The Statute of Limitations on Lance Armstrong
By Michael Frank on December 20th, 2011
The jury is literally out on whether Lance broke the law, and the curious may wonder just how long it can remain out before Lance is innocent by lack of proof that he’s culpable. The answer, as you’d expect, is complicated. First, those reading the tea leaves suspect that the feds are trying to tie Armstrong not to doping in particular, but to trafficking across state and international borders. If that’s the case the statute of limitations is much longer, and in theory the anvil hanging over the former TdF grand champion’s head could continue as a threat for years to come.
Although Lance makes a great case for never having doped, consider these facts:
* The three winners of the Tour de France in the three years prior to the Armstrong era have all admitted to doping:
1996: Bjarne Riis
1997: Jan Ullrich
1998: Marco Pantani
* During the Armstrong era of 1999 through 2005, there were a total of eight different riders that finished second or third to Lance in those years. Five of those riders have since been busted for doping: Alex Zulle, Jan Ullrich, Raimondas Rumsas, Alexander Vinokourov and Ivan Basso.
* In 2006, the first year after the Armstrong era, Tour winner Floyd Landis was stripped of his victory for illegal doping.
* At least six teammates – top lieutenants – of Armstrong have been busted, or admitted to doping over the years, including; Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Roberto Herras, Floyd Landis, Frankie Andreu and Manuel Beltran.
I’m not saying Lance is guilty, but there’s an awful lot of smoke.