Thursday 25 October 2012

Cycling: Power, influence and Lance Armstrong

Repercussions of the Lance Armstrong story are still being felt, and will continue to be so for some time, and one of the great questions to arise from the affair is: how did he get away with it for so long?

Some answers can be found in an article by Selena Roberts, 'The Influence Peddler', which lays bare the level of Armstrong's political and financial influence, and the extent to which he was willing and able to use it to get what he wanted. It is a fascinating read, showing how no-one was safe from Armstrong's bullying tactics, not even US Senator and former presidential candidate, John Kerry. Perhaps what is most striking is that this only appears to be a small sample of episodes in Armstrong's career, and there are more questions to be asked about how much political influence he was able to exert, whether it accounts for the US Attorney for California suddenly dropping a case against him in February.

Even now, after all the revelations, this seems like only the tip of the iceberg, and hopefully at some point, the comprehensive story of the Armstrong tale will be told.

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