Originally posted on 08/24/2012:

Slightly amused how many people are surprised by this.

Did anyone really think he wasn't doping? The guy won seven Tours in a row, in a doping team, surrounded by team-mates who all doped, with doping doctors, and nearly everybody he beat has also been since caught doping (not just 2nd, but pretty much everybody in the top10, every single year).

Retests of Armstrong's blood from 99 showed he had EPO in his bloodstream, but as this wasn't a formal sanctioned drug test, he got away with it. He was offered the chance to have this retested, to clear his name, but again - he refused.

US anti doping also have dozens of blood samples from recent years they were going to bring out in arbitration - it's probably this why Armstrong decided not to even challenge it. There's no way he was going to be reprieved, just far far too much evidence.