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Merkx vs Armstrong

2K views 23 replies 18 participants last post by  aptivaboy 
#1 ·
Merkx is considered the Babe Ruth of cyclists, yet he was popped 3x for doping. Yeah he gave the same excuses everyone else does when they get busted, blamed the labs, blamed his doctor for giving it to him, etc. For whatever reason people assume that they were just isolated incidents or they believe his excuses. Fast forward to Armstrong, a lot of people (cycling fans at least) already consider him a cheat and mainly based on what others have alleged. And the second any truly hard evidence comes out linking Armstrong to taking a PED even once his legacy will be completely ruined and assumed that he doped in all 7 TdF wins. How come that is?
 
#2 ·
Eddy is a nice, likable guy. Lance is the opposite, a selfish, egocentric, arrogant guy who makes it quite easy for people to really dislike him. While they quite probably both doped throughout their careers, Lance has done and said lots of things to open the door for the public to wish he goes down in flames...
 
#3 ·
Dan Gerous said:
Eddy is a nice, likable guy. Lance is the opposite, a selfish, egocentric, arrogant guy who makes it quite easy for people to really dislike him. While they quite probably both doped throughout their careers, Lance has done and said lots of things to open the door for the public to wish he goes down in flames...
Actually, I think the public still likes Lance. It's cycling fans that tend not to like him. Although I'm a cycling fan and I happen to be a fan. Those are characteristics that make someone a winner, Contador's the same way. I'm sure Eddy was the same way back in the day. Of course now he has no reason to be arrogant anymore so everyone knows Eddy as the 'nice and likable' guy.
 
#4 ·
Jason1500 said:
Merkx is considered the Babe Ruth of cyclists, yet he was popped 3x for doping. Yeah he gave the same excuses everyone else does when they get busted, blamed the labs, blamed his doctor for giving it to him, etc. For whatever reason people assume that they were just isolated incidents or they believe his excuses. Fast forward to Armstrong, a lot of people (cycling fans at least) already consider him a cheat and mainly based on what others have alleged. And the second any truly hard evidence comes out linking Armstrong to taking a PED even once his legacy will be completely ruined and assumed that he doped in all 7 TdF wins. How come that is?

Because people pick and choose who they like and don't like.

Most of the time it's because a particular athlete beats "Their" favorite so therefore they must hate the other.

Sometimes it's just to make themselves feel better because they think if it were not for drugs they would make the big time.

Sometimes their lives just suck and they need somebody who is successful to fail so they feel better about themselves.

Who knows...but Eddie is revered even though he was a doper, as are many other riders. Armstrong is hated by many even though he has never actually failed a test. The biggest difference....Lance is from "the now", Eddie is from the "Golden Years" of cycling.
 
#5 ·
Times are different. Back then doping wasn't so much a concern among fans, but there wasn't a drug like EPO or CERA either. I knew Merckx was popped at the '69 Giro but wasn't aware he was caught 3 times.

Anquetil was openly defiant, saying he took drugs, and the public loved him anyway.
 
#6 ·
All good input. It is definitely different now- with so much media attention on the Tour and on Lance, in particular, it becomes polarizing.
As Jason alluded to, I'll bet Eddie was a piece of work back in his day.
People didn't seem so focused on doping back then.
Honestly, I wish they weren't so focused on it now- or more accurately, I wish people and the media were as focused on doping in other sports as they are in cycling.
 
#7 ·
Belgian vs. American. Also times have changed. If Eddy was currently winning and people suspected he was doping to win, then people would want to see him fry also.

It is funny that we are only concerned with the guys who win races. Nobody seems to be concerned about the dopers at the back of the peloton.

Like someone mentioned before, they should just ban the top 10 finishers of any pro race anywhere on earth:)
 
#8 ·
All in all, many sports heroes are tainted, some of the best basketball teams in the end, are built on money, steroids powered some NFL teams, we want our heroes to be perfect but they have human flaws like everyone else.

Track and Field in the Olympics and other events has had so much doping use, we see a runner set some great record, but most of us don't take it absolutely that serious and view much of it with suspicion.

In a nutshell.

------------

Now, to the matters at hand, did people know that Eddie was in a bad accident early in his career, the motorcycle pacer actually got killed and Eddie was hurt, he may have been even better.

And there was a reason he was called the 'Cannibal', he devoured a number of races.

But hey, let's not go too far that everyone loved Eddie, the guy was punched in the stomach on that one tour. I've never heard who it was who did that to him.

Doping back then must have been a little bit different, just like it 'seems' to me, boxing was heavily corrupt and fixed back in the old days (sure, and may still have some of that), but we just look past it.
 
#9 ·
Dan Gerous said:
Eddy is a nice, likable guy. Lance is the opposite, a selfish, egocentric, arrogant guy who makes it quite easy for people to really dislike him. While they quite probably both doped throughout their careers, Lance has done and said lots of things to open the door for the public to wish he goes down in flames...
It's good to hear the perspective of someone that personally close to each of these guys.
 
#10 ·
Merckx's doping busts

#1 Giro one was a fraud, even Gimondi believed it to be

#2 Cough Syrup that was on / off / on the banned list. Doctor's mistake

#3 Stimul along with 15 others
"That, I can't deny. I was positive along with around 15 others. I was wrong to trust a doctor."
 
#11 ·
Dan Gerous said:
Eddy is a nice, likable guy. Lance is the opposite, a selfish, egocentric, arrogant guy who makes it quite easy for people to really dislike him. While they quite probably both doped throughout their careers, Lance has done and said lots of things to open the door for the public to wish he goes down in flames...

I agree and this applies to the MLB as well.
If A-Rod is Eddy, then Barry Bond is Lance......
 
#14 ·
spade2you said:
Have YOU met him? I haven't, but all of my friends who have met him, most of whom met him at last year's Leadville, said he seemed like a normal guy.
Isn't media perception a great thing :thumbsup:

What's funny, and most people don't understand is the individuals with the worst public profiles are generally the nicest guys when you actually meet them. The ones with the best public profiles are generally the biggest jerks out there.

What one sees on TV, hears on Radio and reads in Print are generally not the truth...just what people want to hear or what the reporter wants to say based on how hard they had to work to get the interview and how likely they are to get an interview in the future...not the truth about the individual.

Gotta love it :aureola:
 
#15 ·
Wookiebiker said:
Isn't media perception a great thing :thumbsup:

What's funny, and most people don't understand is the individuals with the worst public profiles are generally the nicest guys when you actually meet them. The ones with the best public profiles are generally the biggest jerks out there.

What one sees on TV, hears on Radio and reads in Print are generally not the truth...just what people want to hear or what the reporter wants to say based on how hard they had to work to get the interview and how likely they are to get an interview in the future...not the truth about the individual.

Gotta love it :aureola:
Perception is 9/10ths of the law....er wait, that's possession. :p Sometimes the truth or part of it is for sale. I only learn't that one the hard way with a company that what was printed may not be how it happened, but history is often written by the victors.

I guess a thing that annoys me slightly about cycling is how certain riders are good guys while guys like Vino or Contador are villains. Perhaps they might not be my #1 choice to have a beer with, but that doesn't take anything away from their racing.

Like anything else, all riders are human and subject to good and bad days. After a heated race, I've seen pretty calm dudes throw hissy fits about who took what line around the final corner.

On a side note, a friend of mine was racing with Landis somewhere in California and said he's a blast to hang out with, specifically noting that he has a hilarious, but dark and sarcastic sense of humor.
 
#16 ·
early one said:
You have to see A Sunday in Hell. Great movie of Eddies era.

----------
A Lance fan.
I know- I gotta buy it!! It's embarrassing that I don't own it already...
I've heard it's great (hey, it's Paris-Roubaix -how could it be anything but great?!)
 
#18 ·
Son Axel, associated with Dr. Ferrarri : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Ferrari , Merckx big official at the Tour of Quatar (?) I believe where the young Nolf passed on.

Eddie punched at the Tour de France, http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/riders/rider_bio.asp?rider_id=1 again, but maybe that has garned him sympathy, Merckx fans did not address how this made him popular.

So it's a two way street, perhaps, Eddie has "band wagon" type of support that goes with winners, in the USA, I'll see a ton of Trek bikes, I don't see Merckx bikes if he is so popular though I know they are sought after.
 
#19 · (Edited)
At 150m before the line, a man, a sort of Dupont-Lajoie[n 8] came out of the crowd and punched Merckx in the kidney, with a blow loaded with hate. The act of a fanatic, an opponent [mécreant], symptomatic of the anti-Merckxism that reigned.[14][40] this is all the detail I could find, I( do vaguely remember it happening. He was always painted as the good guy but his arrogance although well earned could be irritating.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100707113336AAaT61K

"Anti-Merckxism", note that. Now Eddie rode some decades ago.

So, we can't compare Lance and Eddie in that way, I've read "It's not about the bike" reviews at French amazon, in ways, it's like what you read on the Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk which is to say, largely generous in their ratings and reviews.
 
#20 ·
Just curious, how often was Merckx Tested? I know Lance has stated he was tested over 25 times during comback 2.0. I wonder if that has anything to do with only three positives for Eddie...
 
#21 ·
Jason1500 said:
Merkx is considered the Babe Ruth of cyclists, yet he was popped 3x for doping. Yeah he gave the same excuses everyone else does when they get busted, blamed the labs, blamed his doctor for giving it to him, etc. For whatever reason people assume that they were just isolated incidents or they believe his excuses. Fast forward to Armstrong, a lot of people (cycling fans at least) already consider him a cheat and mainly based on what others have alleged. And the second any truly hard evidence comes out linking Armstrong to taking a PED even once his legacy will be completely ruined and assumed that he doped in all 7 TdF wins. How come that is?
First, learn to spell his name.

He was accused over syrup and amfetamins everybody was (visibly!) using back in the days.

Doping or not, they will never be on the same level. Merckx won almost every Classic that has ever existed (more than once) and won rides in a way LA can only imagine.

I'm not saying LA is a fraud or not great champion, you just can't compare them. There is a reason people all around the world see Merckx as the GOAT, and not Armstrong. Tip: watch their 'palmares'
 
#22 ·
FlandersFields said:
First, learn to spell his name.

He was accused over syrup and amfetamins
Caution, ironic post: read carefully.
 
#24 ·
I think a lot of them doped back then. The difference was that the drugs were simpler, and often more in line with amphetamines. This will sounds sort of perverse, but everyone had the same chance since they all had access to pretty much the same drugs, mostly stimulants. Not so, today. Drugs like EPO have totally changed the scene. Designer drugs tailored to individual riders allegedly give some obscene advantages over others.

Also, note that Eddy has admitted that he doped at one or two points, but is adamant that at least one drug test (the Giro affair) was rigged by the Giro organizers. This was immediately after Eddy was allegedly offered a bribe to let a lesser Italian win the Italian national tour. When he refused, presto, his samples came back positive.

I'm not defending doping, just trying to put some perspective on things. Doping back then, while still wrong and a form of cheating, was very different. No one's blood oxygen carrying ability was altered by EPO, for example. And, samples were still liable to mishandling, just as Floyd's were. Now, before you jump on me, I believe Floyd to be a lying, cheating, sleazy, scumbag weasel. However, if his hearing did any good at all, it was in demonstrating that while the proper results came back, the lab doing the work on his samples was slipshod in its methods, at best. That makes me wonder which other cyclists were actually clean but had their samples come back as positive due to lab errors, or even outright manipulation, like Eddy's reportedly were at the Giro.
 
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