Lance Armstrong—could a Hollywood screenwriter come up with a better name for an American hero？—had returned that year to the world’s most gruelling test of endurance， the Tour de France. He had spent the previous two years being treated for testicular cancer that had spread throughout his body， which， at the time， was more often than not， a death sentence. The chemotherapy Armstrong received was so powerful， and so toxic， that he suffered burns on his arms from the inside. How could somebody even ride a bicycle after that， let alone win a race that lasted a month， scaled the highest peaks in Europe， and covered more than two thousand miles？

But he not only rode—he won. Again and again and again. Each victory seemingly more thrilling than the last. Seven Tours in all； a feat unmatched in sports.

Cycling had long been tainted by the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs， and Armstrong’s achievement was so astounding that many people simply assumed he relied on them just as others had. The French were the loudest and most persistent critics. But others wondered， too.

Now he is for the ages， in his own Lance way. Lance Armstrong has joined the legion of the lost， the great athletes who were barred or exiled for sins admitted or charged or suspected. Armstrong， who on August 23th， 2012 ended his fight against charges by the United States Anti-Doping Agency that he used performanceenhancing drugs， now belongs in that pantheon of stars who had to go away but never really did. They haunt our psychic memories of who they were， how they excelled， what they could have been. They clog up the sporting record books with their asterisks and their defaults and their suspensions and their white-out accomplishments.

Eventually， the new scrutiny and other suits forced cycling to tighten up. Even without a positive test， the antidoping agency appeared set to move forward with arbitration. It claimed to have more than 10 eyewitnesses who would testify that Armstrong used banned blood transfusions， the blood booster EPO， testosterone and other drugs to win the Tour. The antidoping agency also said it had blood test results of Armstrong’s from 2009 and 2010 that were consistent with doping. It was too dirty to go on like that. Two disgraced champions sang on Armstrong： Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton. The United States Anti-Doping Agency became， as the saying goes， interested in Armstrong. And finally， that most loyal and longstanding outrider of them all， George Hincapie， was forced to give testimony. Omertàgoes only so far.

This is not the first time a top cyclist has suffered such a career implosion—it has been common in cycling in recent years， as doping has crippled the sport. Several recent Tour de France champions have been found guilty of doping， including the American rider Floyd Landis and Alberto Contador of Spain. But none of them had the stature of Armstrong.

By declining to stage any more battles to maintain his innocence， Armstrong is issuing a nonofficial admission of that ultimate legal admission： not mea culpa but no más. Ultimately， his lawyers must have told him it was over. His decision means he will almost certainly be stripped of his seven Tour titles， the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Olympics and all other titles， awards and money he won from August 1998 on. It also means he will be barred for life from competing， coaching or having any official role with any Olympic sport or other sport that follows the World Anti-Doping Code.

He could have chosen to go to arbitration， which would havemeant that witnesses could testify against him in a hearing possibly opentothe public. Instead， he chose to bow out of the process.

In doing so， he emphasized that his Tour victories would always be his.

“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，” Armstrong said， adding： “The toughest event in the world， where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. If Lance is clean， it is the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If he isn’t， it would be the greatest fraud.”

蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗——即使是好萊塢編劇家，也無法為“美國英雄”這角色編出一個(gè)更厲害的人物了吧？——那一年，他回歸環(huán)法自行車賽，那是世界上對耐力要求最為嚴(yán)苛的試煉。在此之前，他花了兩年時(shí)間治療已蔓延全身的睪丸癌，而那時(shí)，睪丸癌幾乎就是死刑。阿姆斯特朗接受高強(qiáng)度化療，極為毒性，他的手臂經(jīng)受著由內(nèi)到外被灼傷的苦痛。經(jīng)歷過如此折磨之后，誰還能再騎自行車？更別提贏得長達(dá)一個(gè)月的比賽，攀登歐洲最高峰，騎過兩千多英里路了。

但是，他不只是騎完了——他還贏得了比賽，還贏了一次又一次。每一次的勝利都看似比上一次更驚心動魄。一共七次環(huán)法冠軍，這是運(yùn)動史上無與倫比的壯舉。

自行車賽一直有濫用興奮劑的丑聞，阿姆斯特朗的成績?nèi)绱梭@人，很多人就很容易猜想他只是像其他人一樣依賴興奮劑。法國人的批評就最為猛烈且從未間斷，而其他人也同樣持有懷疑。

如今阿姆斯特朗已是時(shí)代的經(jīng)典人物，以他獨(dú)有的蘭斯方式。蘭斯·阿姆斯特朗加入了迷途者的軍團(tuán)，那些最偉大的運(yùn)動員們，皆因認(rèn)罪、被指控或涉嫌使用興奮劑而被禁賽或被逐出比賽。阿姆斯特朗，于2012年8月23日放棄與美國反興奮劑機(jī)構(gòu)的抗?fàn)帲摼种缚厮褂眠`禁藥物，現(xiàn)在他屬于萬神殿的恒星，不得不流逝卻從未真正銷聲匿跡。恒星們常常出沒于我們心靈的記憶，提醒我們：他們是誰，他們是如何超越以及他們本該取得怎樣的成就。那些賽場成績記錄簿上，填滿了他們的星號、違規(guī)行為、被停賽經(jīng)歷和被修正的戰(zhàn)績。 最終，新的審查及其他訴訟使得自行車運(yùn)動加強(qiáng)了管理。即使檢查結(jié)果沒有呈陽性，反興奮劑機(jī)構(gòu)似乎也準(zhǔn)備推進(jìn)仲裁。其宣稱有超過十名的目擊者能證明阿姆斯特朗注射違禁促紅細(xì)胞生成素EPO、睪丸素以及其他藥物，以贏得比賽。反興奮劑機(jī)構(gòu)還表示，阿姆斯特朗從2009年到2010年的血液測試結(jié)果符合服用興奮劑的猜測。這些指責(zé)的手段低劣得讓人不想再繼續(xù)一一列舉了。兩位聲名狼藉的冠軍，佛洛伊德·蘭迪斯和泰勒·漢密爾頓，也指認(rèn)阿姆斯特朗。如人們所說，美國反興奮劑機(jī)構(gòu)開始變得對阿姆斯特朗感興趣起來。而最終，一直以來最忠誠的先鋒護(hù)衛(wèi)，喬治·因卡皮耶也被迫出庭作證。緘默法則也不過到此為止罷了。

這已經(jīng)不是第一次有頂級自行車運(yùn)動員在職業(yè)生涯中遭受這樣的內(nèi)爆——這在最近幾年的自行車運(yùn)動中已是屢見不鮮，興奮劑已使得這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動斑駁不堪。最近幾次的環(huán)法冠軍都被發(fā)現(xiàn)使用興奮劑，包括美國騎手佛洛伊德·蘭迪斯和西班牙騎手阿爾伯托·康塔多。但是他們都沒有阿姆斯特朗那樣的地位。

放棄再上演更多的抗?fàn)幰跃S護(hù)自己的清白，阿姆斯特朗針對自己最終在法律上的認(rèn)罪發(fā)表了一個(gè)非官方陳述：不是我的過失，僅此而已。最終，他的律師告訴他一切都結(jié)束了。他的決定意味著他幾乎肯定會被剝奪環(huán)法七冠，他在2000年奧運(yùn)會獲得的銅牌以及其他所有的頭銜、獎項(xiàng)和從1998年8月起贏得的所有獎金。這也意味著他將終身被禁參賽、從教或者擔(dān)任任何官方職務(wù)，無論是在奧運(yùn)會項(xiàng)目中還是在其他遵循世界反興奮劑條例的運(yùn)動項(xiàng)目中。

他本可以提請仲裁，這意味著，證人可以在對公眾開放的聽證會上指證他。相反，他選擇了退出這場對決。

即使是這么做，他強(qiáng)調(diào)環(huán)法賽冠軍頭銜永遠(yuǎn)是屬于他的。

“我知道是誰奪得了環(huán)法七冠，我的隊(duì)友知道是誰奪得了環(huán)法七冠，所有我的對手也都知道是誰奪得了環(huán)法七冠，”阿姆斯特朗說道，并補(bǔ)充道：“世界上最艱難的賽事，唯有最強(qiáng)大的人才能獲勝。沒有人可以改變。如果蘭斯是清白的，這就是運(yùn)動史上最大的復(fù)興。如果他不清白，這將是最大的欺騙?！?/p>