Lance Armstrong: Not forgotten, Never Forgiven

When asked about Lance Armstrong’s portrayal of himself as a victim of popular scapegoating, the former head of the UCI (world cycling’s regulatory body) Patrick McQuaid said “I would agree with him. He is a victim.” Only two years ago the same man officially plunged the final seal into Armstrong’s coffin when he announced that the famous doper “has no place in cycling. He deserves to be forgotten.” And yet, the Armstrong saga rumbles on, with McQuaid indicative of the reversal in opinions.

Courtesy of Paul Coster.

Armstrong’s legacy is one of divided achievements and contemptible lows. To win seven consecutive Tour de France titles is a phenomenal record. He reached that peak by cheating, lying, bullying fellow competitors and one instance of perjury. In 2012 the former golden boy was stripped of his major titles. But unlike athletics, the sport administrators can’t hand those triumphs to anybody else because it is impossible to ascertain any other tour contenders from 1999-2005 who were totally clean. The Texan was simply the most determined of a very dirty peloton. As it stands, the history books are left blank for seven years, although many individuals within cycling believe Armstrong should be reinstated as a former champion.

The truth is that Lance Armstrong is a bad man. If any sportsman is guilty of pride, greed and wrath clouding their better nature then it is him. Those who were duped acted as willing fools to the lies of the sinner. Cancer or no cancer, the man was an exploitative and duplicitous fraudster.

It just so happened that Lance defended himself tooth and nail to conceal the truth. In sworn statements he called one of his critics a “whore” and Greg LeMond an alcoholic. People’s jobs were threatened and livelihoods endangered. Despite his uncomfortable confession to Oprah Winfrey, it is hard to believe that one of sport’s most ruthless figures is feeling any remorse.

I do not believe the record book should stand empty. Nor do I believe it should celebrate an unworthy winner. Instead, it should read “1999-2005 Tour de France – won by Lance Armstrong: the disgraced seven time Tour de France winner. When cycling was brought into disrepute and guilty of hiding its rotten flaws in plain sight”. Armstrong was the best of a bad bunch and to banish him as a lone outcast would be to make his pleas of persecution depressingly true.