Are Doping Allegations Catching Up to Lance Armstrong?

Much like the pack of cyclists frantically trying to catch Armstrong as he rode to victory in seven Tour de France races, doping allegations have doggedly followed him for years. We believe that unfortunately, those allegations may be catching up.

We’ve been looking at the cycling legend’s behavior for a long time, and our analysis has yielded concerns that there may be validity to some of the claims lodged against him.While we’ve seen and heard a significant volume of deceptive indicators whenever Armstrong speaks on this issue, there are two in particular that have long stood out.

The first is the failure of Armstrong to deny that he used drugs of any sort to improve his cycling performance. Despite media reports that construe Armstrong’s comments as such denials, linguistically and behaviorally they are not. Rarely have we heard Armstrong say, “I didn’t do it.” We believe strongly in the behavioral adage that “the facts are the ally of the truthful person.” As a result, when truthful people are asked about an act of wrongdoing, they will often fixate on the most important of those facts, which are things such as “I didn’t do it. You got the wrong guy. It wasn’t me.” Armstrong simply has not done that.

Instead, Armstrong has focused on attacking his accusers, which is the second deceptive indicator consistently seen in his behavior. In essence, if people don’t have facts to rely on, like the knowledge that they didn’t do it, how do they effectively respond to an allegation? One way is to go on the offensive and simply try to impeach the credibility of those making the allegations.

One of Armstrong’s biggest and most persistent detractors has been former teammate Floyd Landis. Here are a couple of the things Armstrong has said in response to some of the doping allegations made by Landis:

"I would remind everyone that this is a man that has been under oath several times with a very different version."

“Today’s Wall Street Journal article [July 3, 2010] is full of false accusations and more of the same old news from Floyd Landis, a person with zero credibility and an established pattern of recanting tomorrow what he swears to today…. Landis’ credibility is like a carton of sour milk: once you take the first sip, you don’t have to drink the rest to know it has all gone bad.”

While Landis may in fact be of questionable character, it doesn’t mean there is no substance to the claims he and others have levied against Armstrong. The predicament here is that the psychological mindset that appears to be reflected by Armstrong’s reliance on attacks against his accusers in lieu of focusing on what, if he were being truthful, would be a steady stream of strong, consistent denials, is much more in line with someone who is not being completely honest about his actions.

The realization that an American sports legend such as Armstrong, who has beaten so many of the competitors he has faced -- including the most deadly of challengers, cancer -- might not be telling the truth is a bitter pill to swallow for many Americans. We wonder if Armstrong is looking back over his shoulder and marveling at the stamina of the truth that has steadily gained on him.