I’m no fan of professional bicycle racing. The Tour de France holds no interest. And IMHO Lance Armstrong is just your typical narcisistic fading jock with a talent for public relations. Further, the continuing doping scandal is neither very surprising or interesting. (In fact, just today there was another pro racer caught doping. Yawn.)
More important, I don’t think bike racing and Lance do anything to promote or create more accommodations for my primary interest: recreational cycling.
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I’m compelled, nonetheless, to think that Lance is getting shafted by the media, and perhaps by the current criminal probe by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The U.S.D.A. has a hotshot investigator, Jeff Novitzky, who is looking into the charges that Armstrong engaged in doping. But, as the Wall Street Journal reported today, the following is the case: 1) taking banned drugs is not against U.S. law, 2) the only evidence against him appears to be hearsay, or 3) the allegations of a known serial liar, Floyd Landis.
There would appear to be no reliable first-hand accounts of people who observed Armstrong doping, and of course we know that Armstrong has never failed a drug test.
In all the off-the-record information made available to the Journal, there is only the testimony of a couple of people who say they overheard Lance say he was going to take drugs or had somehow engaged in doping. None of these people can be regarded as reliable because they are known to dislike Armstrong.
The way the prosecution game is played in the media, if there were any direct evidence there would be leaks to the press. What seems to be going on here is that the prosecutor is firing off broadsides in the hope of scarring somebody to come forth with solid information.
On the other hand, this is life in the fast lane for guys like the Sainted Lance. Make enemies, and falter along the way, and they’ll pounce.
