to a well written article by Matthew Beaudin pasted below:
"There is a chance that all of this has been mapped in Armstrong’s inner-circle, that a course of action has been charted and the media is merely ghost-writing a script that’s already been roughed out. But something seems different this time; the veneer is gone, and leaked attempts to settle with Landis and testify against the UCI deviate from the devastating control Armstrong has always craved and always exerted.
What has made the Texan unflappable, both on and off the bike, was his calculation, his ability to intimidate a rival, determine a weakness and ride away. But Armstrong always knew his enemy, and knew where the attacks would come from. He had a run of remarkable luck in France, and when the U.S. Attorney’s office abandoned a deep investigation. Simply, Armstrong never had bad days.
Until now."
The ever-shifting ground beneath Lance
By Matthew Beaudin Published Jan. 15, 2013