One word.... EEEWWWWWWW. I wonder who's job it is to keep track of 6-year-old urine. Probably not a job I would brag about. "What do you do for a living?" "Oh, I keep track of old Tour de France urine." Score!


Hehe. :p

Last time I checked it wasn't the ENTIRE nation of France accusing him of doping, just several journalists. As a whole the French, especially on this last tour, are very impressed with Armstrong's performance in the Tour and a lot were even encouraging Lance to go for an 8th win by chanting it and painting it on the streets/roads where the tour was held this year.

Sounds like a great pick up line to me.

From the article:
Nuff said.

He's even said in interviews that it's been a love/hate relationship with the French; the fans seem to support him, while the press and a few scattered people seem to be on his case.

There are multiple problems with this - first is the fact that he was administered the drug (and precursors) during chemo, if reports are correct, and the effect of the drug may last beyond its administration period. Second is that ethryropoietin exists naturally within the body, and heightened levels can come from many sources - the levels were not reported by any reputable agency that I can find, and as such there is realistic doubt cast, from the opportunity that heightened figures could have come from other sources.

The sample has been passed to the WADA, although they're not sure whether or not they will even test them, due to the fact that samples older than 3-5 years may not be stable, as well as some other (primarily political) factors. That would be more definitive, for sure.

I do agree with the rest of your post, particularly the fact about this not being a negative toward cancer survivors. I do however think that you're thinking a little inside the box, to use a horrific phrase, and ignoring some significant issues related to these tests (and the tabloid nature of some of the reporting).

He was interviewed on some talk show this morning (Today maybe) and said that EPO wasn't made illegal for them until 2001 and the sample they are talking about was from 1999. He also said that they test you each time you get the yellow shirt as well as at the beginning and end of each race, and some random times tossed in as well. He said there are sometimes 80 samples per race with the Tour de France. This drug stays in your system for a couple months so it should have shown up in every single sample of his, not just a couple. He also said it shouldn't be left over from his chemo, because that was in '98. He seemed pretty straightforward about the whole thing.

The French have been trying FOR YEARS to discredit Lance Armstrong. That man has had so many drug tests, all reportedly negative. NOW they are saying a test from a sample in 1999 is positive for EPO?!??! I am sorry but I have to call a big, ole' BULLSH_T on that one.

screw France.

there are only two things good things that ever came from france.

Laetitia Casta and this stud right here



http://www.blackwolf-images.com/imag.../loon/p_sq.jpg

This may come as a shock I'm sure... but guess what ALL OF THE CYCLISTS give samples, and are tested for samples. The Tour de France does this because a) performance enhancing substances take away from the fairness the sport, and more importantly the accomplishments of the athletes. b) when you've had some cyclists die because of drugs designed to enhance performance during or immediately after the race, you have to enforce the zero-tolerance for safety reasons, and the image of the sport.

As for the tests testing negative back in 1999... well duh - they didn't have the technology back then to test for it effectively - hence the re-testing now with methods that can detect it (you really ought to read up a little more - and not the tabloids).

So as it stands there has been a positive result for 6 of the 17 tested samples from 1999 - results that have to be confirmed by others sources... if only to stop this they said he said crap on the sports coverage now.

Again, people...it's not the FRENCH doing it..good lord!:rolleyes:

And it's not just Lance that has all the drug tests...it's all the cyclists. For a long time, cycling was ripe with doping...it just was. I had a female friend when I lived in France who cycled for fun- not competitively, and she dated a lot of cyclists who were competitive and some(not all) of her ex-men said that doping was the norm...and stated it definitely was in races like the tour when so much was demanded of your body. I'm not saying that doping is good, it's not, but that was what it was then. I'm sure people still do now, it's just a newer undetectable substance. In 1998 most of the teams were thrown out for doping...so people, it's not just Lance they are testing.

As far as certain journalists and witch hunters, yes, they are after him...but the guy who wrote the book that helped bring about all of this controversy to begin with is an Irishman. So why not say, damn the Irish too?:rolleyes:

The French hate us. Fine, then we will hate them. Well, it's more of a joke than anything you know.

Ever watch Cheers when Sam and the Frenchie had a contest to see who could get the most girls numbers?

Frenchies always try to be so artsy and blah blah blah. While we Americans are good ole Meat and potatoes beeeeotch. You don't like us? Well screw you and the horse you road on punkass. We'll kick your ass.

I love it. I can see it now.

Frenchie, " missure ahmstrong. you do dee roids!"

Lance, " hey Frenchie, does it look like I can hit 73 hrs?"

Frenchie, " well, you have suffered from dee shrinkage yes/no?"

Lance, " I HAD TESTICULAR CANCER ASSHOLE!"

Correct if I'm wrong though, but aren't certain FRENCH journalists the ones instigating this "witch hunt" of testing the old urine sample?

If it is, then I rest my case on my use of the phrase "French people need to get over it".

If that is the aproach (dumb as it is) that you are willing to take - then I guess the gloves are off and I can blame all Americans for what folks like Fred Phelps or Malik Zulu Shabazz or Bill O'Reilly or Moveon.org say...

Because afterall you've managed to latch on to the brilliant theory that if a certain select number of individuals do something - then that means the are reflectivce of the whole...

Jesus people get over your hypocritical anti-French attitudes!!!!

Bobby, when you can have an argument that makes sense and isn't ripe with ridiculous commentary it might actually demonstrate your point a little bit better. Using statements like "always" and "never" and terms like "hate" are bad tools to use when trying to make a point as they are easily discounted. Cheers isn't the best place to get your cultural infomation. Making broad statements like "The French hate us." is a bit much, don't you think?

And ASUADPI, since when are the journalists for certain sports newspapers the voice for an entire nation? When they are, your statement might actually hold some validity, so until then, I rest my case in saying that it's not the "French people" doing the witch hunt.

E.T.A. Thanks RACooper...I think we posted around the same time. It's nice to see people who don't think journalists are the voice for a nation.:)