Why Won't Lance Armstrong Go Away?

After years of speculation, denials and cover-ups it can no longer be denied that Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times with the help of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The USADA pursued Armstrong with particular vigour and did not stop until they had enough indisputable evidence to bring the man down. At the height of Armstrong's fame, doping was endemic throughout the peloton and many of his cohorts were also using PEDs, not that this serves as an excuse, but it does raise the question of why anti-doping authorities have come down so harshly on him in particular.

Of course, he only had himself to blame in that he thought he was invincible and convinced everyone else that he'd come back from cancer and won the Tour de France without any chemical assistance. He became the all-American hero who managed to triumph over adversity. His arrogance was unparalleled. Even when he was caught, it wasn't the authorities he co-operated with. Instead he turned to Oprah and 'opened up,' obviously hoping that the damage to his reputation and image would somehow be limited. He's a very good actor, though, and has demonstrated in the past the lengths he will go to in order to protect himself.

It's hard to feel sympathy for someone who has ruined people's reputations and destroyed individuals in an attempt to keep his doping a secret from the public. It even looks as though the UCI may have been complicit in protecting Armstrong from being found out, with Armstrong's camp even donating money to the anti-doping cause - ostensibly. Oh, the irony! All of this was happening in the 1990s and yet it took until 2012/2013 for the general public to learn that they had been scammed. Most cycling fans are cynical enough to have expected it, but for the casual cycling observer, his blatant deception was shocking.

Prior to Armstrong's admission, many of his fans had been ardent that it was a conspiracy; that he was indeed innocent, even though former team-mates had given evidence against him. However, once the words came out of his very own mouth, it could no longer be denied that he had cheated his way to victory and built up a reputation based on lies. To his credit, he did contribute towards charitable causes, but he even had to resign from the Livestrong Foundation, which he had established, following his doping revelations. He's no longer part of the cycling fraternity and yet there continues to be numerous articles about him popping up on cycling websites.

Cycling appears to have moved on from the bad years of doping and entered a near era of transparency, and yet Lance Armstrong still occupies space in cycling forums. Surely it's time to move on, isn't it? However, Armstrong hasn't lost his abilty or desire to be noticed. His latest ruse is to go around apologising to all the people whose lives he wrecked with accusations, probably in an attempt to rebuild his image, rather than out of any genuine sense of remorse. So, until those with influence in the cycling world stop giving Lance Armstrong the attention he desperately craves, he will continue to drag the sport down.

The Tour de France: Stages Twenty and Twenty-One

Stage twenty would provide the last opportunity for those with any GC ambitions to do something about it. Of course, it was always unlikely that anyone would dethrone Chris Froome from the top spot, but with Qunitana, Rodriguez, Contador and others looking to get on the podium, it was always likely to be an eventful day. In the end, it turned out that Quintana was the strongest, winning the stage and, in the process, taking runner-up spot. He was followed by Rodriguez, who finished 18 seconds down and secured third place on the podium, with Froome finishing third, 29 seconds down on the winner. Contador finished 2:23 down and consequently lost his podium position. With such an impressive display from the Colombian youngster, not only did he manage to secure the white jersey, but also the polka dot jersey.

Stage twenty-one was the usual procession. After three weeks of racing, all the riders were able to enjoy to an easy ride into Paris, this time later in the evening and taking in the Arc de Triomphe for the first time. There were the usual attacks - with David Millar and Juan Antonio Flecha giving it their all, but there was never any question that this would come down to a sprint finish. The question was would Cavendish achieve an unprecendented fifth win in along the Champs-Élysées, or would it be the turn of someone else? On the day, it turned out that Kittel would be the sprinter to triumph over Greipel and Cavendish. Whether it was due to a better leadout train or better legs, Kittel has shown himself to be a force to be reckoned with! All that remained was for Froome to stand on the podium and collect his yellow jersey, along with the other jersey wearers - Quintana and Sagan, who appeared to win the green jersey with ease. It was certainly an exciting edition of the Tour de France, but can it be topped in 2014?

The Tour de France: Stages Eighteen and Nineteen

Stage eighteen was very much one for the GC contenders, as riders had to negotiate the climb of Alpe d'Huez twice. Although, ultimately the win was taken by a rider who had got into an earlier breakaway group, it was here that time could be gained or lost by those in contention for the GC. In terms of GC ambitions, the biggest losers were the Belkin boys, Ten Dam and Mollema, as well as Contador for Saxo-Tinkoff, having lost a further minute to Froome. Quintana, on the other hand, was incredibly strong and managed to put time into his nearest rival, Contador. It is evident that the podium positions could change, so that Quintana ends up in second and Contador in third, as Quintana is a powerhouse on the climbs.

In the end, it was Christophe Riblon who was the first French winner of this year's tour, finishing ahead of van Garderen who had looked strong all day, but may have been hampered by having to chase back on after a mechanical problem, as he had to exert extra energy. He was not the only one to suffer from not having enough energy, as Christopher Froome showed signs of weakness for the first time this tour, so that he ended up getting Richie Porte to go back to the team car to get some energy gels, even though they were outside the feeding zone limits. This would lead to a 20 second penalty for both Froome and Porte and a fine for the two riders and their director sportif, although Froome asserted they hadn't been able to get food at the appropriate time because their car had a mechanical issue. With such a significant buffer, Froome clearly felt it was safer to risk a penalty than to go without food for the last few kilometres.

Stage nineteen turned out to be another victory for the breakaway and with much less action in terms of the GC, although there were a few changes such as Ten Dam and Rogers dropping out of the top ten and Valverde and Navarro moving up, with Kwiatowski losing a position and ending up in tenth place. Izagirre and Hesjedal were the first to get into a breakaway, but as Izagirre dropped off it was left to Pierre Rolland, who had made his way out of the chasing group up to the breakaway, and Hesjedal to keep it going. The pace was too much for Hesjedal who faded. Although Pierre Roland claimed his pursuit of the polka dot jersey was over, having secured points on this stage, he is only one point behind Froome.

Eventually, it was left to Rui Costa to go on the attack out of the chasing group, catching Rolland with 19 kilometres to go and quickly passing him. In the end it was he who took the victory, finishing just under nine minutes ahead of the rest of the peloton, with Andreas Klöden in second and Jan Bakelants in third.

The Tour de France: Stages Sixteen and Seventeen

It was hardly surprising that after a series of difficult stages and with even more tough stages to come, stage sixteen turned out to be one for the breakaway. A large break was able to get away, as GC contenders were happy to bide their time. 26 riders got into the break, including the likes of Jeannesson, Coppel, Navardaukas, Gilbert, Meyer and Rui Costa, as none were a threat in terms of the GC. In the end, it was Costa who managed to take the victory. Although the peloton didn't cross the line for another 11 minutes, there was still plenty going on in the background, as attacks were taking place, with Contador trying to take back time on Froome, only to misjudge a corner and nearly come off his bike. Froome followed his line and almost came off, too. In the end, they made it across the line safely, but some of the GC contenders lost time, including Fuglsang and Dan Martin.

Stage seventeen was a time trial stage that was going to be much more of a challenge than the first time trial, as the climbs were tougher and the weather more changeable. Some of the riders started off on normal road bikes and changed to time trial bikes once they had got past the climbs, whilst others decided to use road bikes with clip-on tri-bars. This was a decision which may have cost Alberto Contador the stage victory, because whilst Froome opted to change to a time trial bike, Contador did not, and Froome ended up winning the stage by nine seconds. The top ten also featured Rodriguez, Kreuziger, Valverde, Quintana, Kwiatowski, Fuglsang, Talansky and van Garderen. A number of GC riders lost time, including Ten Dam and Mollema. Thus, Contador is now in second place on the GC, 4:34 behind Froome, with Kreuziger in third, Mollema in fourth and Quintana in fifth. The next big test for the GC riders is L'Alpe d'Huez, which they will have to ride up twice in the next stage! Ultimately, it appears that everyone is now pretty much riding for second place.

The Tour de France: Stages Fourteen and Fifteen

Stage fourteen turned out to be day for the breakaway men. After a surprising stage twelve, the GC contenders were happy to sit back and let a group of 18 go down the road. Having slipped up previously, Sky made sure that Froome was securely placed at the front, so there would be no more unexpected attacks. Amongst the 18 riders were David Millar, Tejay van Garderen, Lars Bak, Simon Geschke, Jan Bakelants, Blel Kadri, Andrew Talansky, Michael Albasini, Julien Simon, Matteo Trentin and a number of others all looking to take the stage victory. As the stage neared the end, it looked as though Julien Simon was going to take the win, having gone off the front, but some of the other riders had managed to bring him back and it ended up being a sprint, which Trentin won ahead of Albasini and Talansky. The rest of the peloton rolled in about seven minutes later.

Stage fifteen, on the other hand, was very much a day for the GC contenders, as Movistar took control of the race, hoping to set up the stage for their superstar climber, Quintana, who would eventually go on the attack. Ultimately, the work put in by Peter Kennaugh and Richie Porte at the front helped decimate the field, so that when Froome went off to catch Quintana, there was no one who could match him. Having caught Quintana, it didn't take long for Froome to overtake him and it was he who ended up victorious at the top of Mont Ventoux. Froome managed to put even more time into his rivals, with Quintana finishing 29 seconds down, Nieve and Rodriguez 1:23 down, Kreuziger and Contador 1:40 down. Once again, Froome has shown he is the dominant force in the 2013 Tour de France and there were no visible cracks in Sky's performance this time, either.

The Tour de France: Stages Twelve and Thirteen

Stages twelve and thirteen were both designed with the sprinters in mind, but both threw up some surprises. In stage twelve it did come down to a bunch sprint, but there was a major crash within the last three kilometres which put paid to Greipel's chances of contesting the sprint and picking up points in the green jersey competition. Others were also caught out, including Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen, who rode to the finish, but would later be declared out of the race, having broken his shoulder. The real surprise came at the finish line when Marcel Kittel powered past Cavendish, taking the victory and, no doubt, a huge amount of confidence from being able to beat 'the fastest sprinter in the world.'

Stage thirteen should have been just more of the same, really, but instead everything blew apart. It was clear that Omega Pharma Quickstep were determined to take charge of the race, keeping the pace so high that riders were struggling at the back, including Marcel Kittlel. Hearing news of this simply motivated the team to continue onwards and soon more gaps appeared, something which the side winds also contributed to. Unfortunately, for Movistar, Valverde had a mechanical issue at the wrong moment, so that even with most of his team-mates around him, it was going to be a struggle for him to get back on. Indeed, it turned out that he and his team-mates would be swept up by Kittel's group and none of them would catch up with the peloton.

Consequently, Valverde lost his second place position on the GC, and has now fallen out of the top 10, so that it looks as though Movistar have only Quintana as their main man. This turned out to be not the only change to the GC, as Saxo-Tinkoff decided to put in a surprise attack, with a number of other GC contenders including Laurens Ten Dam and Bauke Mollema making it into the group. Of those looking to win the green jersey, Cavendish and Sagan made it across, with Greipel losing out once more. Sky and other GC teams were fighting to bring the breakaway group back, but all their efforts were to be in vain, as the group ended up finishing 1:09 down on the winner. Despite the best efforts of Sagan, Cavendish was finally able to win his second stage of this year's tour.

In terms of the GC, it must be worrying times for Sky, seeing how strong the other teams are and not being able to respond, especially since they are already two men down. The question is whether there will be any more unexpected fireworks in the next stage, although it is only a medium mountains stage, or whether those aiming for the GC will wait for the high mountains of Mont Ventoux to attack.

The Tour de France: Stage Eleven

The time trial is known for being the 'race of truth,' as there is nowhere to hide when you're all by youself with no team-mates to pace you up the climbs and protect you from the wind. To be a true GC contender, it therefore helps to be a decent time trialist. Stage eleven would show who was still in with a shot of taking the yellow jersey and who would end up having to target stage wins. There were no surprises to see Rodriguez and Schleck struggle, whilst Dan Martin also had a hard day in the saddle, as did Quintana who ended up conceding his young rider's jersey to Kwiatowski who put in an incredible performance to finish the time trial in fifth position.

Ultimately, the GC riders were looking to limit their losses to Chris Froome, as the expectation was he would outperform them, which turned out to be the case. Cadel Evans, Alessandro Valverde and Alberto Contador all lost time. Being the last man to leave the start line, Froome had the benefit of knowing how all his rivals were doing and from the first time check it was looking good for him. Indeed, he clocked in with an even faster time than Tony Martin, the world time trial champion and fastest man in the stage up to that point. He looked on with trepidation as Froome came across the second time check a couple of seconds faster than him, believing his chances of a stage victory were slipping away.

However, when Froome finally crossed the line, he was actually 12 seconds down on Martin's time, but this didn't bother him, as his main objective was to put time into his rivals which he did. He now leads the GC by 3:25 ahead of Valverde, 3:37 ahead of Mollema, and 3:54 ahead of Contador. The race isn't over yet, as stage nine showed that it is possible to isolate Froome and that Sky are not invincible. It's just for the other riders to get their act together and think tactically, instead of waiting for Froome to have a bad day, as this may never happen!