"Haters gonna hate."

This slang sentiment couldn’t be more true of Lance Armstrong’s current predicament.

The seven-time Tour de France winner is once again being persecuted by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that is alleging that Armstrong took banned substances that helped him to win his consecutive Tour de France cycling titles.

The evidence that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs isn’t overwhelming — it’s non-existent. What the USADA has is a handful of people who, in some cases, have admitted to doping themselves and are willing to accuse Armstrong of using drugs too.

First of all, since when is "he-said, she-said" enough to strip someone of their victories? Armstrong has passed over 500 drug tests during his career, with a chunk of those being unannounced or random testing.

Looking at that from a statistical standpoint, if he was seriously doping over an extended period of time, chances are that it would have shown up in one of those drug tests.

Also, former teammates of Armstrong’s, such as Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton are the ones who are accusing the cancer-survivor of doing these things. They are also the ones who admit to doing it themselves, thus making them cheaters. So why should the testimony of cheaters even be considered valid since playing by the rules clearly isn’t their game?

For some reason, the USADA has decided to hone in on cycling, a sport that aside from Lance Armstrong, no one cares about. This only makes it more clear that this is clearly a witch hunt being conducted after one of America’s heroes.

To add more fuel to the fire, since retiring from cycling, Armstrong has been professionally competing in Ironman triathlons, but the World Triathlon Corporation has decided not to allow Armstrong to compete just because he is under investigation for doping. What happened to innocence until proven guilty?

Armstrong is an iron man himself. An image that comes to mind is one of him, hairless as he had been going under treatment for testicular cancer, pedaling away on a stationary bike. It shows how hard he has worked to achieve what he has and that his accomplishments are deserving and rightfully his.

It’s a shame that there are people that are trying to derail him and his legacy because to myself and to many others, he represents more than just being good at riding a bicycle. He’s faced adversity, including these allegations, he’s inspiring, dedicated, hardworking, and a role model.

But hopefully Armstrong doesn’t let these haters get to him and chooses to continue to live strong.