Most Americans initially thought Armstrong was clean. Then as the evidence piled up, they finally gave in and accepted that Armstrong, their cancer fighting hero, was a massive systemic doper.
But then most Americans also still think highly of Armstrong to this day.
But whenever a non-American athelte do something great, then all of the sudden it's "DOPING"! And the example they would use is Armstrong.
In conclusion, Americans are a special kind of hypocritical breed when it comes to assessing anyone non-American. You Americans can argue just about anything in just about anyway.