Thanks, Spinman. I suppose if it wasn't for the greater likelihood for success in a sport where doping was generally practiced at the highest competitive levels (and apparently even at lower levels), LA would not have had as many participants in his fraud. It was for the money and the personal prominence. I'll disagree with Boss saying he had little talent, but it seems that the elite of the era (Pantani, Ullrich, Beloki before his injury, Zulle, . . .) all were closer to cyborgs or NASCAR racers, and it was the "team" and the "engineering" in a perverse sense that ended up better than Ullrich/Telecom or Beloki/ONCE.
Other than his physical gifts, the other edge I think he had was his jerk streak that made him view everything as a competition he could win through more effort. I think LA is very similar to Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in this respect.