Lance still taints Tour

Chief Sports writer Kevin McCallum believes disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is still tainting the Tour de France. Photo by: Lionel Cironneau/AP

Chief Sports writer Kevin McCallum believes disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong is still tainting the Tour de France. Photo by: Lionel Cironneau/AP

Published Jul 17, 2015

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Geraint Thomas of Team Sky is not one to hold his tongue. When asked on Wednesday what he thought about Lance Armstrong riding on the route of some of the stages of the Tour de France for a charity event, Thomas said the current group of riders were “paying the price for what (Lance) has done anyway."

"I couldn’t care less what he’s doing to be honest. He has done enough harm. But whatever, we are just in our own little world here having a laugh and doing what we’re doing and Lance and all them can do what they want”.

Armstrong admitted much the same thing on Twitter: “Clearly Froome/Porte/Sky are very strong. Too strong to be clean? Don’t ask me, I have no clue.” “I’m not accusing anyone. In fact, quite the opposite. I’m not interested (nor do I have the credibility) to opine there.”

Social media, where opinions are put forward as truth and become fact in next to no time, has been in a tizz at a video purporting to show the power and heart rate of Chris Froome overlayed on footage of his ride on Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France in 2013. The video has not been verified as authentic, which hasn’t stopped the innuendo that Froome’s performance was super-human and, therefore, means doping.

Except that the proof seems to be based on calculation and speculation, which gives rise to suspicion, which gives rise to a guilty verdict. One sports scientist said of him last year, the “performance numbers can be confounded by any number of factors … People want black and white answers, and that’s hard to provide.”

Dr Jeroen Swart, a sports scientist who trains several professionals, wrote this week: “Froome deserves more credit. He has been transparent, called for more controls frequently and has no skeletons. Very different to Armstrong.” Armstrong once said he had been the most-tested athlete of all time and had passed every test. It’s that quote that everyone goes back to.

David Walsh, the journalist who pursued Armstrong when few others would, has come in for flack for saying he believes Froome is clean. The man who stayed true to his ethics in the face of sustained bullying and pressure from the biggest cheat of them all, has now been accused of being on the side of Team Sky. That’s how toxic the story has become. Walsh wrote Froome’s autobiography. He spent time with Sky, watching them from the inside. When we spoke a few years ago, he described Froome as a “freak”, blessed with incredible physical attributes. Yet, the cloud of the Armstrong years hangs over him and the rest of cycling. Now few dare to trust, which is sad for cycling.

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