One of my favorite sports writers addresses the Lance speculation:
Confusion reigned as the rumors — still unconfirmed by any of the principals — bloomed like algae on the surface of the mainstream media. What in the world could be motivating him? It couldn’t be money, and it couldn’t be titles. Could it be ego? Altruism, in the form of increased revenue for cancer research? Boredom? Enough with the tabloid headlines and the blondes, already? The need to respond in a different way, to the doping innuendo that never dies, even though Armstrong never tested positive, and stirs afresh every time some ex-teammate gets caught?
Chances are that if this story moves from the realm of the theoretical into the concrete, there’s a bit of all of the above at work, but the last item on the list is the most elusive. The seven-time Tour winner is said to be planning a comeback with Astana, where his former boss Johan Bruyneel runs the show. Last year, Bruyneel contracted with respected Danish anti-doping researcher and certified cynic Rasmus Damsgaard to put his riders under the microscope, in the form of rigorous out-of-competition blood testing that is designed to show suspicious deviations from an athlete’s normal biological parameters. The VeloNews report suggested the Texan will race in five big events, including the Tour of California, and put his testing numbers online to offer proof that he is not cheating. In so doing, he would be jumping on a bandwagon that got rolling only after he left the sport.
I don’t think Lance knows what to do with himself if he’s not racing. It’s the same thing as with Michael Jordan–both identify themselves as competitors. That he can torment those claiming he used to dope* is just a bonus.
Landis is apparently team shopping and for those that only know the story from the headlines, I have long been convinced the drug tests for Landis are simply not reliable and the lab made enough procedural errors we cannot know whether he doped reliably. The system is stacked to uphold findings regardless of what problems are identified and in Landis’ case, the evidence would never have stood up in a US Court. The saddest thing is we can never know whether he doped or not–which is the worst outcome for the sport. For detailed coverage on the problems regarding dope testing and such make sure to visit Trust but Verity.
* I’ve always thought Lance probably doped before cancer–after cancer, there’s no evidence.