The French and Lance Armstrong
 

I see the French have dug up and tested 6-year-old urine samples, concluding that Lance was using a doping substance during the '99 Tour de France. The lengths that people will go to to discredit someone... :rolleyes:

If the lab tests for EPO are reliable and the results can be reproduced by another lab for verification, then is it a "witch hunt" or is it a report on the truth of what happend during that first tour win?

What prompted someone to fish around in 6-year-old frozen pee?

Statement by France's national anti-doping laboratory:

From the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/4175650.stm

What prompts people to question whether the US landed men on the moon? Whether Jose Canseco was wrong or right about steroid used in major league baseball? Whether there was more than one shooter in Dallas?

BTW, the French newspaper that is running the story is also owned by the Tour organizers, so perhaps there is a connection or perhaps that explains how they have access to the samples.

Ah, so EVERYone's samples were tested... that's less sinister. It's still an interesting reaction by the French newspaper. Wonder how they identified their samples?

they said that the samples and some documents with Lance's name had the same numbers..

I guess I'm just cynical but I can't believe he didn't dope. To so dominate a sport that competative without doping is amazing. To so dominate a sport that competative that is full of doped atheletes strains belief.

I'd like to believe he's just a freak of nature, but steroids wouldn't surprise me.

Although he is the current MAN there have been many other untouchable winners.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France#List_of_overall_winners

I can’t speak about Lance, but a friend was a 5 time Olympian and never took any kinds of enhancements, legal or otherwise. Some folk are physically gifted and, in addition, have a great desire to achieve.

Lance's test tubes wore a yellow jersey

I read where after all his lung and testicular cancer treatments, Lance was all skin and bones and really worn down. His muscles were completely atrophied. He studied exactly what muscles were essential to becoming a cycling machine and with this knowledge he went on a training program to enhance all these muscle groups and ignore building up anything that was non-essential to cycling. He started with what amounted to a clean slate and sculpted a cycling body from nothing.

So in that way he is somewhat freakish.

I also have to wonder why the French are waiting until now to bring this up.

The French revenge

Armstrong, Bush Ride 'Tour de Crawford'

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer Sat Aug 20, 7:48 PM ET

WACO, Texas - It's no yellow jersey, but
President Bush on Saturday presented Lance Armstrong with another shirt to show off his biking experiences — a red, white and blue T-shirt emblazoned "Tour de Crawford."
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The leader of the free world and the world's biking master rode for 17 miles on Bush's ranch for about two hours at midmorning. Bush showed Armstrong the sites of the ranch that he calls "a little slice of heaven," including a stop at a waterfall midway through the ride.

They were accompanied by a small group of staff and
Secret Service agents and a film crew from the Discovery Channel, Armstrong's Tour de France sponsor, which had exclusive media access for the ride. Footage was shot for a program on Armstrong to air next week.

Neither Bush nor Armstrong spoke to reporters, although White House spokesman Trent Duffy said the president was impressed with the seven-time champ's skills.

"Recognizing what the world has known for years, the president said, 'He's a good rider,'" Duffy said.

The president has taken up biking with a fervor since a bad knee forced him to give up his running routine a few years ago. He's been spending a lot of time riding while staying in Texas this month. It was Armstrong's first ride at the presidential ranch, which is about 100 miles north of Armstrong's adopted hometown of Austin.

Duffy wouldn't say whether they talked politics, a topic that Armstrong has said he is getting more interested in now that he's retiring from biking and turns 34 next month. Armstrong calls Bush a friend, but he has spoken out against the war in
Iraq and has said he wants the government to spend more money on cancer research.

At the end of the ride, Bush gave Armstrong and the rest of the riders the T-shirts, which said "Tour de Crawford" on the front in Western-style rope script and "Peloton One" — a reference to the densely packed group of riders in a race — on the back. Bush also gave them red, white and blue riding socks with the presidential seal on the inner ankle.

After the presentation, Duffy said, they posed for pictures and the president announced, "OK, let's go swimming." Armstrong and the rest of the group were invited to stay for lunch.

Supposedly there were no tests for EPO at the time.

I'm no expert, but....

EPO works by increasing the number of red blood cells in your blood. That's its job, unlike other steriods that increase muscle mass. EPO was undetectable because you could stop taking it, it would sufficiently clear your system, but the red blood cells remain.

The previous "test" for EPO was to count the number of red blood cells in a blood sample and see if they were higher than a given fixed threshold. They threw people out of the TDF for just an offense.

Although they now have a test for EPO, I'm assuming Lance passed all the hemocrit tests during the time frame in question. If he had EPO in his system, it wasn't doing him any good.

JMHO--this is a witchhunt.

Sholin