Comic: Cycling (and drugs)
Apple pie and Lance Armstrong
Years after his retirement from competitive cycling (though he has been making a big push to gain world-class status as a triathlete), seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has been accused by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) of using performance-enhancing drugs.
The USADA is bringing its case after federal investigators decided against charging Armstrong with doping-related offenses after a two-year investigation.
Armstrong, of course, denies having used performance-enhancing drugs, and is beloved by many for his work with cancer survivors via the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Others find it incredible that Armstrong, by some measures the greatest performer in the history of one of the most drug-riddled sports, could have achieved his successes without the aid of illegal drugs.
Armstrong and his defenders note the cyclist never failed a drug test.
His skeptics note disgraced former sprinter Marion Jones passed more than 160 drug tests during her career, and the USADA suggests it will reveal damning testimony from a number of former Armstrong teammates and associates.
Roberto De Vido is a communications consultant, writer, cartoonist and jack of many trades. The former chief of Tucson Sentinel’s East Asia Bureau, he now lives in California (make of that what you will).
“I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one.”
— Lance Armstrong
