Is Lance Armstrong a fraud?

Doping allegations against the seven time Tour de France are looking ever more serious. Is "America's greatest cyclist" about to take a tumble?

Lance Armstrong.
(Image credit: Getty)

Lance Armstrong may be out of contention in this year's Tour de France, but the seven-time champion is certainly not out of the spotlight. Since Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis accused him of taking performance-enhancing drugs earlier this year, investigators have been looking into the cyclist's history and performances. Now, prosecutors have served several potential witnesses with grand jury subpoenas, and the allegations that Armstrong consistently dismisses as fraudulent are looking more and more serious. Is cycling's most celebrated athlete about to join the disgraced company of Roger Clemens and Marion Jones — or is this a "witch hunt" engineered by his enemies? (Watch Lance Armstrong discuss this year's Tour de France)

Armstrong will be revealed as a fraud: "I believe Landis," says three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond, quoted in the Montreal Gazette. Armstrong is the "undisputed champion" of manipulating people, and he has some "very serious" questions to answer. This time, the truth will catch up with him. "It's the beginning of the end."

"'Beginning of the end' for Lance Armstrong?"

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This great cyclist owes it to his fans to put the rumors to rest: I can only hope that Armstrong "rode a narrow, virtuous path to all his fame and riches," says David Ramsey in the Colorado Springs Gazette. "America's greatest cyclist" has been a true champion, taking "preparation and dedication to a new level," and picking up "a staggering number of titles." But the "dark cloud of suspicion" refuses to go away. Armstrong owes it to all of his fans to "give us the answers we need."

"Armstrong must cooperate with his Uncle Sam"

Maybe it would be best if the truth remains unknown: What a dilemma, says Bruce Arthur at the National Post. If Armstrong is clean then he "just might be the greatest athlete who ever lived" — winning one of the "world's greatest tests of endurance" against a field of doped-up cyclists a record seven times. But if he is dirty, that makes him a "towering fraud" who "built an empire on lies," all the while hiding behind his charitable causes. Perhaps it is best if the truth is never known.

"Lance Armstrong: hero or fraud?"

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