The Crown vs Armstrong

Now as a road cyclist that, like Armstrong did, has decided to give up a potential future career in triathlon to go into this rat race I always saw Armstrong as a bit of role model to aspire let alone for all the amazing work his foundation has done, his career and the fantastic literature he has produced, whoever has not been inspired by 'It's not about the bike' clearly has no soul. However I'm not that disappointed to be honest about the recent revelations that I have come following USADA report as if one just takes a look at any of the most basic scientific data they would know Armstrong would of had to have been on drugs. The fact that the fastest average speed and time for the Tour de France is all held by Armstrong, the fact that he beat competitors that were also taking drugs like Ullrich, Basso, Zulle, Valverde, Pantani... the fact that he was able to produce on avearge for each race day during the Tour de France a figure of 6.8 watts per kilogram, a figure that is 10% higher than Bradley Wiggins's figure for this year's Tour De France, the same 10% improvement margin guaranteed to be improved through careful, sophisticated drug-taking. All I have is a sense of relief that this house of cards has finally be blown down and that the people and the organisations responible to allow such an occurence are brought and the filth can be washed away. For so many people have been hurt by this, from a young David Zabriskie forced to take drugs or give up cycling to Frankie Andreu who made that choice, the latter. The millions made are never going to re-distributed fairly to all those and many will wish to see what may have been, certainly David Moncoutie will, but what has happened here some justice and right has been returned to the world, what te anti-doping authorities and cycling have said is 'You will be caught, you will not be allowed to cheat all and hurt so many.'

It might seem that USADA case was a pursuit against one man, but that one man represented a whole era, a whole system and was bigger than the sport in which he competed, bringing him down will enable the whole system to be re-born for no longer will there be an Armstrong-sized shadow laying over our sport. If we are bringing down a whole system then we will bring down more than just one man, as we have seen. As Daley Thompson in an article recently, 'we want to believe men can fly', but we don't need drugs for this as we have seen over the past couple of years with performances given across the sporting spectrum and not just cycling for cycling is not the only sport with a drugs problem for if anyone else believes that cycling is the only one is sticking their head in the sand. Sports people, no matter how much we want to believe otherwise, are only human and therefore should not be treated necessarily as heores, let alone be placed with a halo around their heads like Armstrong, for they are all capable of folly and have a lot more potential to actually do just that, make a fool of themselves. If you want to believe in heoroes and heroines you will probably find them a lot closer to home than you would imagine, just look. As these people don't cheat on their wife like John Terry, don't treat others as sub-human like Ali, don't become alcoholics like George Best, the list goes on.

Great pride should be taken over what has happened this past week for this can only lead to brighter future for all and not just cycling, I feel this is a great time to be optimistic about the sport of road cycling and this brings down the curtain on one of the most sorry and tragic sagas sport has ever seen. The war against the last vestiges of the EPO era is over by the battle against drugs continues long into the night... Pantani may not have died in vain afterall. The Crown reserves it's right to take just that, it's crown back.