Lance Armstrong vs. The World

A reader who wished to remain anonymous offered the following submission, and it being a slow night, we're happy to publish it, while also extending to any L.A. supporters an invitation to refute everything they disagree with, in the comments section. For the record, Pappillon has no personal knowledge of Lance Armstrong's ever having doped. The contributor whose words you'll read below, however, seems to imply otherwise... (s)He writes:

I mean everyone already knows this stuff, but look at these results. Armstrong dominated the day, but look at how many who were in the top 20 have since been caught or admitted to being on EPO. So Armstrong is not only claiming to be clean, but is claiming to be so much better than everyone else that he can dominate them when he's clean and they're doping.[Ed: Yeah, that's what leaves so many incredulous.]

SESTRIERE, Italy, July 13, 1999 - Results of 213.5 km 9th stage:
1. Lance Armstrong (U.S.) U.S. Postal 5 hours 57 minutes 11 seconds
2. Alex Zuelle (Switzerland) Banesto 31 seconds behind
3. Fernando Escartin (Spain) Kelme 1:26
4. Ivan Gotti (Italy) Polti same time
5. Manuel Beltran (Spain) Banesto 2:27
6. Richard Virenque (France) Polti
7. Carlos Contreras (Colombia) Kelme both same time
8. Kurt van de Wouwer (Belgium) Lotto 3:10
9. Abraham Olano (Spain) ONCE same time
10. Laurent Dufaux (Switzerland) Saeco 3:30
11. Daniele Nardello (Italy) Mapei
12. Giuseppe Guerini (Italy) Telkom
13. Angel Casero (Spain) Vitalicio Seguros all same time
14. Benoit Salmon (France) Casino 3:43
15. Bo Hamburger (Denmark) Cantina Tollo 3:46
16. Mario Aerts (Belgium) Lotto 4:24
17. Joaquim Castelblanco (Colombia) Kelme 4:34
18. Stefano Garzelli (Italy) Mercatone Uno 4:51
19. Roland Meier (Switzerland) Cofidis same time
20. Christophe Moreau (France) Festina 5:04

Pre-Puerto media coverage here. Non-Crystal Method accompanied video here.

Well, that's a significant number of convicted dopers and one clean American Hero. Oh well. Success sells. Having published that, take a look at Cozy Beehive's great post (referenced here at Pappillon once already, if not more frequently), "8 Things On Lance Armstrong From The "Other Side Of The Grass". CB's intro follows, but then click on the link to actually navigate to those eight interesting things...

A great person once said that history is written by the victor. The one who is smart and cunning, who wins and has the money, who is extremely powerful and has a throng of followers around them, who can literally decide your fate if you turn your back on them...these are the people who have the muscle to bend a true story to their liking and ultimately to their advantage.

It's all too easy to be star-struck watching the hundreds of video clips of Lance Armstrong on Youtube. Yeah, it looks all so cool and inspiring, no doubt. And its easy to buy a bunch of books written by him and his lieutenants and believe what he invariably asks you to slurp in. And it's easier going with the fan following based around him and his brand and do exactly what they're all doing.

But it's difficult to go out against the tide and exercise some independent critical thinking skills to challenge the root of the system. We're often times lazy to explore or plainly just narrow minded to accept the other half of the story. When we believe in something, we fix it in our world view and build castles around it to protect it. But if castles are built on loose foundation, like the story of the man who built his house on mud, it will topple sooner or later. When it crashes down, that will be a mind-blowing experience.

So what is the other half of the story for those of you who haven't heard at all? Join in this post as I amass together a few facts, figures and audio clips that are absolutely critical if you are to have a "balanced knowledge" of the persona of Lance Armstrong. Some of these I collected over from some who were bold enough to only share, talk and write. By all means, this is a re-pollination of facts but done so as to never let people forget the past. So get yourself a cup of tea or coffee and focus for a while from the 'other side of the grass'.

1. "LANCE ARMSTRONG'S DOPING HISTORY" : This 50 page report challenges us to think about the curious holes in Lance Armstrong's story and his strange attitudes towards doping in general, especially given his stature in the sport. You'll be going "But Why" in little-time. Read on...