My knowledge of cycling could be written on the back of a postage stamp and still leave room for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare; however, I am slightly puzzled by the current shenanigans.
Lance Armstrong may or may not have taken performance enhancing substances –just like any other athlete. Still, it does seem perverse that he is being stripped of titles etc… when he has never failed a drugs test. Should triumphs really be decided by gossip or public opinion?
Add to that the idea that fatigue after more than a decade of fighting must equate to admission of guilt and the lunacy becomes so severe that one can only question the complete lack of objectivity displayed. (One feels whispers, not unlike those associated with apartheid and generations of attempted justification of the dehumanising of people groups, floating in the background.)
Folk may be wholly convinced of Mr Armstrong’s guilt or innocence, but in a democracy, surely evidence-based decision making has to reign supreme. Until there is clear evidence of wrongdoing, how can stripping a champion of his achievements ever be justified?
As I mentioned earlier, my ignorance of cycling is palpable; but natural justice – well, we can all recognise that.
