thats exactly what it means. he didnt win those races. sports have rules and those rules determine the outcome.
No doubt he won them and the "stripping" of them doesn't do a whole lot in my opinion, it is like vacting wins for a football team. Its crap. The sport was and probably still is massively polluted with guys doing their best to raise their rbc count. Lance just did it better than everyone else.
Europe does not like Americans going over and dominating their sports... the TDF is one of their most prestigeous titles and Lance owned it for 7 years. Yeh there's butt hurt race officials with an axe to grind as well.
They never have, it all started with Greg Lamond and he and lance are like a cat and a dog, just hate each other to the core. Not sure why but they do. I'm telling you, if Lance Armstrong were on fire I'm not sure there would be a lot of people rushing to put him out. They'd probably all have a gas can.
WADA has recognized that testing for drug presence in the body is antiquated and defeated by athletes today. That is why Armstrong's 'i never tested positive' doesn't mean anything. The Biological Passport system is being used today to test increased levels of biological markers from an athletes established baseline. No one knows how that system is being defeated yet...
I'm sorta torn on this subject.....part of me thinks yeah no doubt the guy cheated and has been lying for years and I've also heard rumors like Shane says of what a giant asshole he is......The other side of me thinks, he wasn't the only one cheating, sounds like the entire Cycling community was cheating which levels the playing field so therefore he really did win those races......
everyone was cheating, and armstrong was the best at cheating. but the sport isnt about who is the best at cheating, its who can pedal a bike. he didnt win those races.
