete with someone who could focus purely on the one race any other way?

At some point we have to believe in champions. Otherwise the sport will decend to bitterness.

what a farce. we need to leave Armstrong alone, he is a champion and has done more good for the sport than any other. like him or not.

some investigator with a boner for Armstong cant have him convicted for dopping over the hearsay allegations of a loser like Landis.