Lance Armstrong confirms retirement from cycling

[TRF_Cymro]

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has confirmed he has retired from competitive cycling for good.

The American, 39, retired from cycling in 2005 but returned for the 2009 Tour, where he finished in third place behind winner Alberto Contador.

"I can't say I have any regrets. It's been an excellent ride," he said.

Armstrong is currently facing a US federal investigation into allegations of doping after former team-mate Floyd Landis claimed he used banned drugs.

The Texan has consistently denied the allegations and remains confident his name will be cleared by the investigation.

"I can't control what goes on in regards to the investigation," he said.

"That's why I hire people to help me with that. I try not to let it bother me and just keep rolling right along. I know what I know," said Armstrong.

"I know what I do and I know what I did. That's not going to change."

In 1996 Armstrong had been given less than a 50-50 chance of survival after being diagnosed with testicular cancer as the disease spread to his lungs and brain.

However, after an aggressive bout of chemotherapy, he made a full recovery and returned to the sport in early 1998, going on to dominate the race from 1999 to 2005.

He set up the Livestrong cancer charity which gained international recognition as the organisation's distinctive yellow wristbands were worn by millions of people worldwide.

Last year he rode for the Astana team but after a public dispute with team-mate Alberto Contador he left to form his own team, backed by American retailer RadioShack.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/9399280.stm​

 

[munstermuffin]

What a man and a great career on and off the bike. Wish him all the best

 

[Teh Mite]

What a man and a great career on and off the bike. Wish him all the best

What he said

 

[Logorrhea]

Nahhh hes a dirty cheat. We all know it.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Ruuuummmmoooouuurrrrrsss in the triathlon community are that he's heading back to Triathlon (where he started out before taking up cycling full time) and is eying up the Kona Ironman

 

[munstermuffin]

Nahhh hes a dirty cheat. We all know it.

He has been tested 1000s of times and well is innocent until proven guilty.
But I don't care as I'll respect anyone who came back from cancer like he did and to even complete 1 Tour never mind win 7 is an absolute credit to him.
Off the track he has raised cancer awareness argubally more than anyone on planet with Livestrong Brand.

 

[Logorrhea]

He has been tested 1000s of times and well is innocent until proven guilty.

And even when your proven guilty your still innocent

Cycling is a joke of a sport. He was just the best of the cheats. Lets not get too carried away with his achievements.

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Nahhh hes a dirty cheat. We all know it.

Slander with little evidence to support that statement!

 

[munstermuffin]

Well I for one respect and applaud the guy for his achievements and career he has had

 

[Charles]

It's amazing what drugs can do...

 

[Logorrhea]

Slander with little evidence to support that statement!

True. I presume you accept that Contador is also innocent and his own federation is within their rights to revoke the ban?

Landis is just bitter, the likes of Hamilton (edit) Ulrich and Basso were just honest mistakes and Lance uses Dr Ferrari because he is just a real good Doctor

 

[TRF_Cymro]

True. I presume you accept that Contador is also innocent and his own federation is within their rights to revoke the ban?

Landis is just bitter, the likes of Ulrich and Basso were just honest mistakes and Lance uses Dr Ferrari because he is just a real good Doctor

I don't think Contador is innocent, seems to have a good lwayer for backup

 

[Logorrhea]

Ahh grand so. Lets trust the ones with good lawyers but call the rest cheats.

At least three of Lances former teammates have stated he promoted drug use within his teams. Quite a few other high profile ones remain silent but have been caught cheating. He hasnt been caught of course, but to accept he was clean is blind optimism.

 

[elgringoborracho]

Well I for one respect and applaud his doctor for his achievements and career he has had

There, fixed

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Ahh grand so. Lets trust the ones with good lawyers but call the rest cheats.

At least three of Lances former teammates have stated he promoted drug use within his teams. Quite a few other high profile ones remain silent but have been caught cheating. He hasnt been caught of course, but to accept he was clean is blind optimism.

Typical, assuming and Armstrong has been tested hundreds of times, yet has never been 'caught' care to explain that?

Contador has been caught but has wrangled out of it on poor evidence provided on the appeal's. Just remember also that Contador has a grudge against Armstong no doubt down to his success.

 

[munstermuffin]

Lads can ye just even appreciate how this guy battled back to even compete in tour after a cancer battle that really drained him.
And Livestrong really does super amount of work

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Lads can ye just even appreciate how this guy battled back to even compete in tour after a cancer battle that really drained him.
And Livestrong really does super amount of work

Hang on now, jumping in here.

I have not accused Armstrong of 'cheating' unlike some, I am defending him because his story is fantastic and had a superb career.

 

[profitius]

"My reaction...the enthusiasm that I had built up about the sport in the last couple of years has been all but completely wiped out in the last couple of hours.

Let's turn the clock back to Armstrong's last apparition in the sport. The Tour de France 2005. He's standing on the podium. And he makes this big impassioned speech. Which is basically saying 'The last thing I'll say to the people who don't believe in cycling, the cynics, the skeptics: I'm sorry for you. I'm sorry you can't dream big. I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles.' That was 2005, his last ride in the the Tour de France. And the people flanking him on that podium were Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich. And a month after that race ended the French newspaper L'Equipe reported that in his first winning Tour de France, in 1999, Armstrong had tested positive for EPO. Six separate samples taken during that race revealed positive tests for EPO.

Continued after the jump...


This return, he wants us to believe that it's all about saving the world from cancer. That's complete bullshit. It's about revenge It's about ego. It's about Lance Armstrong. I think he's trying to rewrite his exit from the sport. He's sat back and he's watched the last two years and he cannot stand the idea that there are clean cyclists now that will overtake his legacy and buy the memory of all the crap that he put the sport through.

When I heard it being mooted first that he was coming back, I thought well that's fine, because the first thing ASO are going to say is 'sorry Lance, we've seen your results from the 1999 tests , you're not coming back.' I expected a similar statement from Pat McQuaid. What's happened instead is that Christian Prudhomme has said 'yes, you can come back, no problem.' And Pat McQiad has said 'I really admire this man, he's a tremendous ambassador for cycling.' What we're getting here is the corporate dollars and the money that's going to accompany this guy back into the game. The money that's going to bring for Nike, one of the big sponsors of the Tour. And for the UCI, who have been experiencing some serious problems in the last couple of years.

Much as you want to say the sport has changed, as quickly as they can change their own opinions – McQuaid, who says one thing in private and quite the opposite in public, and Prudhomme – if they can change so quickly then I'm sorry, it's really very, very difficult to have any optimism with regard to Armstrong and the way the sport was moving forward. For me, if he comes back next year, the sport takes two steps back.

I spent the whole Tour this year with Slipstream, the Garmin team. That wasn't by accident. I chose that team deliberately, because of what they were saying about the sport and the message they were putting out. But also the fact that so many of that team had raced with Armstrong during his best years and knew exactly what he got up to. And the stuff that I learnt on that Tour about him and what he was really like was absolutely shocking, really shocking.

What's going to happen now is he comes back and everybody's going to wave their hands in the air and give him a big clap. And all the guys who really know what he's about are going to feel so utterly and totally depressed. And I'm talking about Jonathan Vuaghthers, who raced with Armstrong that first winning Tour and who doped. And if you look at that Tour, Armstrong's first win, there were seven Americans on that team. Frankie Andreu has said he used EPO. Tyler Hamilton has been done for [blood doping]. George Hincapie was exposed as a doper by Emma O'Reilly, the team soigneur. Christian Vand Velde and Jonathan Vaughters … both are members of Slipstream and would promote the notion that this was not a clean team by any means. When you look at that and what Armstrong's done and how he's seemingly got away with it, it just makes his come back very hard to stomach.

Astana's the absolute perfect team for him. He'd be renewing his old acquaintance with Bruyneel, who wanted to hire Basso last year. Will he be renewing his old acquaintance with Ferrari, the famous doctor? Will Bruyneel be taking pictures of the questioning journalists and pinning them on the side of his bus?

When Armstrong talks about transparency, this is the greatest laugh. When he talks about embracing this new transparency … I'm really looking forward to that. I'm really looking forward to my first interview request with him and seeing how that comes back. Because that would really make it interesting.

This guy, any other way but his bullying and intimidation wrapped up in this great cloak, the great cancer martyr … this is what he hides behind all the time. The great man who conquered cancer. Well he is the cancer in this sport. And for two years this sport has been in remission. And now the cancer's back."

And Armstrong twisted it in a way that would make any politician proud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHLwdaFjDYc

 

[TRF_Cymro]

Point is has he ever been caught cheating? .... No so jog on!

 

[Logorrhea]

Point is has he ever been caught cheating? .... No so jog on!

I'm not that pushed, as I'm not passionate about the "sport" but this golden vision of Lances legacy is pure fantasy.

I'd suggest you read into it a little. Its a pretty sordid story.

Your call of course.