Lance Armstrong still poses moral dilemma
ASPEN, COLO. —Lance Armstrong is unlikely to be a fan of the new Stephen Frears biopic of his life, The Program, the first trailer for which came out this week. It charts the dogged pursuit of the Texan by the journalist David Walsh, a man whom (to Walsh’s great credit) Armstrong cannot stand.
Armstrong did not speak much about the film during my recent trip to Aspen to interview him ahead of his controversial return to the Tour de France next month with Geoff Thomas’s charity ride One Day Ahead. But he did say that he was tired of being typecast as the devil — or Lord Voldemort, as he referred to himself in a sound bite sent from journalistic heaven.
In many respects, he has a point. Armstrong was, indisputably, a cheat and a liar who made hundreds of millions of dollars under false pretences. But as far as the doping was concerned, he was only doing what many other riders of that era did. He may have taken it further; that is hard to gauge. He was certainly more successful at it. But he was far from the only cheat. A lot of people with their noses in the trough looked the other way.
What was less excusable — and what gives Armstrong’s critics the ammunition with which to keep attacking him — was the way in which he treated people.
Turning on the charm and the charisma when he met presidents, CEOs and, least forgivable of all, cancer patients. And then in the next breath bullying, cajoling, threatening to destroy the careers of those who stood in his way. That, and the apparent lack of contrition.
That supposedly sociopathic nature is what made the prospect of spending a few days in his company a fortnight ago so interesting. The trip represented an opportunity to try to gauge, first hand, what sort of a man Armstrong has become. Whether he has changed. Whether it is right that he goes back to the Tour next month and rides for charity.
For two days, the access was unbelievable; riding in the Rockies with Geoff Thomas’s charity team, no PRs, open house. From what I could see, he was genuinely hospitable, he was sorry.
Not about the doping — as Armstrong put it, it is time for an “adult conversation” on that subject — but about the people he hurt along the way, specifically his children, his charity, the fans who defended him.
He did look tired, and to an extent broken, despite living still with all the trappings of his vast, wrongly accumulated wealth.
Armstrong presents a fascinating moral dilemma as cycling tries to move on from its past. Is it time to forgive and forget? Not forget, certainly. And, no question, his ban should remain in place for a long while yet.
Forgiveness is trickier, and unique to the individual. Some have made their peace with Armstrong. Others continue to hold him in contempt.
Two things I am sure of, though. Firstly, that raising money for charity is exactly what Armstrong should be doing with his life. I am not so sure that he should be doing that at the Tour de France next month. It may still be too soon for that; too insensitive, too provocative. But certainly elsewhere. And secondly, that he remains a compelling story, for better or for worse.