Honestly, given what is going on right now, it is almost beyond belief that posters are rushing to defend riders from "unsubstantiated accusations." Give me a break. Professional cycling is in the midst of a crisis. It should be abundantly clear at this point that doping is widespread, normal, and basically accepted as perfectly fine behavior by the peloton. What should be obvious is doping controls do not reflect the reality of PED use.
I know that in the world of LA's fans, Frankie Andreau, his wife, Greg Lemond, Emma O'Reilly, Stephan Swart, Mike Anderson, etc., etc. are all liars and LA is an honest, clean athlete. Fine. I doubt anything will ever change that impression. But even if Armstrong was clean -- which I confess to find essentially ludicrous, but for the sake of argument... -- he has set a terrible example. From his podium speech in 2005, to his attack on VeloNews for running an article on doping, to his work with Ferrari, to his fight with Simeoni, to his comments to Jean-Cyril Robin and other critics of doping, LA has denied that there has ever been a problem with doping in the peloton. He has intimidated riders and journalists who have raised red flags -- both verbally and with threats of legal action. In short, he has used his consideral media and legal power to create the impression that the sport is clean.
Now, quite obviously, this is completely untrue. The peloton is packed with dopers. By denying the obvious, he has worked against the forces that seek to clean up the sport. All the fans will suffer in the long run, especially as the sponsors, like Liberty and Phonak, decide that they have had enough.
I'll be clear about this: I won't argue that LA -- other than the doping -- is a bad guy. Heck, he is a great guy in many respects. I wish just 5% of professional athletes would dedicate as much energy, talent, and money to causes as worthy as the ones he addresses. But people are more complicated than simply good or bad. Heck, I'll still bet that Tyler Hamilton is a really nice guy despite being a cheater and a liar.