Nobody Won
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Lance Armstrong was the winner of seven Tour de France races between 1999 and 2005.
And then he was stripped of all seven titles for doping. It was a doping era. Most riders doped. Lance just doped the best.
I read a stat once that says across 35 top-five rider-slots between 1999 and 2005, 32 out of 35 riders either had an official positive test at some point in their career, or they were later implicated, sanctioned, confessed, or had suspicious medical data linked to them.
How far down in the final standings would you have to go to find a clean rider?
Well, the Tour organisers couldn't find any clean riders to award the wins to, so those seven races were officially declared without a winner. If you look at the record books, it just says “No winner.”
One of my favourite riders from that era was Marco Pantani, the Pirate. Back then, riders didn't have to wear helmets, so he would wear a bright bandana with hoop earrings as he powered up those mountains. Pantani had doping problems of his own.
But there was one guy though, and I doff my cap to this man. Fernando Escartín.
He’s the anomaly that proves the rule. He was one of the few podium finishers from the Armstrong era who was never sanctioned for doping and was not directly implicated in the major scandals that swallowed the sport.
In an era built on silence and omertà, with nearly every top rider implicated in doping, Escartín stands out as the rare exception.
There’s a lot to digest about that era. You see versions of it everywhere. A workplace where the incentives are perfectly aligned for cheating.
Cheating doesn’t become a moral failure. It becomes a competitive necessity.
Fans still debate whether the sport is “clean” or just “cleaner.”
My take on that. No idea.