Lance Armstrong, doping and the culture of cycling

Yesterday, cycling’s governing body, the UCI, announced that Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven straight Tour de France wins from 1999-2005 and permanently banned from the professional sport.  These were the recommendations of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, USADA, which released a 1000 page report filled with witness testimony and scientific data alleging that Armstrong led a massive doping program for his pro cycling team.  USADA chief executive Travis Tygert said in a statement that Armstrong “ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program the sport has ever seen.”  Armstrong, who has denied the charges, announced that he wound not fight the decision and last week, he stepped down as chairman of his charity Livestrong. Today on Radio Times, a conversation about Lance Armstrong, the culture of cycling and doping in sports. We’ll talk to JOE LINDSEY, a writer for Bicycling Magazine who has closely followed Armstrong’s career and the problem of doping in cycling, and CHRIS COOPER, Director of the Centre for Sports and Exercise Science at the University of Essex and author of Run, Swim, Throw, Cheat: The Science Behind Drugs in Sport.

Listen:
[audio: 102312_110630.mp3]

Photo Credit: AP Photo / Peter Dejong