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Lance Armstrong wins Sports Illustrated's Anti-Sportsman of the Year award

Team GB's Philip Hindes alo makes shortlist for that tumble in the Olympic team sprint final...

Lance Armstrong may have lost his seven Tour de France titles, but he’s back to winning ways after being awarded the title of Anti-Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine. He’s not the only cyclist on the list, either – Team GB’s very own Philip Hindes comes in at number five.

The Texan edged out Olympics badminton to claim the top spot in the awards, with the 14 examples cited showcasing athletes guilty of trying to gain an edge or displaying bad sportsmanhip “Whether it was by trying to game the system or by flat-out cheating, spouting profanities at a fan or directing racist epithets at an opponent.”

Armstrong’s citation reads:

Lance Armstrong tops the list of athletes who should have his or her Sportsman of the Year Award revoked. Armstrong's legacy crumbled faster than his steroid-fueled thighs used to take him up France's Pyrenees Mountains; former teammates admitted that not only had Armstrong constantly used steroids, but also that he practically forced his teammates to do the same. Not that he'll admit to any of it.

Hindes, meanwhile, admitted to the BBC’s Jill Douglas after helping Team GB win Olympic gold against France in the team sprint final that he had engineered a fall deliberately after starting badly to secure a restart, which under the rules can be only be granted in the case of mechanical problem or a “genuine accident.”

We suspect that it’s the closest that Sir Chris Hoy, standing next to him with disbelief etched across his face, has ever come to swearing on live TV.

Hindes subsequently retracted his comments, with British Cycling saying that the ‘misunderstanding’ had been due to language problems – he was born and grew up in Germany – but the damage was already done.

You can see the full gallery of athletes who made this year’s hall of infamy here.
 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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10 comments

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comm88 | 11 years ago
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Louse Armstrong - sporting shithouse - enuff said!!!

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new-to-cycling | 11 years ago
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Why would you be stupid enough to admit to it on the record once you have gotten away with it? Hindes was one of two athletes to make the list for doing exactly that

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notfastenough | 11 years ago
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Hindes was gaming the system, but let's not pretend he's the only one. Early falls are a regular occurrence on the track, he was just naive enough to admit to it on camera.

I can think of many more who can be pointed at for "flat-out cheating, spouting profanities at a fan or directing racist epithets at an opponent"

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PaulVWatts replied to notfastenough | 11 years ago
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Is gaming the system blinkered GB supporter newspeak for cheating?

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Simon_MacMichael replied to PaulVWatts | 11 years ago
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PaulVWatts wrote:

Is gaming the system blinkered GB supporter newspeak for cheating?

It's a quote from Sports Illustrated. US magazine, so GB supporters, blinkered or otherwise, don't come into it.

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PaulVWatts replied to Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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I beg to differ. I was replying to another comment and I can't find any "gaming the system" quote in your article.

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Simon_MacMichael replied to PaulVWatts | 11 years ago
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PaulVWatts wrote:

I beg to differ. I was replying to another comment and I can't find any "gaming the system" quote in your article.

Well it' in there as "game the system" not "gaming the system" but let's not split hairs, eh?

Didn't realise you were quoting notfastenough's reply rather than referring to the article - that's where the quote feature under comments comes in handy, avoids the type of confusion I fell into, apologies if that led to further confusion...

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Sadly Biggins | 11 years ago
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Can't wait for the Twitter pick of him relaxing next to this award on his wall

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Super Domestique replied to Sadly Biggins | 11 years ago
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Sadly Biggins wrote:

Can't wait for the Twitter pick of him relaxing next to this award on his wall

I really did lol

Thanks  16

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TheRaceRadio replied to Sadly Biggins | 11 years ago
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Great post. Susan Westemeyer and her cycling news sockpuppets and me worked so hard to bring down Lance Armstrong. We need to be rewarded.

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