How could Armstrong win the Tour as a clean rider?

Question

He has amazing natural talent and there's no question about that. But there are many professional riders out there who had the same amount of natural talent (and there are also quite a few with more natural talent) as Lance. For me, it's hard to think that Armstrong, as a clean rider, could beat doped up riders like Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso, Marco Pantani, Joseba Beloki, Richard Virenque, Tyler Hamilton, Santiago Botero, Alex Zülle, Abraham Olano, and the list goes on, and on.

Why is there so much naivety about Lance Armstrong's innocene?

Answer 1

The tour itself is humanly impossible to win without drugs............so the answer seems simple.....make the races possible for a clean guy to win

Answer 2

I agree with other people's comments about Lance Armstrong's dedication, serious training, and lung capacity as mentioned above.

What no one else has mentioned is the Team work required for a rider to win the Tour de France. The Tour de France is a strategy race where team members help by drafting, pushing the pace to make others use all there energy early and other tactics.

Lance Armstrong had strong team members that were dedicated to seeing him win. Many of the racers mentioned above, did not have teams that supported them as well. Think how well George Hinapie, Jose Azevedo, and Paolo Savoldelli might have done if they were riding for themselves or another captain. Support for this is their performance in other races and this year.

Lance was a great athlete with a great team helping lead him to victory.

Answer 3

His lung capacity and blood oxygenation rates are 10-30% more efficient than any other rider in the tour.
His heart size and pumping volume are 20-30% more efficient than any other rider.
His resting heart rate is something like 20 beats per minute which is INCREDIBLE!
His VO2 Max was off the charts...
the list goes on and on... Basically, he is just better constructed for cycling by nature. He was a ridiculous triathlete and cyclocross rider before even being scouted by professional cycling teams, long before he had the pressure of international professional cycling looming over him.
I am not a Lance fanboy, as a matter of fact, I have met him a couple times, and he is a royal prick! But he is just one of those specimens which found his niche and exploited it!

Answer 4

I argue the same point. He beat Pantani - one of the fiercest climbers in history known to be riddled with EPO to the point that his own body stopped producing it. He beat David Millar, one of the best ITT guys in the world, who is just finishing his two year ban for EPO. And he can be in the top ten in a sprint, see stage two 2001 TDF.

How can someone be better than specialists in very different disciplines all at the same time and do it for over two weeks?

My brother, who is a huge Armstrong fan, will never believe that he cheated. He simply states that every once in a while there comes along a Babe Ruth, a Tiger Woods, a Wayne Gretzky, or a Michael Jordan.

How can I argue with that?

Answer 5

First of all not many people in the world can compae to Lance's talent. Combine that with his meticolus training and mental attitude and you have a winner. Nobody can come up with any real evidence that he is a cheater. They hope to beat him in court because they can't beat him on a bike like a real man. By the way, most of the people on your list have not been proven guilty, just accused. Any of those who are doping only do it because they are too weak to train like Lance to beat him. Simply put Lance is a true bad *** and people can't beat him so they try to steal from him.

Answer 6

I read an article back a year or so ago that listed all of the 'Physical" reasons that Lance is a better constructed human being. Everything from his lungs being able to bring in more oxygen to this blood vessel's being able to transfer oxygen better to the way that he burns lactic acid. It was very interesting. I can not remember if it was a cycling or if it was a science mag. You could try to search articles about his physical differences. It was pretty cool and would be worth the effort to find it.

Answer 7

That is the question that everyone wants answered. One one hand you can credit Lance's success in the Tour to his focus on only one race, The Tour de France. On the other hand, you can look at his record at dominating known dopers along with his bout with testicular cancer as evidence that he could have been using performance enhancing drugs. One thing is certain, if Lance were using drugs he has been extremely good at keeping those who knew about his drug use quiet.

Answer 8

My mother died of cancer in 2002. Prior to that she underwent chemotheraphy for nearly 5 years. I have yet to see someone fight harder and maintain the endurance and stamina as my mother has...correction, I have...Lance.

Chemo does bad things to the body. One of them is cause pain. Pain so intense that you vomit at the slightest movement. I strongly feel that going through not only increases your tolerance to pain, but also redefines pain. A rush of lactic acid during a hard climb is nothing compared to the pain associated with POISON running through your veins, arteries, and cells.

Combine that quality with a body that has been exercised ferociously since it's early teens (Lance has a bigger heart, bigger lungs, a higher VO2, a resting heartrate of 34 bpm) and you get a machine capable of performing far beyond that of riders who started their careers slightly later in life. In addition, Lance also sleeps in a oxygen tent which simulates altitude. This allows him to gain even more performance even at altitudes where oxygen molocules are fewer and far between.

He has a saying..."People want to know what I'm on. What am I on?! I'm busting my butt six hours a day. That's what I'm on."

Lance has to much to lose to dope. He would not only lose the credibility he's obtained, but also the followship of millions of cancer survivors worldwide who count on him to give them strength. NO MAN, and I know from hearing people with cancer and being around my mother in her final days, would EVER betray man, woman, or 5 year child with cancer. It is what has made him an icon of hope for those fighting death.

Ride and enjoy.

Answer 9

As much as I want to believe that they are clean, I'm sure that they all are on something, illegal or not. But also, I know people say that Armstrong won because he JUST rode the Tour and there are guys who ride (and do well) in all three Tours, so he was probably 'fresher' than them. Discovery/USPS revolved around the Tour de France

Answer 10

thats like saying if one guy takes steroids anybody who is better than him must be on staeroids also. Just becuase some of those guys took roids and lance is better than tehm that doenst mean hes a cheater.