Was Lance Armstrong unfairly treated by the press? This past Friday, federal investigators decided not to bring charges against the seven-time Tour de France winner. After a two-year investigation, a grand jury, multiple witnesses, and the involvement of several federal agencies, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles dropped the case. So what happened? According to the press, the prosecutors had a strong case and were preparing to indict him.
But it did not happen, despite the regular release of anonymous reports from the prosecution.
Federal prosecutors intensified their criminal investigation of Armstrong after questioning many of his former associates, including cyclists who have reportedly supported and detailed claims that Armstrong and his former Postal Service team participated in systematic doping.
There were too many weaknesses in the government’s case against Armstrong. He had never failed a drug test despite having been tested over 500 times in his career, and the only witness to claim that he had seen Armstrong doping was Floyd Landis, a cyclist who had lied about his own use of banned performance-enhancing drugs. Unfortunately, too many in the media were willing to blindly regurgitate the worst allegations against Armstrong.