60 Minutes: Tyler Hamilton claims Armstrong doped

[emily_in_nc]

I'm not all that inclined to believe anything Tyler H. says, but unfortunately, George Hincapie has confirmed the same thing. I AM inclined to believe George. Interviews with both George and Tyler (not sure if together or separate) will be shown on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

[ny biker]

I'm not all that inclined to believe anything Tyler H. says, but unfortunately, George Hincapie has confirmed the same thing. I AM inclined to believe George. Interviews with both George and Tyler (not sure if together or separate) will be shown on 60 Minutes this Sunday.

Well that's a sad end to a long friendship. And points a finger right back at George.

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Update: catching up on twitter. These were posted by George tonight.

ghincapie I can confirm to you I never spoke with "60 Minutes." I have no idea where they got their information.

ghincapie As I've said in the past, I continue to be disappointed that people are talking about the past in cycling instead of the future.

ghincapie As for the substance of anything in the "60 Minutes" story, I cannot comment on anything relating to the ongoing investigation.

[TrekTheKaty]

Funny that these big revelations come up during the Tour of CA (last year was Landis).

One of my questions is? To what outcome?

Lance also tweeted facts4lance.com if you want more info.

Edit: OK. I've gone back and read some more articles. I have a problem with the credibility of someone who: 1) Got caught doping then turns around and says "He did it too!" 2) Testified that he/they didn't dope and then testify again that they did. Doesn't that make them an uncredible witness in our legal system?

[pll]

The revelations coincide with big tours because that is when mainstream media tunes into the sport.

It is sad that tests for doping are always two or three steps behind. It would be nice to think (like Hincapie) that what happened in the past should be forgotten, except that some still benefit from past results. Should there be a statute of limitations? Riders that get caught have an incentive to deny everything until any possibility of returning to the sport is gone. Hence, I do not find the Hamilton or Landis inconsistencies particularly perturbing. What I find perturbing is the almost blind faith in Armstrong as being above all reproach despite his continued affiliation with Michele Ferrari, s doctor banned by the Italian cycling federation, despite the trickle of former teammates admitting to doping (I guess He was the only one not to do it), despite the super human performances.

I have mixed feelings on the issue of doping. At some level, I feel that the current setup at the professional sport leads many to doping or feel pressured to do so. The grand tours are like Roman circuses. How can riders do more than 20 races back to back (21 in the Giro alone) and recover from one day to the next? As spectators, we love heroic efforts and we get them, somehow... Now, I will readily admit pro riders are gifted athletes. Most of us would not survive a single racing day, even with if we doped.

[Grog]

I think that racers who dope - and I take that to be the majority of pro riders - go through something pretty weird having to constantly lie not just to others but also to themselves about how they survive in the terribly harsh world of bike racing. They feel doping is the only way, yet of course they can't say that out loud... until they're caught. Then, they can bury themselves in a hole, or try to fight back. For the few guys that were caught and exposed with somewhat more energy than others, like Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, it might be particularly frustrating to find that they are treated as black sheep when they know that the whole peleton is just as dark as they are. It might be even harder because their whole identity is centered on bike racing, it's not like they have a life, a profession, something to connect with outside of pro cycling. So their attention may become focused on what they perceive as the ultimate symbol of hypocrisy, in this case Lance.

Yes they are sore losers, but I have a lot more sympathy for them than I have for those who win and keep their image. I see them as little children more than like grownups.

This interview with Landis takes a very long time to read but for me it really was interesting not just about what it says about bike racing, but what it says about human beings. Whether or not one believes Landis is not really important in my opinion...
http://nyvelocity.com/content/interv.../landiskimmage

[ny biker]

Hey, I have no idea what Lance did or didn't do. I think he did lots of legal things to be better than everyone else, like weighing his food, pre-riding the key stages and training on Christmas day while his main competition was out clubbing and showing up to the prologue overweight. Beyond that, who knows what he did. For the sake of all the people that he helps around the world, I would like him to be innocent. I would not be surprised if he's not.

But if Tyler suddenly feels the need to tell the world that he can prove Lance took drugs, why is he on TV instead of talking to the prosecutors who are currently investigating Lance? The ones who testify under oath are the only ones with credibility, in my opinion.

And Tyler and Floyd could have admitted their own doping when they first got caught. I used to think David Millar was kind of whiny and annoying. Then he got caught, confessed, apologized, admitted he regretted it, and became outspoken against drug use. He's not world champion, but he has a career he can enjoy and be proud of. Tyler and Floyd could have taken the same route, but they chose not to. I have no sympathy for them.

[TrekTheKaty]

According the CNN morning news, Tyler was in town to testify and was "coerced" into the 60 minute interview and "was clearly uncomfortable."

WAH? Just say NO--well, that would have solved a lot of problems

[ridebikeme]

IT seems that this is a discussion that will go on for many more years, and unlikely will. AS Margo mentioned, I do believe that this interview came out AFTER everything else. Whether Tyler writes a book or not is not the issue, at least to me,and I would dare say that he won't be the last to write about this.

Do I think that Lance doped? Yes, unfortunately I do.. I truly don't believe that the human body can do what he has after the whole cancer ordeal. Do I think that he has given millions of people hope with his riding? Absolutely!

I think that many pro cyclists have done what they felt they needed to do in the sport for many years, and whether it's something we believe or not, it has broken all of our hearts. However, the future is looking brighter all the time. The argument that the governement has wasted all of these funds in researching this case to begin with is absolutely crazy. If Lance is found guilty(along with other team members) do you realize that the US government helped fund this? Do you realize that it was our tax dollars that helped create this amazing legend that might just be based on a series of lies? The entire situation is something that turns my stomach, and I only hope that the truth comes out so that we can MOVE on.

Let's celebrate the athletes who are truly wonderful role models, great cyclists and even more important people with big hearts... there are LOTS of them out there!


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