THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE

Punishment is not enough. Cycling wants to erase the memory of Armstrong altogether

Some people within the sport would argue that the airbrushing of Lance Armstrong from the history of the Tour de France appears to be complete.

When Bradley Wiggins rode to victory in the 2012 Tour, Armstrong was still a prominent figure, even if he wasn’t actually there in person. In the Village Départ, which is set up in the start town each morning, there were large cut-outs of a selection of Tour legends, including the quintet of five-time winners. Armstrong was there alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.

But when USADA’S reasoned decision emerged a few weeks later, everything changed. The following July, as the 2013 edition got underway, while the cut-outs of the greats remained in the Village Départ, the one of Armstrong had magically disappeared without trace.

At the 2018 race there was no sign of Armstrong at all, and barely a mention of his name. Yet, in 2019 the Tour will start in Brussels, in part to mark the 50th anniversary of the first Tour win of the greatest of them all, Eddy Merckx.

The ‘Cannibal’ continues to be celebrated and fêted, which amounts to what some would say is an inconsistency and others might call hypocrisy. Merckx also had his run-ins with the authorities with two failed drugs tests. That hardly makes him unusual among the sport’s legends, but it does highlight that, whether or not Armstrong’s punishment is fair and proportionate, it is certainly unique.