Good perspective from Selena Roberts in the Times. There's a lot of evidence now on the table and Armstrong sounds like every other cheater that's been caught.
How gullible have we been?Oh well.
The problem for Armstrong isn't the French newspaper L'Équipe, which reported Tuesday that six urine samples he provided in 1999 tested positive for EPO, the endurance juice of choice in a habitually sullied sport.
The problem for Armstrong isn't the Tour de France director, Jean-Marie Leblanc, who told L'Équipe, "For the first time - and these are no longer rumors, or insinuations, these are proven scientific facts - someone has shown me that in 1999, Armstrong had a banned substance called EPO in his body."
Armstrong has vehemently denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs. His problem is distinguishing his refutation amid the sports culture of deception and lies.
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Several years ago, Armstrong was linked to Michele Ferrari, an Italian sports doctor accused of doping, but that guilt by association faded after Lance chastised the conspiratorial minds.
Armstrong [was] also the subject of [a] recent tell-all book...[in it,] a former assistant, Emma O'Reilly, claimed that Armstrong had dispatched her to dispose of used syringes.
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With every turn of the Tour de France, he took everyone along on a very special joy ride. But with every denial, Armstrong sounds a lot like everyone else.
