Cookson doesn't seem tothink so. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/31923891
I kind of think that he did a fair bit of good for cancer sufferers despite whatever else he did, so they should leave him be.
While you're spot on that he's encouraged a lot of cancer sufferers (including one I know personally), does that really excuse everything else, especially when you know that it was used as the 'cancer shield' to deflect the allegations and attack people.
It's a case of doing good doesn't forgive all other sins. He clearly shows no genuine contrition and given his huge profiteering from Livestrong (.com rather than .org - look up the details if you're interested) and clear motivation to do this to clear up his image, I'm against it overall.
It's been interesting to see how many (and how fiercely!) apologists have leapt on to Facebook to say it's for charity, of course he should be allowed, and people suggesting otherwise are mean and nasty. I think screw that - his own charity disavowed him, I don't want to see him doing anything bike-related near the Tour de France. It doesn't need to be him, find someone else - you know he's not doing it for charity, he only does things for him.
hahaha no chance, he'll end up smashing some EPO and thinking its a stage...... twerp.
He just can't move on can he? Of all the ways of raising money for good causes, the man thinks riding the route of the tour is the most appropriate. Antagonistic and unimaginative in equal measure. Don't give him the oxygen of publicity.
its a free country , let him do it
From the article:-
"which is likely to consist of him riding a couple of stages "
Meh, let him do it.
It had to be linked to the Tour in someway didnt it.
Why does he always have to rub up/act inflammatory.
wanmankylung - MemberI kind of think that he did a fair bit of good for cancer sufferers
He did a lot for cancer "awareness", his charity did very little for sufferers, they weren't in the business of providing treatment or financial assistance, or things like that.
Definitely. It'll raise the profile of the charity far beyond whag it would otherwise have been.
Impossible to tell, but Ive always been curious as to whether funds raised due to his activities are actually 'new funds'
Say if you've got £10 that's going to be donated to 3 charities.
Is it a case of £12 thats now going to 4 charities, or just a redistribution of the original £10?
Anyway. Meh
i'd quite like to see his name "swear filtered" on here.
Why does he always have to rub up/act inflammatory
It's in his nature? Ruthless man. Horrible.
Im not sure of the reception he'll get, but given hes clearly got thick skin I doubt that'll affect him much.
Im of the opinion that Geoff Thomas probably know what he is doing, and given he asked him he probably thinks its a good idea to raise the profile of the event.
Besides, I'm sure riding with lance will further stoke the egos of the high flying CEOs who are stumping up for this little jaunt. If I'm honest if one of my millionaire buddies asked me to sponsor them to ride round france on closed roads, supported by a caravan of mechcanics and physios, and cheered on by the crowds up Alp Duez, I'd be very quick to tell them to xxxx right off....this is the kind of charity event that really gets on my tits..
If it helps the charity concerned and can do any good at all for cancer sufferers, then, good for him.
It doesn't main to say that I feel any differently about him as a potential sportsman. Chea.........Manipula.......li....
[quote=soobalias opined]i'd quite like to see his name "swear filtered" on here.
+1
I'd like to see many names swear filtered on here but LA's isn't one of them.
Yes.
Alone.
How about Clarkson rides the charity event and Armstrong presents Top Gear. 😀
I'd like to see many names swear filtered on here but LA's isn't one of them.
I'd be happy if he respected the sport, respected the fans and quietly went away. Yes there are still people who cheat and they'll be caught as they are being.
What does he do interms of cancer awareness?
He shows everyone that he (possibly) contracted cancer from taking EPO, comes out the otherside then willfully hits every chemical and blood swapping method possible to ensure he wins races. All at odds with living/eating well and avoiding anything that may make him ill again?
A self-serving fella.
If he does it - will it be bad form to throw eggs at him?
LA should do it and should do it juiced out of his mind. he might then negotiate a corner badly. Long way down from some alpine passes
I am very ambivalent about it - given that Lance has destroyed people's careers and in light of recent Radio 1 DJ scandals, from a UK perspective, it doesn't feel right.
Raising money for charity in a self serving manner doesn't compensate for the damage.
It will just drive the non-cycling media into another doping frenzy for another tour.
I've just argued myself into being totally against it.
There's no way he'll be able do it, the French will blockade/burn sheep/put tacks on the road etc
If he actually came out and named everyone involved and the methods deployed then I'd have some sympathy for him trying this. He's still not told the truth yet.
Personally I compare him to David Millar.
Doped to win. Lied, got found out. Confessed.
Millar then became a professional in the art of contrition and also a best selling author. As did Tyler Hamilton and others. They told as much as they needed to, not everything they knew.
They all lied. They all damaged the sport and they were all part of it. The press makes you believe that Armstrong made them all do it. He didn't hold a gun to any of their heads and none of them had the courage until after the event.
Therefore I think he should be allowed to ride as Millar has somehow managed to dodge the bullet. He'll get plenty of buckets of roadside piss on him and a lot of stick and abuse. He knows that and I secretly admire his courage. It makes me think that at the heart of the man is cycling and the tour, it is so in his blood he would do anything to get another taste of it. And I also sort of admire that regardless of his other doings. But my view will be as unpopular as Lance himself.
How many people would claim that David Millar ruined their lives - for a period of time at least?
Armstrong isn't being punished for making other people dope or in many ways for his doping itself. that's the story that he's putting out there to try and make it look like he's been unfairly treated and unfortunately the gullible are going along with it.
He did a lot for cancer "awareness"
I for one, had never heard of cancer until Lance talked about it.
As for this thing, I think it's a bit off side from him as he knows full well that there are times when he can be in the full glare of the TdF press-pack if he picks the right stages to ride. If it was just about money for charity I'm sure he could figure something better to do.
If he just goes along and rides without attempting to make it about himself I say yes. Geoff Thomas asked him to help raise money, why not let him. Give him a chance to try and do something worthwhile.
Maybe if we stopped kicking off he might go away? He's a nasty despicable man.
Geoff Thomas clearly thinks he should go on his ride, even if it is for selfish promotion of the charity, so let them sort it out between them. It's nothing to do with us.
Plenty of other liars, cheats and bullies from the sport are involved in the sport in some way or other. Worrying about King Rat doing a charity event for a guy who wrote a much better book about cycling after cancer than LA really isn't worth the bother. Life's too short.
He'll get plenty of buckets of roadside piss on him
This ^
If he does turn up, I hope he gets drenched in piss at every corner and every available opportunity. That would be a Lance article it would be good to read.
Other than that, he can just drift off into obscurity, not be reported on and left to dwell on his actions.
mt - Member
If he just goes along and rides without attempting to make it about himself I say yes. Geoff Thomas asked him to help raise money, why not let him. Give him a chance to try and do something worthwhile.
this plus many.
Look at the press coverage it's getting - good or bad, it gets people talking about it and that will increase the coffers. Cancer charities need money, this will give them money, loadsa money 🙂
I wish Geoff Thomas the best of luck, but I won't be donating to anything that involves that other fella.
So much hate from some. We don't need to forget or forgive (if it suits you) what he did, if we are better than him we should allow him to do some good things. Perhaps it would be better that he did things quietly to help others but if his value is best served for being notorious, perhaps we should let him get on with it, maybe?
Not giving to a charity for Leukemia sufferers because someone not nice helped out for a few days is a very poor attitude. Shall we stop supporting certain hospitals because Saville raised money for them?
How about Clarkson rides the charity event and Armstrong presents Top Gear.
I like your thinking and a genuine laugh from me for that one
I'd give a reasonable amount of money if Clarkson rode everyday with Geoff Thomas.
The man can do whatever he damn well pleases.
should he do it?
Yarp.
Lance Armstrong still won 7 tour de France, yes he was lit but everyone else was up to their eyeballs too. If anyone thinks that this isn't the case then I'd attribute that to them being the mtb'er that's just bought a road bike and used to watch the tour on tele, but can't pronounce any of the other riders names who went positive over the years, so likes to just slag off lance. Lance has done loads for cycling, and cancer so people should stop moaning about him.
There are people in the world raping children and chopping off people's heads, yet lance is still a vile, dispicable, horrible, mean (etc etc yawn) man. Get a grip. He took some drugs, beat some other people on drugs, earnt some money to look after his family and then retired and owned up, who cares.
I like him.
I notice he's only planning to do a few stages, maybe if he doped he could get through the lot?
Comparing him to Millar is not useful, Millar became part of the solution, Lance is still causing trouble.
Lance Armstrong still won 7 tour de France, yes he was lit but everyone else was up to their eyeballs too.
What, absolutely everyone? Bassons? What about the people who would have been at the top of the sport but refused to dope and hence didn't get the career they deserved?
The 'I didn't cheat anyone who wasn't cheating already' line is straight out the Armstrong catalogue of stories he's putting out there to clean up his image regardless of the truth. I'd suggest that you are the one with a lack of understanding of the realities and naively and or gullibly accepting the image restoring stories Lance is getting put out there.
Of course there are far far worse people out there than Lance. I don't think anyone is actually putting up your straw man suggesting otherwise. He is however a pretty unpleasant person who's messed up many peoples' lives and is now paying a fairly reasonable price (he's only been banned from sport, not jailed and he'll still never be poor).
Why doesn't LA just donate the money he hopes to raise in sponsorship to the charity himself and not ride, I am sure he can afford it.
Rogan Josh 2.5/10
Swear filtering his name? Hah ha ha... FFS! Sorry but I find it absolutely hilarious how emotional "Cyclists" get over the mere mention of Lance's name.
Get over yourselves.
The guy was superhuman at what he did.
he is not the only person who is superhuman at BS
Dont you have an overpriced obsolete frame to sell?
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Tour_de_France_general_classification_winners
Given his winning margins he wasnt 'superhuman' compared to others/runners up.
Greg Lemond (clean) had better margins.
Oh hora... I despair at your incompetence. No. I haven't had any frames for sale at any time during the last decade. I suggest you go back and read your tired, pointless, time wasting thread properly. 🙄
RE:Superhuman
Whooooooosh...
[img] 
[/img]
Greg Lemond (possibly clean of EPO) had better margins.
Ftfy
The guy was superhuman at what he did.
Agreed. Nobody in cycling has made such a superhuman effort to publicise their character flaws. I salute him for that if nothing else.
Crazy egomaniac should take a backseat.
It's a charity ride, not a competitive event running under UCI rules, so he's free to ride it if he wants.
Geoff Thomas is obviously using LA's notoriety to get free publicity, which is working well, but I'm not sure the end justifies the means in this case, and I think it might backfire on him in the long run. LA is clearly just being provocative by going anywhere near the TdF,but he's a psychopath, so he probably just can't help himself.
It would be really interesting to know what LA's fee or "expenses" are for this. He's got big bills to pay, so I bet he's not getting out of bed for free.
Surely the French authorities might want a word with the man who was a the centre of the largest sporting fraud in the history of their beloved tour. I can't see him being dumb enough to go to France any time soon, though if he does I look forward to L'Equipe hounding him.
What the hell has LA doing this ride to do with ANYONE here? What effect will it have on YOUR lives? It wasn't a war, nobody was killed and he isn't a mass murderer - it's a fxxxxxg sport! Get over it, stop posting questions over it and get a life! Mass murderers get better press.
Was that like when firefighters use explosives to stop oil fires and you thought you could defeat hyperbole with supermegahyperbole?
It just looked daft to me
Its a cycling forum where the folk care about cycling and will debate anything
Of course what LA does does not matter but it does not matter to me where you ride, what bike you have , what tyres you fit whether your kid got pudding etc
Spxxky who took the jam out of your donut?
I sort of agree with spxxy, this same old over the top Lance hatred over and over and over again !! Can't you just join another mob and hate someone new. We all know his crimes and how he treated people, but he's banned from competitive cycling for life, as it stands at the moment. How he reconciles himself with those he harmed is between themselves. No one on here has been harmed by him I'm sure. Many might have benefited from cycling's massively increased popularity, at least partly fuelled by his high profile. If he can rehabilitate himself through charity work on or off a bike I say it's a good thing. At the very least, stand back a bit, see how things go. People can change maybe he will, maybe he won't but EVERYONE should be given the opportunity to try.
Yes
You think this is an attempt to rehabilitate himself rather than publicise himself 😯
he has had many chances to atone and do the right thing but he chooses to publicise LA in the main.
Your still doing it junkyard. Stand back give the man some room, see where things go. He can't hurt you his days if being the big bad wolf are over.
He won as many Tours as I have. **** all 😆 so we're tied.
his days if being the big bad wolf are over.
His days of apologising for it and atoning have not even started.
I mentioned it a good while back. There was some sort of survey of cyclist cancer recovering folk asking if they thought it was a good thing for him to take part.
It's been a long time in the planning.
I'm guessing they gave the thumbs up.
[quote=spxxky ]What the hell has LA doing this ride to do with ANYONE here? What effect will it have on YOUR lives? It wasn't a war, nobody was killed and he isn't a mass murderer - it's a fxxxxxg sport! Get over it, stop posting questions over it and get a life! Mass murderers get better press.
Remind me again why you're reading and posting on this thread?
Quite a few people have died as a result of drug taking in cycling. So yes, it matters when somebody who is in part responsible for the continuation of that culture has an ongoing involvement in the sport.
His days of apologising for it and atoning have not even started.
This is the crux of it for me - until then no thanks to Armstrong period. The guy made a lot of peoples lives hell & he is yet to show any remorse for doing so.
In fact, he's going after the Andreus again, although a touch sneakily: [url= http://cyclingtips.com.au/2015/01/andreu-armstrongs-lawyers-have-subpoenaed-frankie-his-apologies-mean-nothing/ ]Link[/url]
I know it's harsh but until LA starts showing genuine remorse the only time I'd want to see him in pubic is so I could throw some rotting fruit at the guy...
Sorry, but Armstrong is still giving the impression that the only person he cares about is Armstrong.
The guy was superhuman at what he did.
You mean the guy was a psychotic cheat surely?
Surely the French authorities might want a word with the man who was a the centre of the largest sporting fraud in the history of their beloved tour
The criminal statue of limitations in France (IIRC) is 10 years. However, if new evidence comes to light it can be 10 years from that point. I'm sure a gendarme can argue that his confession is new evidence and pinch him when he turns up at Charles de Gaulle.
Armstrong is still giving the impression that the only person he cares about is Armstrong.
It is in the main but he is hurting from the complete ban.
Cheers for the links shows his public pronouncements and his private actions, as always , dont match up.
FWIW i do believe everyone deserves a second chance but LA has had multiple chances, not taken, to redeem himself.
I think he should be free to do it if he wants to. Whatever you might think of him, I'm not that keen on the idea that there should be some sort of Armstrong moral authority police vetting everything he does for the next 20 years or whatever. (Outside of properly competing in things, obviously).
[quote=atlaz ]The criminal statue of limitations in France (IIRC) is 10 years. However, if new evidence comes to light it can be 10 years from that point. I'm sure a gendarme can argue that his confession is new evidence and pinch him when he turns up at Charles de Gaulle.
No need for that argument - how long ago was the last time he cheated in France (that he's admitted to)?
Good point. Let him. I doubt he'll risk going to France though. I imagine he'll appear in Britain but would he show in France? That'd I'd love to see.
this is the illuminating bit for me - Geoff Thomas still idolises LA so Geoff has invited LA, but it's clear from the subtext that LA is only tolerating this because it suits him but would rather it was all under the LA charity/brand
Lance is a sociopath, but it's a bit dismal that Geoff can't see it and thinks he can do no wrong
Give only an idiot didn't think he was a juiced up as everyone else when he won his 7 tours, I really fail to see what the outrage is....
I mean really, is anyone here going to admit that they were stupid enough to think Lance was ever clean
anyone???
I mean really, is anyone here going to admit that they were stupid enough to think Lance was ever cleananyone???
*Paging Hora, Hora to the forum please*
Loads of people thought he was clean not least because of the effort that LA went to maintain this façade ; its about the bike, no failed tests etc
Of course no one admits that anymore
Oh yes. This has spiralled into another we hate Lance thread.
Are there any new arguments here from all the 5000 threads started in the last six months?
Same people repeatedly spouting the same thing.
Yawn.
No, not imo.
He's not sorry for anything other than getting caught! I'm so tired of the everybody else was at it bit, yeah but what about those who tried and tried and got nowhere or binned early in their careers because they wouldn't dope. He's a sociopath imo and not to be trusted
I hope Geoff gets what he wants\needs out of it but think he should tread carefully
As a potential benefactor of Geoff's efforts I applaud him and hope it doesn't backfire but it's clear a lot of people will be turned off by Lances involvement. He could do more damage than good. bad publicity does exist! Yes far more people will hear about Geoff's ride but how many will donate or refuse to donate because of Lances involvement?
Lance could help raise money for charities in so many ways, this just feels like he's sticking two fingers up an everyone
In what other ways could Lance raise money for charities?
He is only really known for riding a bike while using drugs. Using his notoriety to get publicity for a charity seems to be the only option that his punishments and the internet pitch fork carriers have left him with.
I mean really, is anyone here going to admit that they were stupid enough to think Lance was ever clean
anyone???
Yup. That was me. Bought all his books, was bought his pictorial return to the Tour, put money into his charity. The lot.
Then it all came out.... Lying through his teeth, dragging plenty of people through the court who dare challenge or question him. Trying to ruin people, buying peoples silence, driving people out of their careers either directly or indirectly, bullying people 'in the work place', lying under oath/in court, receiving money by deception etc.
He was someone that you'd look upto and think 'wow, it really is possible to comeback and do well in this world'. All bollocks.
Those sprouting the 'murder etc analogy'. Get over it. Do you go through life sprouting that to stop people who disagree with you?
[quote=tpbiker ]I mean really, is anyone here going to admit that they were stupid enough to think Lance was ever clean
anyone???
I'm also happy to admit I once thought he was clean - like the majority of people. Congratulations on being so cynical that you never thought that despite a complete lack of evidence to suggest he was juiced (that or you've managed to convince yourself that you had foresight at the time - I suspect a lot of people fall into that category). Why do you think people are so upset by him - it's not because they always knew. The only reason hora gets brought up in such instances isn't because he was the only one who believed, but because he was so taken in that he refused to let go of the dream even when the evidence was overwhelming - which I'd suggest is actually admirable rather than something to have a go at him about.
I thought Geoff's (non) answer to this question was quite illuminating:
[quote=CW]Has there been any noticeable effect on donations since the story became public?
[i]In what other ways could Lance raise money for charities?
He is only really known for riding a bike while using drugs.
[/i]
Stocks?
[quote=iolo opined]Oh yes. This has spiralled into another we hate Lance thread.
Are there any new arguments here from all the 5000 threads started in the last six months?
Same people repeatedly spouting the same thing.
Yawn.
]]you say that on every thread about him...have you considered not opening these threads 💡