What Do I Have Against Lance?

I was told by a friend that someone asked him what I have against Lance. Maybe others have also wondered that. Before I get to that, let me comment on some other news in pro cycling.

Update on Lance's Podium Finishers

Remember the post that analyzed Armstrong's podium finishers and showed that most of them have been shown to be dopers? Given the news on Contador's doping, the graphic I used on that post has been updated courtesy of one of the followers of doping in cycling. Check it out.

Lance Armstrong's 8 Podium Finishers Includes 7 Dopers

(Thanks to Reed Dempsey for emailing me the figure above. Reed saw a link to Fraudbytes on Greg LeMond's facebook page where Greg said: "Very interesting blog." We are honored to have Greg as a fan of our Fraudbytes' Facebook page.)

This analysis shows the eight riders who finished on the podium next to Lance during Armstrong's seven yellow jersey years. These eight riders include three very gifted riders who finished more than once next to Lance including Jan Ullrich (on the podium four times), Joseba Beloki (on the podium three times), and Ivan Basso (on the podium twice) along with five other riders who finished one time on the podium including Zulle and Escartin (1999), Rumsas (2002),  Vinokourov (2003), and Kloden (2004).

Interestingly, seven of these eight individuals have been shown to have doped and five served suspensions. The only one who was never associated with doping was Escartin. Reed also mentioned in his email that the power data over the past 25 years shows a "bubble" over the last 15 years as:

Ullrich's manager admits to helping Ullrich dope

Thanks to Michael Shermer for sending me a link to an article on the VeloNation website wherein former Tour de France rider and T-Mobile team manager, Rudy Pevenage, admits that he helped Jan Ullrich dope through the assistance of the infamous Dr. Fuentes of Operation Puerto when Ullrich was competing against Lance Armstrong.

In my view, this is some persuasive evidence to validate the claims by Floyd Landis that Lance Armstrong's team manager, Johan Bruyneel, helped Lance and his teammates dope. Here is a quote by Pevenage that suggests the knowledge of who was doping in the peloton was somewhat common: