Why Lance Armstrong? Historical Context and Key Turning Points in the ‘Cleaning Up’ of Professional Cycling

Abstract

The US Anti-Doping Agency published its evidence against Lance Armstrong in October 2012 after a lengthy investigation and a series of testimonies from his former US Postal Service teammates. This article aims to understand the development processes – local and global – that led eventually to his ‘confession’ in January 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey show. By taking a chronological approach from the 1980s onwards, the following key themes will be addressed: the doping state of play when Armstrong began his career; the incremental confessions of other cyclists that helped break down cycling's secret doping culture; the broader organisational changes in anti-doping; the reasons why Armstrong became the focal point of anti-doping efforts; and the implications for professional cycling and anti-doping in the near future. Thus, the aim is to synthesise macro- and micro-level developments to explain the outcomes, and to further understand the consequences of this ‘scandal’.