Lance

i believed in Lance Armstrong. that was as clear as crystal.

but the various changes to the plot this past week have to me bordered on the absurd. what played out has been a very very tricky situation and to take sides really does no one any good.

Armstrong isn't just iconic for winning the brutal Tour de France in the gruelling sport of cycling. seven times. making him the greatest cyclist ever. Armstrong claimed that yellow jersey again and again after defeating cancer, not your ordinary benign kind, he was told by doctors death was likelier than survival.

his Livestrong foundation for cancer has raised $470 million, while the circulation for his iconic yellow wristbands stands at 80 million worldwide.

i challenge you to find a greater sportsman.

no doubt he's a controversial figure, but don't blame the sport. cycling's one of the most stringent and transparent sports on the planet. Armstrong can't be categorised with Floyd Landis or Tyler Hamilton.

then it happened -- Armstrong withdrew from contesting USADA charges. this is akin to discarding your gun in a pistol duel -- you're dead.

allegations have been aplenty since 2004, teammates, medical personnel, officials and insiders accusing him of doping and controlling a complex network that helped him evade prosecution. the fact, though, is that Armstrong has, in a career spanning hundreds of tests, never tested positive.

but look at the media coverage after his decision to quit. coverage was largely favourable to him, running stories of how fans believe in him, of how sponsors are standing by him. his full statement was published in my national paper, a statement even the man on the street would know is self-serving. in it he says:

"Enough is enough... I have been subjected to... Travis Tygart’s unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today -- finished with this nonsense.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court... recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.

I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair.

From the beginning, this investigation has [been] about punishing me at all costs.

I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours... Nobody can ever change that.

I’m looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction."

the issue is clear -- when you're a public figure and you face accusations, you have to answer them, especially charges from an official body. true, USADA may be rubbish, but we can only slam the authorities that much. at the end of the day, we need to have faith in governing bodies to have faith in sports.

Armstrong may be exhausted, he may spit at USADA's motives. hell, he may even be innocent. but walking away is wrong.

by quitting, a cyclist who never knew how to quit leaves fans hanging. what's the conclusion, we beg?

what is truly behind the statement, we will never know. the cynic in me says Armstrong could be manipulating the public into cementing his legacy. if the courts had the chance to find him guilty, he would forever be labelled a cheat, right? what's clear is that Armstrong has a fairytale story and by walking away there'll always be people who'll buy that story.

for me? his decision is likely to strip him of his Tour de France wins and trigger other technical, obligatory sanctions.

i say, so be it.

for the good of sports, he deserves it.