Nachoman

So much drama and controversy has always engulfed him. It's hard to turn away and not watch.

zigmeister

Yeah, divisive guy for sure. His cancer survival story, epic. Could have easily died and none of this would even be much of a story ever. But the fact he survived, then was able to comeback, and then the massive doping that went on during that era, pretty amazing.

The whole USPS lawsuit, what a joke, how much money did they make off of him? He hardly cost them any money...$5M is probably a good settlement. Then don't get me started on Floyd, what a dirt bag that guy was for his part, busted doper going after a doper....epic. Then says, well I regret it, nothing ever came of it. Well no kidding, Floyd, didn't get your share of the money?? Why he is pissed, gheez. Floyd is more of the same, just didn't get his fame and busted before he could capitalize.

Lance, Type A all the way, his Mom isn't much better than he obviously, see where he got it from some of his attitude. But, talk about driven at any costs to succeed once the cancer/post recovery doping started is pretty crazy what he did with the rest of the dopers.

Haven't watched part 2 yet, watched part 1 yesterday in fact.

IDK, I find the guy entertaining, the people with the holier than thou' attitude and purity of sports is kind of ridiculous over this particular situation when we know 80% were doping at least, they couldn't test and detect it, so why be afraid. He was more scared about cortisone than EPO.

But I know others have serious issues with the whole cheating/doping in cycling and keeping sports fair/level playing field and get why they hate the guy. He isn't the first, not the last. But certainly one of the legends of dopers in Sports. Think he gets that part of it as well. He accomplished being the biggest doper ever essentially and well know for that as his wins.

The guy still obviously has $50M in the bank at least, or more. He's going to be just fine.

Artmo 

By any measure he is a nasty piece of work, but if there is any redeeming factor, it is his work in fighting others’ cancer through Livestrong.

ParamountScapin 

He was the ultimate competitor and the ultimate prick. A very complex time in racing (which doesn't forgive him, or others, a thing........). And very exciting for those of us who were fortunate to 'be there' (as a spectator). He could be president.

HeyItsSara

Somehow I recorded part 2 but not part 1 … I wonder when they will repeat it?

powermatt99

I'm waiting to find it on demand on a streaming service. I was a huge Armstrong fan in my late teens and early 20s. I felt like he was the victim of a witch-hunt in an era of the sport, much like baseball, in which if were clean, you were likely in the minority or weren't very good. My opinion has changed somewhat and I would love to see whatever the latest chapter is. Despite the evidence, I find it hard to write off Armstrong as a PED tool when other accomplished cyclists like Merckx have admitted to using PEDs as well.

sfrider 

I watched it on demand on Youtube TV, which is what I use for TV.

UsedToBeFaster

For those of you who say he's not so bad. He called his chief masseur Emma O'Reilly (the only female in the industry and a role model) an
"Alcoholic whooree" when she came out against his drug use. (Sorry can't write the proper name).

To me that tells you what he is like. The sexism (he didn't call any of his male opponents a whoore) is startling and its amazing he's not been called out on it.

I know she has forgiven him, but that speaks to the type of person she is, not him.

taco2ewsday

Yeah and even in his Oprah interview he still did not come clean on everything with her, he's a complete d'bag.

big john

Well, that was his answer to the question about the worst thing he did to anyone. He did seem to feel bad about it.

tfbike 

Watched both parts, and agree with him being tough to like and or dislike. I knew of him in the late 80's, Texas tri scene. He was a phenomenonal athlete back then. I always thought he discovered some magic formula from his cancer treatments, turns out good old EPO. He was the best of his time, but the whole era was/is tainted. It is a shame he won't "clean" and show true remorse. But he was so much fun to watch.

canklecat

I see that Armstrong's former coach Johan Bruyneel is joining Lance in invoking the great "Yeah, but, what about..." defense. He's added Greg LeMond and Miguel Indurain to the list by implying they also doped.

I've heard those claims before, that LeMond supposedly joined other French teammates in using cortisone beyond standard medical prescription dosages, but have never seen any corroboration. Those claims include accusing LeMond of huffing asthma inhalers during races, but I've never seen any photos or videos of that. Back then the most common rescue inhaler was something like Primatene mist, with epinephrine. Possibly good for a short term boost but costly to endurance and extremely risky in cardiac stress.

LeMond has also been accused of using EPO, but a doctor who supposedly was around at the time said that was only in the context of medically supervised use immediately after LeMond was recovering from a gunshot injury and had lost a lot of blood.

AFAIK, the only "evidence" of Indurain's doping is his extraordinary performances in the mountain stages where it's unusual for a guy his size to lope up climbs so easily. And he did seem to suddenly lose that superhuman ability to climb when the threat of randomized testing got too close for comfort. But by then Indurain had been racing hard for years and may simply have been physically and mentally exhausted. We'll never know unless Indurain himself speaks about the issue.

Anyway, Bruyneel sounds as petty and vindictive as Armstrong. There's probably a good reason why he got a lifetime ban while a few others accused of, or admitting to, doping have been able to resume participating as coaches, etc. Probably a matter of attitude and displays of remorse and acceptance of responsibility in private meetings with race authorities.

UsedToBeFaster

It's the fact he would say such a thing that speaks to his character. Not that he may (or may not) feel badly about it 15+ years after the event.

big john

Meh. He's a dick, so what? I don't have to have dinner with him, I don't hate him. I was entertained by his racing. He cheated, so did most of his contemporaries. He was awful to people, ok.

bocobiking

Well, I'm interested in comparisons between Lance and Michael Jordan. I didn't watch the Jordan special, but from what I understand, he was quite a jerk to the people around him. However, supposedly that was part of his makeup that made him great, the fire of his competitive spirit. So can we excuse Jordan and vilify Armstrong at the same time? Or are they both just jerks?

big john

Armstrong was a jerk to people around him and tried to ruin those who threatened to expose him.

seypat

Big difference between a doper and a mob boss. Lance wanted to be both. As for him being a tool, that tweet he sent out of himself "Back in Austin just laying around" says it all. Did he pull out the tripod and use a time delay, or have someone else snap the pic? Either way, total tool.

seypat

I think Jordan was mostly a jerk in competitive situations with something on the line. Of course, every situation was competitive to him. Tiger Woods, on the other hand, total jerk up until his day of reckoning. What do you expect, his parents robbed him of an ordinary childhood. Plenty of those people out there in all walks of life. Who is/was the football quarterback with the same type of chilldhood? Was it Todd Marinovich?

ZHVelo

I saw the Last Dance. Yea, he seemed a bit of a dick. But he was a dick to his team mates. To push them.

He didn't abuse others, didn't ruin lives, and didn't try to silence those talking about doping. I think the comparison is completely unjustified.

merlinextraligh

Two years ago we were in Belgium for Tour of Flanders. Bruneel was staying in our Hotel. He reached out to us and talked to our group about De
Rondre and the associated sportif. One of our group asked about Armstrong and doping, and his response was everyone was doing it.

He seemed like a decent with a need to tell
his side and be liked.

The Belgiums we talked to, however, held him in very low esteem, to put it mildly.

merlinextraligh

Uhm, dig a little deeper and that picture is a little less
than clear.

seypat

He did give that motivational speech to Vince Vaughn which helped the Average Joe's defeat the Purple Cobras. I remember watching it on the Ocho. Maybe we should cut him some slack..............................Not!

Germanrazor

He (Lance), needs to let it go and fade off into the sunset and find his resting place. It’s OVER! Don’t get me wrong, he was a phenomenal athlete on PED’s. So are some others. Quit being mad at the world and move on.

That said.......who is your favorite this year?

canklecat

Lance is the perfect celebrity for this era. There's no reason for him to just go away. The marketplace of consumers addicted to daily doses of micro outrage is too lucrative. Heck, he could run for governor of Texas and win. Not saying I approve or disapprove. It's just the way things are now.

Favorite for this year's Tdf? I don't have a favorite. But I'm gonna go with Geraint Thomas. He's a sleeper.

There's a lot of pressure on Bernal, more so now that he's made the first controversial comment of his young career. Between that, his youth and inexperience, the pressure will affect him more.

Froome seems to be recovering well but there's no way he'll be in peak condition this year. The lack of support for a single team leader from Ineos will hinder Froome's style. He's accustomed to riding safely, consistently, depending heavily on a supportive team. There's no guarantee of team support this year. Froome could adjust and win more stages, at the expense of wearing himself out early and being unable to even podium. And Froome has sketchy bike handling skills, partly due to his gawky, gangly, pterodactyl physique. He's always vulnerable to crashing.

But Thomas is low key, confident, mature enough to cope better with pressure, and less dependent on the safe team tactics Froome prefers. Thomas can attack when necessary. His bike handling is far superior to Froome's and he's less likely to crash. He seems better able to improvise and use another team's train to tag on, like Sagan.

Germanrazor

That's because this world is that messed up! Look at what is going on in the country now and it is being accepted.

I agree however with you on that controversy keeps ratings and viewers. I chose however to quit listening to his whining and complaining and pointing fingers at everyone. Is he still a great cyclist? Yes without doubt. Can or could he have won without PED's........we may never know.