Lance Arm-Stronged

I have never been a Lance Armstrong fan.

His first impression to me was not good at all. I first heard of him at the 1995 Tour de France, when he was beaten on the line by Ukrainian Sergei Outschakov in a two-man breakaway in Stage 13. I vividly remember how Armstrong, obviously frustrated and disappointed, responded to questions by reporters in a not-so-friendly manner, and how he mockingly dissed Outschakov ("I didn't know he was THAT fast") in front of the TV cameras.

That day, he came across as a jerk to me.

And as a result, I always see him as a jerk.

Cycling is a cruel sport. Tours with multiple stages are simply humanly impossible. That is why so many cyclists have resorted to various performance-enhancing drugs not only to boost their chances of winning, but also improve the likelihood of just finishing a Tour.

And after years of denial, Armstrong has finally admitted that he is one of them.

For years, his m.o. was, he was the only one telling the truth, and everyone else lies. What makes him more disgusting to me that any other drug cheats is how he strong-armed (pun intended) those who have come out to accuse him of doping. He threatened Frankie Andreu, his best friend and teammate, and his wife, Betsy. He sued Emma O'Reilly, his masseuse and The Sunday Times for libel. He acted as the ringleader in boycotting fellow cyclist Christophe Bassons, a "clean" rider who has spoken out against doping. He also called his former teammates Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton "liars".

For sure, Armstrong is a cancer survivor, and his Livestrong Foundation and cycling feats have been inspirational to many who have been stricken with the dreaded disease. But does it mean we should show him more sympathy by turning a blind eye when it comes to his drug use?

While I appreciate him coming clean belatedly, what is troubling to me is, there is no difference whatsoever in his facial expressions when he was blatantly lying years ago, compared with now when he is supposedly telling the truth.

Someone once said that to know someone, it would be better to pay attention to how he tells you a story instead of what he tells you. Judging from Part I of the interview with Oprah Winfrey, I can't really tell whether he is in fact telling the truth now.

Which means that he is still a jerk to me.