Five Banned for Six Over Doping

Announced today, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Tom Danielson, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie were banned from the world of cycling for a reduced sentence of only six months after agreeing to testify against Lance Armstrong in his recent doping scandal. Armstrong has been stripped of all seven of his Tour De France cycling medals on charges of blood doping and now, there are accusations that he was essentially the ring leader in an organized blood doping conspiracy that has rocked the sporting world. By admitting their guilt, and complying with authorities, the former riding partners of Armstrong are testifying against him and provided prosecutors with essential testimony that will seal Armstrong’s fate. Lance has already been banned from the sport indefinitely, and will likely face massive amounts of fines including the reimbursement of the his Tour De France winnings. Some who are also former team mates have spoken up about the leniency of the courts on the other ‘cheaters’ just because they chose to cover their well being by subjecting Lance to more scrutiny. One retired team mate says they five men should get the exact same punishment as Lance and at the moment they are merely receiving a slap on the wrist for the exact same crimes that Armstrong is being banned over. By saying its ok to cheat as long as you give yourself up after someone else already got caught, you are changing the validity of sport. More details about the case are unfolding daily, and currently it looks like beyond the six month ban, the group were required to remove themselves from the August Olympics. Again, this is seen as not a good enough answer to their crimes.