Dear Lance Armstrong,
You have been a compelling source of inspiration for more than a decade. You have shown the world that a potentially fatal disease can be defeated, giving strength and courage to millions of patients. You have demonstrated that with willpower and determination unthinkable goals can be achieved. Through your foundation, you have helped the healing process of countless individuals; people who, thanks to your efforts, were given another chance in life.
I truly wanted to believe in you, Lance Armstrong. I wanted to believe in your inspirational story. I wanted to believe in your talent and integrity. I wanted to believe in the seven consecutive Tour de France titles you won. I didn't want to believe in all the accusations that were relentlessly directed at you. But I was puzzled. Why would so many people turn against you? Now I don't believe you anymore. I don't feel sad for you. I'm clearly not impressed about your confession, and I surely don't believe in any redemption. I will never feel sorry for you.
At the beginning of your interview with Oprah, you were asked the following five questions:
1) Did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance?
2) Was one of those banned substances EPO?
3) Did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance?
4) Did you ever use any other banned substances such as testosterone, cortisone or Human Growth Hormone?
5) In all seven of your Tour de France victories, did you ever take banned substances or blood dope?
You answered YES to all of them. But that's not all. You sued powerless innocent people in order to gain credibility. Your addressed them as "desperate for attention and money". You defined USADA's accusations as "unconstitutional witch hunt". You even arrived to intimidate other riders by sending them emails and letters allegedly threatening to put "a bullet in their head". But the biggest of all is when you repeatedly came out with the statement "I can't lie". Now it speaks for itself.
I believe you when you say that it wasn't possible to compete in that world without doping, and I do think most riders were doing it, too. But this doesn't justify your actions. I'm not interested in what other competitors did to achieve success. The bottom line is that you called yourself a miracle, when in reality you were a cheat.
No, Lance, I can't feel sorry for you. You probably have enough - stolen - money to last for generations, and people will soon forget. America is great also because it always gives a second chance to anybody who is willing to admit and pay for his mistakes. Even though it took almost a decade, you finally came out, and I'm sure you have enough paid professionals ready to revamp your image. People like you know how to bounce back. You are probably already planning in cold blood - like you have planned everything else in your professional life - every detail of your tearful comeback, your miraculous return, your triumphant absolution. In a few years you'll start traveling around the country giving beautiful motivational speeches on your tumultuous past. Thousands of people will line up to listen to the fallen American hero talk. You will give all the boys in America a colorful description of what a bad boy you were, shed a few tears, and eventually cash the check for the workshop.
This is why I will never feel sorry for you, Lance Armstrong.
Sincerely,
Giacomo Cresti
http://www.filmannex.com/webtv/giacomo
follow me @ @giacomocresti76
