Why Lance Armstrong? Historical Context and Key Turning Points in the ‘Cleaning Up’ of Professional Cycling

Abstract

The US Anti-Doping Agency published its evidence against Lance Armstrong in October 2012 after a lengthy investigation and a series of testimonies from his former US Postal Service teammates. This article aims to understand the development processes – local and global – that led eventually to his ‘confession’ in January 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey show. By taking a chronological approach from the 1980s onwards, the following key themes will be addressed: the doping state of play when Armstrong began his career; the incremental confessions of other cyclists that helped break down cycling's secret doping culture; the broader organisational changes in anti-doping; the reasons why Armstrong became the focal point of anti-doping efforts; and the implications for professional cycling and anti-doping in the near future. Thus, the aim is to synthesise macro- and micro-level developments to explain the outcomes, and to further understand the consequences of this ‘scandal’.

Keywords::

• doping
• cycling
• Lance Armstrong
• anti-doping
• policy

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the Fulbright Commission, Thomas M. Hunt and the staff and students of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center, University of Texas, and Verner Møller.

Notes

^1.USADA, Report on Proceedings.

^2.Telegraph, “Lance Armstrong Oprah Winfrey.”

^3. See, for example, Walsh, Seven Deadly Sins; Strickland, “Lance Armstrong's End Game”; and McCann, “Armstrong's Confession.”

^4.Halliburton, “Armstrong Asks Judge.”

^5. For an insightful discussion of the ethics of stripping Armstrong of his titles, see Gleaves, “Saying It's So.”

^6. There is an extensive literature on the historical and contemporary relationship of cycling and doping which cannot be fully utilised given the scope of this article. Aside from the texts cited here, readers might find the following valuable and interesting: Dimeo, A History of Drug; Møller, The Doping Devil; Whittle, Bad Blood; and López, “Creating Fear.”

^7. The German Tour de France 1997 winner Jan Ullrich admitted doping during his career in June 2013, and claimed: ‘For me, betrayal only begins when I gain an advantage, but that was not the case. I just wanted to ensure equal opportunities’ (BBC, “Jan Ullrich”).

^8.Hoberman, “Sports Physicians”; Hoberman, “A Pharmacy on Wheels”; Waddington, Sport, Health and Drugs; Walsh, Seven Deadly Sins; and Donati, “Anti-Doping.”

^9.Møller, The Ethics of Doping.

^10.Walsh, Seven Deadly Sins.

^11.Voet, Breaking the Chain.

^12. These quotes from Obree were provided originally to the Independent and L'Equipe, and are cited on Wikipedia, “Graeme Obree.” His achievements in other cycle events demonstrate that he had the potential to develop a successful professional career were it not for the perceived necessity of doping.

^13. Cited in Waddington, Sport, Health and Drugs, 180.

^14.Hamilton and Coyle, The Secret Race.

^15.Brewer, “Commercialization in Professional Cycling”; Woodland, The Crooked Path; and Hoberman, “A Pharmacy on Wheels.”

^16.Møller, The Ethics of Doping, 49.

^17.Waddington, Sport, Health and Drugs, 166.

^18.USADA, Report on Proceedings, 22.

^19.Hoberman, “A Pharmacy on Wheels,” 108.

^20.Hoberman, “A Pharmacy on Wheels,” 107.

^21.Møller, The Ethics of Doping, 19.

^22.Millar, Racing Through the Dark.

^23.USADA, Report on Proceedings, 24.

^24.Kimmage, “Cycling.”

^25.Walsh, From Lance to Landis, cited in Kimmage, “Cycling.”

^26.USADA, Report on Proceedings, 172.

^27.Møller, The Ethics of Doping, 58. Møller here refers to ‘sport’ more widely. The focus of this article remains on cycling, but it is important to note that other sports have a historical record of doping incidents. Cycling has been the focus of much anti-doping effort, and in a sense this is self-producing. More tests mean more positives; while other sports appear to be ‘cleaner’, it may simply be that fewer tests are being carried out.

^28.Christiansen, “The Legacy of Festina.”

^29.Donegan, “Has Everybody Stopped Caring.”

^30.Walsh, Seven Deadly Sins.

^31.Kimmage, Rough Ride, 229.

^32.Voet, Breaking the Chain, 127–8.

^33.BBC, “Peddlers.”

^34.Christiansen, “The Legacy of Festina,” 151.

^35.Ibid.

^36.DeCanio, “The Stolen Underground Story.”

^37.Cycling News, “Millar Confesses.”

^38.Wikipedia, “Michael Rasmussen”; for a critical account of these decisions, see Møller, TheScapegoat.

^39.USA Today, “Lance Armstrong Makes Public.”

^40.Austen, “Inquiry on Lance Armstrong.”

^41.Macur, “Armstrong's Wall of Silence.”

^42.Hincapie, “Statement from George Hincapie.”

^43.USADA, Report on Proceedings, 16.

^44.Ibid., 39.

^45.Houlihan, Dying to Win; Hunt, Dimeo and Jedlicka, “Anti-doping Policy.”

^46.Dimeo, Hunt and Horbury, “The Individual”; Dennis and Grix, Sport under Communism.

^47.Ruibal, “Armstrong Had Six Positives.”

^48. For details, see Bicycling, “The Full Tyler Hamilton.”

^49.Tour de José, “Translation of Travis.”

^50.BBC, “Hamilton Faces Greek Drug Probe.”

^51.VeloNews, “Olympic Case Dropped Against Tyler Hamilton.”

^52.CAS, Arbitral Award.

^53.Ibid.

^54.Macur, “Armstrong's Wall of Silence.”

^55.Ibid.

^56.L'Équipe, September 26, 2012.

^57.Walsh, Seven Deadly Sins.

^58. Hersch, “If Armstrong Loses Olympic Medal.”

^59.Henne, “Doped or Duped?”

^60.Millar, Racing Through the Dark.

^61.WADA, World Anti-Doping Code, 11.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Dimeo

Paul Dimeo is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Stirling. He has researched various aspects of drug use in sport and anti-doping policies.