Trouble ahead for Lance Armstrong

[brownie]

From AFP:

Armstrong targeted in new book which alleges doping

PARIS (AFP) - Five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong could see his plans for a record sixth victory next month disrupted by the fall-out from a potentially damaging book which alleges the American has been involved in doping since recovering from cancer in 1998.

 

Entitled "L.A. Confidential - The secrets of Lance Armstrong" and co-written by award-winning Sunday Times journalist David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, a cycling specialist formerly with L'Equipe, the soon-to-be-published book contains allegations which appear in this week's L'Express, a weekly magazine.

The 33-year-old Armstrong, an icon to millions of people around the world since recovering from cancer in 1998, continues to strenuously deny that he has ever taken performance enhancing drugs.

But at the Tour de France in 1999 he failed a test for the corticosteroid triamcinolone - a banned substance which is found in some medicines and creams - although cycling's ruling body the UCI did not sanction him for the offence.

His expoits on the world famous race, which he has won every year since 1999, have motivated thousands of people whether they be cyclists or cancer sufferers.

However claims by a former physiotherapist with the US Postal team, Irishwoman Emma O'Reilly, that Armstrong succumbed to using the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin) threaten to take the shine off the American's glittering reputation.

O'Reilly worked with Armstrong for three and a half years from 1998 and was in almost constant contact with his close-knit team.

She reveals how, among other dubious tasks, she was asked by Armstrong to dispose of bags containing syringes after the end of the Tour of Holland in 1998, only months after the Festina drugs scandal at the Tour de France almost brought the race to its knees.

O'Reilly also says that in May 1999, while Armstrong was at a training camp in the Pyrenees, she was asked to drive to Spain to collect drugs and bring them back into France, which she later handed to Armstrong at a rendez-vous in a car park.

If true, the revelations could blow a hole in the career of Armstrong, who thanks to numerous endorsements with multi-national companies now earns around 16 million dollars a year.

Armstrong has always strenuously denied taking performance enhancing drugs and has only tested positive once - for a corticostroid at the Tour de France in 1999, for which cycling's world ruling body the UCI did not sanction him.

Armstrong has even issued the book's co-author Walsh - the Sunday Times chief sports reporter - with a letter saying he faces a costly legal battle if it is alleged in the book that he has resorted to doping.

However, it is not the first time the American has been in the doping spotlight.

Days before the start of the Tour in 2001 Walsh revealed that Armstrong had had close links with notorious Italian doctor Michele Ferrari.

Ferrari was formerly the team doctor to the Gewiss-Ballan team, which he was forced to leave after he infamously claimed that the banned blood booster EPO (erythropoietin), if used properly, was no more harmful than orange juice.

The Italian has since been a target of Italian magistrates investigating the shady world of doping.

Armstrong, who it was alleged made several consultation trips to see Ferrari in Italy, hit back that he had only consulted Ferrari on advanced training methods with a view to attempting to break the world hour record - which he has yet to attempt.

 

Although a detection test for EPO exists, the drug is still believed to be rampant in the peloton as it can only be detected if it has been taken within three days of the test.

O'Reilly's claims are backed by those of New Zealander Stephen Swart, a former team-mate of Armstrong's when they both rode for the Motorola team in 1994 and 1995.

Swart retired from professional cycling nine years ago and admitted that his decision to succumb to doping was because of pressure from the team.

"Motorola was throwing all this money at the team and we had to come up trumps," he is quoted as saying in the book, to be published this week.

Armstrong will saddle up on July 3 in an attempt to win a record sixth Tour de France - a feat that has never been done.

It will be interesting to see the developments of that story. The book is to be out this week but the article in L'Express magazine is well documented.

Armstrong carefully avoided to comment on the breaking story yesterday after the final stage of the Dauphine Libere cyclig race in Grenoble, France.

I remember the controversy which aroused on the old BNBB two years ago when I made references to similar indications when I voiced dissenting opinions on the cycling star in a thread which was full of praise for him.

[Dan Gould]

Brownie, ESPN.com is reporting that Armstrong continues to promise legal repercussions if the book accusses him as it apparently will. So it will be interesting to see what he actually does. The fact remains he has never tested positive, ever.

What is the perception in France, Brownie? Is there a widespread belief that he dopes? And what is the general opinion about him?

[brownie]

Dan, there has been pretty wide suspicion that Lance Armstrong is 'under the influence' for quite some time. The fact that so far he has not tested positive is not regarded as proof around here since everybody knows that the cyclling doping controls are not what they should be.

Doping has been a wide practice in the cycling world and no wonder since so many of those races require unbelievable efforts and stamina.

Armstrong is rated as a great champion here. Winning five Tour de France is a remarkable feat. Experts however wish that he would widen his cycling victories to other classic races (like Paris-Roubaix or the Giro d'Italia, races that Armstrong stays away from) instead of restricting himself to the preparation of his Tour de France victories.

Armstrong is known to be surrounded with medics people who are just a bit ahead of the doping restrictions regulations. This has enabled him to maintain a clean reputation so far. That facade is now being attacked.

As I already mentioned, the book is not out yet but it it already gathering a hufe media interest.

[brownie]

Clem, I don't mind a journalist not really being involved with the cycling milieu and writing about the sports. One of the problems with the really involved sports journalists is that they are so embedded with the riders and their managers that they will not dare publish incriminating articles for fear of cutting themselves from their sources.

This was all too apparent at the time of the doping scandals that plagued the 1998 Tour de France during the Roger Virenque controversy. Most journalists following the Tour de France knew what was going but no one dared talk openly about it. And it took Virenque a couple of yhears to admit he took the wrong substances.

Some of the less involved journalists will develop more informative stories as is apparently the case with the LA case.

As for Armstrong, I have absolutely no doubt about the veracity of the accounts in the book. I had some of the same informations several years ago from a private and very trusted source.

About the Cofidis case, I have not read much about it lately. The Tour de France gets started in three weeks. The Cofidis team - with all its usual suspects - has been invited to the Tour. Will see by then.

Last note about Miguel Indurain. He was the first of the BIG TDF winners to get me a bit bored about the whole thing.

I long for the years of TDF (and other races) winners with panache. Give me Fausto Copi, Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Federico Bahamontes, Felipe Gimondi any time. These were real allaround cycling champions!

[EKE BBB]

The question of what races LA & others do is another issue; ya' know, is anyone criticizing Peter Van Petegem for not riding the Tour? & lest we forget, it was Miguel Indurain, not LA, who made Le Tour THEE one & only true objective in a season.

-1984: Etapa Tour de la Comunidad Europea.

-1985: Dos etapas Tour de la Comunidad Europea, 84º en la general de la Vuelta a España (1 día de líder).

-1986: Tour de la Comunidad Europea, 92º Vuelta a España.

-1987: Vuelta a los Valles Mineros (gana tres etapas), Gran Premio de Navarra, etapa de la Semana Catalana, etapa de la Vuelta a Murcia, etapa de la Vuelta a Galicia, 97º Vuelta a España.

-1988: Volta a Cataluña (gana una etapa), etapa Vuelta a Galicia, etapa Vuelta a Cantabria, 47º en el Tour de Francia.

-1989: París-Niza, Criterium Internacional (gana una etapa), 16º Tour de Francia (gana una etapa).

-1990: París-Niza (gana una etapa), Clásica de San Sebastian, etapa Vuelta al País Vasco, etapa Vuelta a Burgos, etapa Vuelta a la Cominidad Valenciana, 7º Vuelta a España, 10º Tour de Francia (gana una etapa).

-1991: Tour de Francia (gana dos etapas), Volta a Cataluña (gana una etapa), Tour de Vaucluse, dos etapas de la Bicicleta Eibarresa, 2º Vuelta a España, 3º Campeonato del Mundo.

-1992: Tour de Francia (gana tres etapas), Giro de Italia (gana dos etapas e intergiro), Campeonato de España, etapa Trofeo Castilla y León, 2º en Tour de Romandía (gana una etapa), 1º Clasificación FICP.

-1993: etapa Vuelta a Murcia, Giro de Italia (gana dos etapas), dos etapas en la Vuelta a los Valles Mineros, Tour de Francia (gana dos etapas), Trofeo Castilla y León (gana una etapa), Vuelta a los Puertos, 2º Campeonato del Mundo.

-1994: etapa en la Vuelta a Valencia, Tour de L`Oise (gana una etapa), Tour de Francia (gana una etapa), etapa Trofeo Castilla y León, Record de la hora, 3º Giro de Italia..

-1995: etapa de la Vuelta a Aragón, etapa de los Valles Mineros, Vuelta a la Rioja (gana una etapa), Vuelta a Asturias (gana dos etapas), Midi Libre, Dauphiné Liberé (gana una etapa), Tour de Francia (gana dos etapas), Vuelta a Galicia (gana una etapa), Campeón del Mundo contra reloj, 2º Campeonato del Mundo.

-1996: Vuelta al Alentejo (gana dos etapas), Vuelta a Asturias( gana una etapa), Bicicleta Vasca (gana una etapa), Dauphiné Liberé (gana dos etapas), Oro Olímpico en Atlanta contra reloj.

Are you being serious? How many Giros has Armstrong got?

B)

MIGUEL WAS DA MAN!!!

[tonym]

The fact remains he has never tested positive, ever.

Neither did Richard Virenque and look what the press made of him.

Cycling, like many sports, has it's share of doctors and scientists who are always a step ahead of the doping controls. If Armstrong has been doping, quell surprise, he won't be the last. When one can get hold of a course of EPO at 100 Euro, then things have obviously moved on to something more effective/less detectable.

Actually what was quite interesting, the following year after the 1998 ('Festina-affair') Tour was the obvious unwillingness on the part of most of the on-form French riders to chase the seemingly superhuman Armstrong on the Cols when he took off. They were visibly looking around as though to say "Oh no, it's not worth the hassle". One of the after effects of the 98 race was the stringent testing of many French riders. Even teams lower down the ranks experienced the 4am wake up call by the authorities checking haematocrit levels. Hence, the practice of going for a ride around the car park at 3am.

And FWIW David Walsh is quite respected in cycling circles (maybe not literary ones -- big mistake to confuse the two!) he was instrumental in Sean Kelly's biog from 17 or so years ago. A somewhat seminal piece for aspiring cyclists; predating the dross that cycling journos Paul Kimmage and Will Fotheringham mustererd up in the years that followed.

Sadly in the UK this is exactly the sort of news which gets cycling onto the main terrestrial channels. No mention is ever made of who wins Tour of Flanders or Roger Hammond's third place in Paris-Roubaix. A doping scandal assures some decent press coverage and TV interest.

[EKE BBB]

I'll get back to Brownie later (thanks for the info, by the way) but c'mon EKE, you know the sport has changed & you look at those palmares... LA took 4th in the Vuelta too, remember, won Tour de Georgia against a not unmotivated Jens Voight & Bobby Julich this year & rode well at Dauphine, as he has at the Tour de Suisse in years past. Do I wish he rode more of the classics? Sure & the same goes for Jan...

Now, you wanna talk Spanish cycling... Mayo & Zubeldia, Mercado, etc... Oscar Freiere-- I too recall the era of the champion all-rounder fondly but more & more, that's an era which has passed. I don't blame LA for that & yeah, you had Vinokourov riding strong last year, an Erik Zabel...

I hate to say it but between scandal & the total dominance of the TdF, the Giro has become a second tier event.

& hey, EKE: what's up with Roberto Heras, anything? Beloki won't have form in time I don't think... (Sevilla rode well at Dauphine.)

Manolo Saiz is my co-pilot,

clem

You´re right, clementine. I was only trying to make an apologia of Miguelón!

And go, Roberto Heras! (he´s from Béjar, a small town near Salamanca, my birth place).

I´m afraid he spent his best cycling years being the top "gregario" for LA -well, alongside another good Spanish ones, such as Chechu Rubiera-. It brought him money and maybe prestige but not titles.

I rank him as a good to very good climber, but not THE CLIMBER (as Marco Pantani was in his era). Regretfully he loses too many seconds-minutes in chronometered days to recover them climbing Alpes or Pirineos.

Anyway, GO, ROBERTO, GO

Edited June 14, 2004 by EKE BBB

[BruceH]

Say there's not a chance, Lance.

[brownie]

To quote from Greg LeMond after Armstrong won the 2001 Tour. LeMond is the first US winner of the Tour de France (he won the race three times):

"If Lance is clean, it is the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If he isn't, it would be the greatest fraud."

Ironically, the Tour de France officials had scheduled weeks ago a news conference for this morning on the doping controls during the 2004 Tour. The news conference was abruptly cancelled last night.

[tonym]

To quote from Greg LeMond after Armstrong won the 2001 Tour. LeMond is the first US winner of the Tour de France (he won the race three times):

"If Lance is clean, it is the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If he isn't, it would be the greatest fraud."

Interesting that it was Lemond who chose to say this, given that the same could have applied to himself after his 'mishaps' immediately after his '86 win.

Among many cyclists Lemond was always 'suspect', as there is with any great sportsman I suppose, but the peaks and troughs he achieved during his career indicate, to some, that his high points weren't exactly au natural. A very close friend of mine rode up to him on one particular day during a short tour. He was getting back on after a puncture, Lemond was slipping off the back on a short climb. Apparently my friend looked upon Lemond as a bit of a hero but was mortified when he saw this overweight, panting mess struggling to stay in contact. He gave him a bit of a sling up to the back of the bunch and received a grateful "Thank You". It takes a lot of miles and preparation bfeore you look like the lean bodied machine that won the 1989 event. He managed that in a very short space of time. On hardly any racing.

Who was it said though, might have been Anquetil, that you couldn't win the Tour on muesli and water.

Anyone seen any pictures of Lemond lately by the way?

[king ubu]

MIGUEL WAS DA MAN!!!

I know you're spanish, too, but man, can't you see that slightly dumb look he always had?

[king ubu]

By the way, anyone here into cycling themselves? I was up to age 16, when music took over place number 2 in my life (no. 1 always being schooling), once it became less important, and also became clear I wouldn't really make it.

ubu

[EKE BBB]

MIGUEL WAS DA MAN!!!

I know you're spanish, too, but man, can't you see that slightly dumb look he always had?

Yes, it was part of his charm! B)

[king ubu]

MIGUEL WAS DA MAN!!!

I know you're spanish, too, but man, can't you see that slightly dumb look he always had?

Yes, it was part of his charm! B)

Uh I see! I'm sure Dr-whats-his-name-Freud would have a fitting term for this scheme of looking at turning negative things into positives...

ubu

[BeBop]

Tony,

I'm going to stay out of this one. I can't decide if I'm an insider looking out or an outsider looking in.

[tonym]

By the way, anyone here into cycling themselves? I was up to age 16, when music took over place number 2 in my life (no. 1 always being schooling), once it became less important, and also became clear I wouldn't really make it.

ubu

I rode the Tour Of Austria in my early twenties and the Circuit des Mines in France. I didn't win much but have had experience and placings in Belgium, France, Spain and Germany. I've had the pleasure(?) of hanging onto some quite impressive wheels and I've had the pleasure of having my name on an impressive trophy with some big names on (Robert Millar for one). My last race proper was in the company of Jens Heppner (and a small Telekom team), Stuart O'Grady, Brett Aitken, Bradley McGhee et al.

I climbed OK when I was racing and have had none other than Lucien Van Impe shouting encouragement at me on a big mountain, that was rather special.

I think I packed in too early as I seem to have gotten stronger over the last few years. Also I think I would appreciate travelling around a bit more now. One of my friends spends about a third of the year at home and he still live out of his suitcase then! Not sure that appeals though.

[tonym]

On Lance: my only semi-informed guess is that he "experimented" prior to the cancer; I'd guess a bit less than typical Euro pro but that could be my acculturation showing &/or how obvious it always was that Armstrong was a superior physical specimen & thus doping not necessary to the same degree.

Don't really know what constitutes the typical European pro.

Some riders may resort to doping if they are finding life tough, some may need that extra edge for the contract that's been on the horizon for a few years. Others may use some tackle to keep that pro contact. There are lots of factors at play and I'm sure the American schedule is as hectic as the European one these days.

If anything there may be a bit more going on in the more open events where the doping controls aren't present as often. It is common for riders to be aware beforehand whether there will be a control.

Ultimately, doping will go on and if the sport wants to be clean then the onus is on the authorities not to hunt out the odd offender (that is the ones who get caught) but to spend time and money catching up with technological advances in the administering etc of the substances.

As for Armstrong. The fact that he came from triathlon may give him an appearance somewhat different to most 'normal' cyclists, more robust perhaps but not necessarily more superior. I think as far as physical superiority is concerned then Indurain and Bugno were maybe the best recent candidates for that title, in terms of tour riders anyhow.

[brownie]

Nothing really new on the cycling doping front except that three of the italian teams due to take part in the 2004 Tour de France (including Saeco and Domina Vacanze) have been charged last month with using forbidden substances, it was revealed yesterday. Danilo Di Luca and Alessandro Spezialetti are among the riders who were charged.

The usually very careful organisers of the Tour de France have not commented yet on those charges.

The book attacking Lance Armstrong is out in Paris bookstores now.

Lance Armstrong's reactions at the news conference he held yesterday in Maryland were predictable. He has always denied the charges. Shades of Richard Virenque there.

Armstrong admitting to the charges would be like shooting himself in the leg. He would lose most of his sponsorships.

One aspect of the case that surfaced recently also is that Armstrong was an early user of the stuff (when he still was with the notorious Cofidis team) and this probably created problems that led to the appearance of the testicular cancer that developed in 1996.

[Dan Gould]

Before I forget, thanks, Brownie, for answering my question towards the top of this thread.

[tonym]

I do think Armstrong is a classy rider Clem. The way in which he won the Worlds back in Norway against a who's-who of big hitters was fantastic; showing his aggression and strength in a way which that particular race can sometimes lack (last years victor had the same qualities IMO). Bugno was obviously a different rider, possibly no match for LA in the high mountains but the Tour is not the be all and end all.

Re: Riis. Well, a good rider who started showing maybe 3 or 4 years before his Tour win. He had a gallop, he could struggle up climbs with the better climbers and he could always time trial and he was always aggresive: a friend of mine lived with him in Luxembourg when they were both amatuers in the mid-late Eighties and would confirm this.

BUT I have never, ever seen anyone crack big time, on a big climb no less (was it Luz Ardiden), only to stick it in the 53 ring and start it going again!!! That was definately 'superhuman'.

[king ubu]

Tony, thanks for sharing your story (and sorry for my missing to check this thread again sooner)!

ubu

[brownie]

Paris-Match magazine is out today with an interview of Armstrong's former masseuse Enna O'Reilly. Basically she repeats what she already told the authors of the 'L.A. Confidential' book. However she is asked why she decided to tell all, four years after she left the cycling world.

She replies that she felt accomplice to immoral things she had seen and to the cynicism around it. She was struck by the number of riders who died because of the drugs and mentions Marco Pantani (who was found dead in a hotel room in Rimini, Italy, last February).

She adds that she was shocked by Lance Armstrong's statements and by how he was telling his sponsors and everybody else he was clean, that youths believed him and still do.

When she was contacted in 2003 by the book's authors David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, she found that they already knew a lot and that their questions were right to the point.

[brownie]

Lance Armstrong's attempt at rebuttal has been rejected by a Paris court.

From AP:

Judge rejects Armstrong's attempt for legal action against new book

PARIS (AP) - A court Monday rejected Lance Armstrong's attempt to force a publisher to insert the star cyclist's denial of doping allegations into copies of a new book about him.

The five-time Tour de France winner wanted publisher La Martiniere to insert a notice into "L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong," with his rebuttal against doping claims in the book.

But judge Catherine Bezio called Armstrong's request an "abuse" of the legal system and ordered him to pay the authors and publisher a symbolic $1.20 fine.

The French-language book, which hit bookstores in France last week, was written by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester and relies in part on allegations by a former Armstrong assistant, Emma O'Reilly.

In it, she claims that he once asked her to dispose of used syringes and to give him makeup to conceal needle marks on his right arm. She said that she didn't know what was in the syringes.

Thibault de Montbrial, a lawyer for the publisher and authors, praised the judge's decision, noting Armstrong could have made the doping denial when the authors requested to talk to him. They say Armstrong and his staff did not return their calls.

In a hearing Friday, Armstrong lawyer Christian Charriere-Bournazel accused the book's authors of "dumping a load of garbage ... onto an immense champion" just weeks before the start of the 2004 Tour.

[brownie]

More trouble for Cofidis. David Millar was questioned in southern France for two days. Accorsing to the sports newspaper L'Equipe in their edition today, Millar confessed to police having used EPO, the banned substance.

From the Guardian today:

 

Drugs police question Millar

William Fotheringham

Friday June 25, 2004

The Guardian

Drugs? In cycling? Surely not.

 

Britain's leading cyclist David Millar spent yesterday in police custody in his home town of Biarritz being questioned as a witness as part of a Paris judge's investigation into alleged drug taking and dealing within his professional team Cofidis.

The Scot, who is the world time-trial champion and a member of the British Olympic team, was detained by three plain clothes officers, apparently from the Paris drugs squad, on Tuesday night and his flat was searched. He was released from custody last night. He is the first British cyclist to be questioned in the French drugs investigations following the Festina scandal of 1998.

The gendarmes arrived as he was dining with friends in a Biarritz restaurant after finishing the Route du Sud race, his final warm-up event before the Tour de France, starting in eight days' time in Liege.

Police sources said yesterday that he was being questioned as a witness in the investigation, which began in March 2003 and has resulted in eight cyclists and personnel from several teams being placed under formal investigation.

"We were expecting this to some extent," said Millar's sister Fran, who is his manager. "If allegations are made against you, you get taken in and asked to put your side of the story. We thought they wouldn't be so cynical as to wait five months and do it just before the start of the Tour de France. It's pretty standard but the timing is not standard.

"We had spoken to his lawyers in the UK and were told what to expect. If it was not for the timing, he would be pleased to have the chance to put his side of the story but they have picked the worst possible time. Mentally he was picking himself up again after the spring, and physically he was beginning to find form."

Millar had said he expected to be questioned after he was named by his former team-mate Philippe Gaumont in police interviews in the spring. Gaumont has been placed under investigation and has been sacked by the team after admitting using drugs.

Like the rest of Cofidis Millar stopped racing during April and May while the team decided how to proceed in the face of the investigation. The break came after the publica tion of lengthy transcripts from police interviews with the riders and masseurs placed under investigation.

He said the disruption to his Tour de France build-up and his preparation for the Olympics, where he will represent Great Britain in the time-trial and possibly the individual track pursuit, had left him depressed.

Francis van Londersele, the Cofidis team manager, said yesterday: "This is not about David, it is just a consequence of the Gaumont affair. For the moment David is simply a witness. I think it's a pity they've waited so long to meet him a few days before the start of the Tour de France."

The Cofidis Tour team already includes one cyclist under formal investigation as part of the inquiry, the Frenchman Cedric Vasseur, tests having proved that he will not face charges.

[EKE BBB]

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2005/...1124766772.html