With Armstrong, there is a sense in which people choose a line and condemn anyone who goes beyond it.
I'm reminded of a (slightly grubby) story in which a man asks if a woman will sleep with him for £5 million. She agrees without enthusiasm. He then asks whether she would for £50. Disgusted, she says "What do you think I am, a common hooker?" "We've already established that," says the man. "Now we're just negotiating".
Similarly, in cycling it is a matter of where we draw the line. In the 'Lance Armstrong Era', twenty-one riders made the podium of the TdF. Of those, all but one have been banned, have been linked to a major investigation or have since admitted to doping.
Then we look to the winners and well-placed riders in the TdF in the years before Lance: Pantani, Riis, Ullrich, Indurain, Fignon, Roche and so on... One could mention more names, but people would be offended.
The list of winners since Lance gets slightly fraught, as we all have a soft spot for a Cobber who grinds through the ranks and eventually wins after being the bridesmaid so often... and nobody wants to suggest that a British winner has micro-dosed anything to keep him just below a dodgy level.
But we are left with the feeling that whether or not it is now a clean sport at the highest level, cycling has form. Despite this, many of us have loved every moment of every TdF for decades in the pretty certain knowledge that it is dirty. People who act 'horrified' about PEDs in cycling remind me a little of kids who get to tweve and find that WWF wrestling is just theatre for small children.
I still remember with fondness some of the racing in the Armstrong years. Some fans waste no opportunity to pour scorn and invective at every mention of his name and say how they feel betrayed, cheated or let down. They are the real fans, who salute winners who do it by hard work alone. They salute winners like.... ermmm... hang on.... Golly! Well, anyway, they salute the ones who are just jolly good riders. Names to follow... Perhaps.
But they get jolly cross if anyone says a good thing about Armstrong or a bad thing about one of the guys they're sure are clean.
I do think cheats add something to sport. Some of them get found out and attract some vitriol. Some go down as legends. Some get honoured by their country. I like them all.