It did not surprise me when at the end of August Lance Armstong declared that he was no longer going to fight against the doping charges against him. I had always believed that he had not been honest with the world. Who can forget that Tour de France where he climbed the mountain, looked back at the field, grinned  and  rode off – at what seemed to me – enormous speed? That is usually reserved for  Marvel Superheroes.

As a trained lawyer I strongly believe in “innocent until proven guilty”. So all these years I have acknowledged his brilliance at creating this amazing personal brand – not only about his own persona but also his charity. It seemed to keep all those speculations against him at bay. It was the best defense against anyone accusing him of being a cheat.

But what is perplexing me as a communications professional is  now that he has been stripped of his titles, his sponsors have dropped him and he will never be able to race again what has happened to that well-oiled PR machine that we have known to be Lance Armstrong? It has gone silent.

Going silent in a crisis is like the 101 of PR mistakes. It cannot get worse. So come out. Say something. Anything. And move on.