Lance Armstrong... greatest doper there was or ever will be

For me, what is important here is that a clear message is given that if a team institutes a systematic doping programme then the team management can be banned from the sport. The USADA charges are not solely against Armstrong but against those in management positions, and Armstrong was a shareholder in the management company that ran the USPS, Discovery Channel and Radioshack teams hence his inclusion.

The unwritten rule previously was that if a rider tested positive then he was discarded and toed the line that he'd acted alone. Then he'd likely get a new contract when his ban expired.

Very good point, especially as there was an almost unbroken continuity of the same team management outfits getting sponsor after sponsor and continuing to practise the same doping régimes over and over.