Lance (2020) Movie Thread

[David76]

He was a cheat, plain and simple. If that's the documentary with Betsy Andreu speaking on it, the stuff she came out with was unreal.

 

[Son Of Jack]

I was gutted when the news broke but not surprised as it was rife in the sport. Two words come to mind with Lance Armstrong - brilliance and cheat. It's a shame one overshadows the other

His book was a hell of an emotional read.

And then you realise it was all bollocks

 

[Tom]

Stop At Nothing was far more insightful. It showed Armstrong to be an absolute disgrace of a human who happened to have suffered from an awful illness and had the athletic brilliance to recover and compete.

It was his coercion, bullying, manipulating, and complete lack of care for fucking up people's lives to get his own way that Stop At Nothing showed, along with his incredible (albeit wasted) talent.

Some courage from that Irish former rider and journalist who, when Armstrong tried to get the entire room to turn on him, said "You're in remission but the cancer has returned to the sport." He could have been beaten to within an inch of his life if Armstrong had his way.

The 30 for 30 documentary feels much more like Armstrong trying to control the narrative of what his legacy will be, or at least how it will be seen. Too late for that.

 

[Birdman]

He's a sociopath. His treatment of Emma O'Reilly, Betsy Andreu and even Greg Lemond was utterly despicable.

Was doping widespread, of course it was, but Armstrong always had the best/expensive doping programme. Not everyone doping would have been on the same gear. Armstrong, who is very clever, was ahead of his time in the research and embrace of anything new on the doping front.

 

[Random Guy]

It's not just the fact he cheated, it's an elite level endurance sport, so hardly a shocking revelation that he had been doping. What was bad was his behaviour towards anybody who'd dare to question whether he was natural or not. Armstrong went out of his way to ruin the lives of some of these people.

Some courage from that Irish former rider and journalist

David Walsh? His book "7 Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong" is a cracking read.

 

[Steve]

I've just watched the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary on Lance Armstrong and it was riveting.

I can't work out whether he was brilliant against a rigged field (because everyone was at it) or he was just a blatant cheat. I am edging towards the latter as cycling is clearly the most doped up sport on the planet and I want to believe he was amazing because his cancer story is unreal. To even survive what he went through would be an achievement for anyone but to survive and then do what he did in professional sport regardless is mind-blowing.

I thought it was excellent. Clearly, he believed he was doing himself a service by letting the cameras into his life, but he came over as a pathetic, fading, Alpha-male who can't cope with not being anything less than the best at what he does. He's going to struggle with getting old. Even the way he cut his finger while shaving cheese into a salad made him look like a dick.

He has always pushed the 'everyone was at it' line. That's become the basis of his persecution complex. Never mind all the lies he told (including under oath), and the bullying of people who didn't deserve it. There were pro riders during his era who stayed clean, and they never stood a chance.

For me, the turning point was when he rode down Simeoni. That's when I knew Armstrong was doping, and I was furious that Phil Liggett saw what everyone else saw while he was commentating, and yet continued to support Lance (with whom he had a joint business venture in Africa).

 

[Franco Pinion]

Tyler Hamilton's autobiography is a tremendous insight into what a hideous person Lance Armstrong is.

 

[Tom]

Tyler Hamilton's autobiography is a tremendous insight into what a hideous person Lance Armstrong is.

Indeed, it was. The incident at the bar in Aspen (I think) was typical Armstrong. Bullying and intimidation of people who spoke against him

 

[Franco Pinion]

Indeed, it was. The incident at the bar in Aspen (I think) was typical Armstrong. Bullying and intimidation of people who spoke against him

The way he set out to destroy people's lives was worse than the actual doping itself.