The Lance Armstrong sideshow has hopefully reached a media crescendo. Fingers crossed that from here, Armstrong will now fade into cycling ignominy, joining the drug liars and cheats from other international sports.
Has the whole truth now been subject to the disinfectant of full, qualified and impartial investigation? Not likely. The only thing that sets Armstrong apart from hairy-armed shot-putters is the sophistication of the cheating and the obscene rewards he reaped.
It's been a long time that Armstrong has wriggled on the hook, looking for the opportunity to make the music die and live in perfect denial. All that remains is how history will judge him or how solid is his PR machine which has managed to keep the doubters and accusers at bay for the past decade.
But it seems cycling can claim little credit for engineering a peep into Lance's Pandora's box - in the end it appears it was the PR lackeys and television network executives who oversaw Armstrong's final fall from grace. Of course, it won't be the last in the dog-eat-dog world of international sport.
We're deluding ourselves if we don't accept that doping isn't a part of sport at all levels and, while there is reward in winning at all costs, the cheats will continue to exist. Winning is just far too intoxicating for us all to be gallant losers.
