to move up and down
Bicycle pack rides tight — Cyclists ride during the 48th edition of the road bicycle race in Valkenburg on April 14, 2013. (BAS CZERWINSKI/AFP/Getty Images)
Bruce Arthur: There was no contrition and nothing much that qualified as real. This was Lance Armstrong, unable to hide himself, no matter how hard he tried
This was Lance Armstrong, even if he tried to be someone else. He did try, of course: he looked back on his younger self on the podium of the Tour de France, telling people he was sorry for them because they couldn’t believe in miracles, and he pretended to shudder. He tried to act like he regretted some of the things he had done. It was, at long last, impossible to believe.
Armstrong’s two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey will conclude Friday night, and it will be fascinating to see what Lance Armstrong has left, because this part revealed him in a way he surely didn’t intend. From the start it was apparent — there was a list in his head of truths he could tell and truths he could not, and you could see him parsing them in real time. He could say he took performance-enhancing drugs while winning seven Tour de Frances, but he had to insist that he was clean during his comeback in 2009 and 2010, despite evidence to the contrary. He could take some measure of responsibility, but he could not say he was in charge, or that he forced or directed any teammates to use, despite evidence to the contrary, given under oath. He could say he had called Betsy Andreu, but he could not say he had sued Emma O’Reilly. (Oprah.com)
Lance Armstrong has cut formal ties with his cancer-fighting charity. Over the weekend, he posted a photograph on Twitter of him lying on a couch at his home with seven yellow Tour de France jerseys mounted on the wall.
Lance gets burned: U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong has been unveiled as this year’s Edenbridge Bonfire Society celebrity guy. The Edenbridge Bonfire Society has a long tradition of building symbolic effigies of famous people to burn during their Guy Fawkes bonfire night, and this year it will be the disgraced Tour de France cyclist, who gets torched for his villainy in sport. (Photo: Gareth Fuller/The Associated Press/PA)
Lance Armstrong stripped of all seven Tour de France titles, banned from cycling for life after doping report
Cycling’s governing body agreed Monday to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life, following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accused him of leading a massive doping program on his teams.
UCI President Pat McQuaid announced that the federation accepted the USADA’s report on Armstrong and would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The decision clears the way for Tour de France organizers to officially remove Armstrong’s name from the record books, erasing his consecutive victories from 1999-2005. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Lance Armstrong steps down as head of Livestrong, Nike severs sponsorship ties amid doping allegations
Lance Armstrong said Wednesday he is stepping down as chairman of his Livestrong cancer-fighting charity so the group can focus on its mission instead of its founder’s problems.
The move came a week after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a massive report detailing allegations of widespread doping by Armstrong and his teams when he won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005. The document’s purpose was to show why USADA has banned him from cycling for life and ordered 14 years of his career results erased – including those Tour titles. It contains sworn statements from 26 witnesses, including 11 former teammates. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/The Associated Press)
Israeli inventor creates cardboard bicycle that can ‘change the world’
A bicycle made almost entirely of cardboard has the potential to change transportation habits from the world’s most congested cities to the poorest reaches of Africa, its Israeli inventor says.
Izhar Gafni, 50, is an expert in designing automated mass-production lines. He is an amateur cycling enthusiast who for years toyed with an idea of making a bicycle from cardboard.
“Making a cardboard box is easy and it can be very strong and durable, but to make a bicycle was extremely difficult and I had to find the right way to fold the cardboard in several different directions. It took a year and a half, with lots of testing and failure until I got it right,” he said. (REUTERS/Baz Ratner)
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says 11 of Lance Armstrong’s former teammates testified against him in its investigation of the cyclist, revealing “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”
USADA will deliver its reasoned decision against Armstrong later Wednesday, a summary of the facts it used to hand him a lifetime suspension and erase his seven Tour de France titles.
In a news release previewing the decision, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said it would include more than 1,000 pages of evidence. He listed 11 of Armstrong’s former teammates, including George Hincapie, Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, as among those providing evidence that led to the sanction.
Lance Armstrong
(via nationalpostsports)
USADA says it will strip Lance Armstrong of all seven Tour de France titles
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday night it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unprecedented seven Tour de France titles after he declared he was finished fighting the drug charges that threaten his legacy as one of the greatest cyclists of all time.
Travis Tygart, USADA’s chief executive, said Armstrong would also be hit with a lifetime ban on Friday.
“I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999,” Armstrong said. “The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today — finished with this nonsense.” (Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)
Cycle chic in Vancouver
Coco Chanel once said, “there is never a bad time to look pretty.” Generally, cycling spandex isn’t all that pretty but Vancouverite David Phu believes that cycling is simply another opportunity to look your best, and that a cyclist’s wardrobe should not be limited to things that are tight and stretchy. Promoting cycling as a regular daily activity is important to Phu (an avid cyclist himself) and taking it beyond athletic wear has been an integral part of that.
Paying homage to Forrest Gump at the Tour de France: Pumping his arms in victory, Peter Sagan of Slovakia won the crash-marred third stage of the Tour de France on Tuesday as cycling’s showcase race returned to its home country.
Sagan, at 22 one of cycling’s brightest stars, won his second stage in his debut Tour by bolting from the splintered pack with less than 300 metres left. He crossed the line several lengths and one second – ahead of runner-up Edvald Boasson Hagen of Norway and third-place finisher Peter Velits of Slovakia.
Sagan enjoys putting on a show for fans. He churned his arms, as a runner might, in a nod to the title character in the movie “Forrest Gump.”
“It’s a thing I’d discussed with my teammates about what kind of gesture I’d do on the line,” said Sagan, who rides for Liquigas-Cannondale. “Everybody said, ‘Do a Forrest Gump’ because when he was told to run, he ran. And when I’m told to win, I win.”
A BIXI ride around Toronto. Roadwork, pedestrians, other cyclists, and those pesky motorists. National Post Graphics editor Richard Johnson takes a look at what it is like to cycle through Toronto as a tourist would.
It looks like this herd of cows has taken the lead at the Tour of Romandie, to these riders’ udder astonishment. (We couldn’t help ourselves.)
Weird helmet of the day: The competition helmet of the track cycling sprinter Simona Krupeckaite of Lithuania is pictured during the training session for the London 2012 Olympics. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins
Giorgia Bronzini of Italy takes a massive tumble in the second stage of the Tour of Qatar women’s cycling race in al-Shamal, north of the capital Doha. The Tour of Qatar, which is traditionally favoured by the sprinters, is held from February 5-10. (Photos: KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images)
