Lance Armstrong News

[Steroid News]

Armstrong's Brand Hurt by Latest Doping Allegations - Adweek

Demand Media is surely monitoring the aftermath of CBS News’ 60 Minutes Sunday report that athlete and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong abused performance-enhancing drugs, but has so far refused to provide any comment to Adweek. Eager to shake its reputation as a “content farm,” Demand has developed several celebrity-endorsed websites. The first such site, launched in June 2008, was Livestrong.com. The Armstrong-branded health and wellness site was one of Demand Media’s first partnerships, and was financed, in part, with Demand Media equity. Armstrong and his foundation profited handsomely in the company’s January IPO; the foundation earned $3.1 million (including some shares Armstrong donated).

The association of a health and wellness site with a reported drug-abusing athlete shows the risk of unknowns in celebrity-content partnerships.

Of course, if they do decide to back him publicly, it wouldn't be Demand Media's first time rallying around the athlete after doping allegations; Armstrong’s career has been peppered with accusations of illegal substance abuse. Based on the precedents, Demand isn’t likely to end its association with Armstrong or the Livestrong brand.

In this instance, former Armstrong teammate Tyler Hamilton claimed to 60 Minutes that Armstrong bribed Union Cycliste Internationale into concealing drug test results. Supporters have already expressed annoyance and disbelief at the accusations. Meanwhile, a UBS analyst report reiterated the firm’s “Buy” recommendation, noting that Livestrong.com is not a fan site and shouldn’t be affected. But if Armstrong faces criminal charges as some reports expect, that could change.

Read more: Armstrong's Brand Hurt by Latest Doping Allegations - Adweek

 

[Steroid News]

2 former Armstrong teammates never saw doping

Two former teammates of Lance Armstrong told The Associated Press on Friday they never saw the seven-time Tour de France winner or Tyler Hamilton use banned drugs. The European pair also said they weren't particularly close to the American riders.

[...]

Pascal Derame, a Frenchman who was on the 1999 Tour-winning team with Armstrong and Hamilton, said he wasn't in Armstrong's "inner circle."

"There was a team and then there was the inner circle. Tyler was in the inner circle," as was Frankie Andreu, Derame said. "(Armstrong) was a lot closer to Tyler than to us. ... Perhaps he didn't trust the French."

[...]

"I never saw (Armstrong) take anything," Derame said. "I cannot say what I didn't see."

Derame added he mostly roomed with a Danish rider, Peter Meinert-Nielsen, and did not have much interaction with Armstrong even though they rode on the same Tour team.

"You can live together without living together," he said.

[...]

Another former teammate of Armstrong and Hamilton, Steffen Kjaergaard of Norway, rode on U.S. Postal's Tour de France team in 2000 and 2001.

"I didn't feel any pressure of doing any prohibited thing to be stronger, to do doping," Kjaergaard said. "I didn't have any hints, 'You should do this. You should do that.'"

Kjaergaard said that U.S. Postal conducted internal blood tests on him and others in the team "to make sure that the riders behave themselves."

Kjaergaard said he did at times room with Hamilton. But he never got any indication and never suspected he was using banned drugs.

"I guess that if he or anybody else wants to do doping or other illegal things, they can hide it," Kjaergaard said.

Kjaergaard also said in the wake of the confessions from Hamilton and, previously, Floyd Landis, he was now thinking, "I must have been damned naive. ... It's quite amazing to me."

Like other Europeans who rode for U.S. Postal, Kjaergaard suggested one reason why he did not see any evidence of doping might be because he "was never close to the Americans."

"I was living on a regular basis in Norway and Belgium and they were living on a regular basis in Spain and the United States," he said. "I was never socializing with them or Lance."

Doping, he said, "in general was not a subject" discussed within the team.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/cycling/7573542.html

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Lance Armstrong Book Co-Author Responds to Doping Allegations Against the Cyclist
Lance Armstrong Book Co-Author Responds to Doping Allegations Against the Cyclist


Lance Armstrong doping allegations
http://live.washingtonpost.com/lance-armstrong-accused-of-using-illegal-substances-chat.html (Lance Armstrong doping allegations - The Washington Post)

Post sports reporter and co-author of Lance Armstrong's book "It's Not About The Bike: My Journey Back to Life " Sally Jenkins discussed the recent drug allegations against Armstrong.

 

[Steroid News]

Lance Armstrong hires lawyers who won baseball players' doping case

The American cyclist Lance Armstrong is adding to his legal team two lawyers who previously won a major legal victory against federal investigators in a doping case.

John Keker and Elliot Peters represented Major League Baseball players as they won a key appeals court case two years ago in which a panel of federal judges ruled that agents had no right to seize baseball's anonymous drug-testing results from 2003.

A top investigator in the baseball case, Jeff Novitzky, has been leading a federal probe into whether the seven-times Tour de France winner Armstrong took performance-enhancing drugs and led a systematic doping program on his US Postal team.

On Thursday Keker criticised leaks of testimony to the media in the Armstrong case and called the investigation a waste of money.


Read more: Lance Armstrong hires lawyers who won baseball players' doping case - The Guardian

 

[Steroid News]

The Lance Armstrong Story: A Fairy Tale of Denial and Hypocrisy by David Burnett

If you are a regular reader of this blog then you know that I favor letting athletes use whatever they need to deal with the extreme physical demands of their sports. That said, what really makes me angry is the hypocrisy that this issue continues to provoke. Let me ask and answer several key questions.

Did Lance Armstrong use performance enhancing drugs to become he world’s top cyclist and win seven Tour de France championships? Of course he did.

Why did he do it? Because he had to. It was the only way he could compete at the highest level. Every elite cyclist is on something – period.

Why does Armstrong continue to lie about his use of performance enhancing drugs? He lies because he is now trapped into an image he helped create and millions of his admirers embraced. He is the cancer survivor who beat death to become a role model for the ages.

Lance Armstrong’s personal story is one of the most seductive ever told. It is tailor-made for human beings who desperately need someone to believe in and be inspired by. But Armstrong’s story is also a fairy tale.

Read more: The Lance Armstrong Story: A Fairy Tale of Denial and Hypocrisy | Sports Sense

 

[Steroid News]

United States Anti-Doping Agency May Strip Lance Armstrong of Tour de France Titles

The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) may seek to strip Lance Armstrong of his Tour de France victories and earnings according to the Washington Post. The eight-time Tour de France champion is currently under investigation by the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. It is believed that a grand jury is considering whether to…
Read More

Read more: United States Anti-Doping Agency May Strip Lance Armstrong of Tour de France Titles

 

[ergomaniac]

really. wow .theres so much more to this story.
the united states postal team. im an idiot. i guess. it didnt ring true till now. supported by the usps. wow. and now federal charges. yeah. federal crimes. bhah hah hah ha. wow. just wow! and really. i dont care one way or the other. as far as records go.
alot of this seems to go back to the days of the cold war. when olympic medals were more revered. and the list of drug limited. but now there are so many "drugs". so many breakthroughs that this becomes a pissing match. because you cant stay a step before. so, it becomes a shit eating contest. whos hungary. bon appetit!

 

[ergomaniac]

really. wow .theres so much more to this story.
the united states postal team. im an idiot. i guess. it didnt ring true till now. supported by the usps. wow. and now federal charges. yeah. federal crimes. bhah hah hah ha. wow. just wow! and really. i dont care one way or the other. as far as records go.
alot of this seems to go back to the days of the cold war. when olympic medals were more revered. and the list of drugs limited. but now there are so many "drugs". so many breakthroughs that this becomes a pissing match. because you cant stay a step before. so, it becomes a shit eating contest. whos hungary. bon appetit!

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Lance Armstrong Tour de France titles in jeopardy
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/cycling/lance-armstrong-tour-de-france-titles-could-be-in-jeopardy/2011/05/23/AFCER49G_story.html

Lance Armstrong’s seven Tour de France titles could be jeopardized by the doping allegations made by two former cycling teammates even if Armstrong avoids a federal indictment or prosecution, according to people involved in the anti-doping movement and legal precedent.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has already been in discussions with the attorney for Tyler Hamilton, who told the CBS News program “60 Minutes” that he received banned drugs from Armstrong and saw him using performance-enhancing drugs on a number of occasions.

 

[Steroid News]

Armstrong doping reports create PR dilemma for RadioShack - Fort Worth Star Telegram

New accusations by former teammates that cycling icon Lance Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs pose a marketing dilemma for RadioShack.

The electronics chain has nurtured extremely high-profile links with Armstrong, its most recent celebrity endorser as RadioShack's mock "Chief Mobility Officer" in a series of TV ads. Then there is the multimillion-dollar sponsorship of Armstrong's Team RadioShack since July 2009.

[...]

Two days after the 60 Minutes report, Nike and Anheuser-Busch InBev, for which Armstrong endorses Michelob Ultra beer, told the Hollywood Reporter that they stand behind the cyclist.

"Our relationship with Lance remains as strong as ever," Nike said. A Michelob Ultra spokesman added: "Lance has performed as an extraordinary athlete in a demanding sport, making him admired by millions who lead active lifestyles. That was our opinion when we signed him, and that is our opinion today."

RadioShack has made no public statement of support, but spokesman Eric Bruner confirmed that it had an "ongoing" relationship with Armstrong. Bruner declined to provide details other than to say the cyclist is not in the current mix of commercials.

Clearly, the situation puts RadioShack and new CEO Jim Gooch, who took over last week, in a tough spot.

"If they jump ship too early and he is later proven to be innocent, they will have a PR problem," said Rick French, CEO of a public relations firm, North Carolina-based French West Vaughan, which has a Dallas office. "If they stay with him and he is proven to be guilty, they look like the ostrich with their heads in the sand and also face a PR problem."

French's advice? "Begin to de-emphasize him without cutting ties until more information is available," which RadioShack might be doing.

"At this point, RadioShack appears to be taking the 'innocent until proven guilty' track, but that is a perilous road to travel," warns Michael Shmarak of Illinois-based Sidney Maxwell Public Relations.

[...]

More than likely, there's a so-called morals turpitude clause that gives corporate sponsors like RadioShack a legal escape hatch, some image consultants said.

"It'd be unfortunate if they signed a contract without any morals clause for the team or the team members," said Matt Delzell, who heads the celebrity marketing group at The Marketing Arm, a Dallas firm. "But if that was the case, it would be important for them to make a public statement saying something to the effect of how they are disappointed in Lance, but that they continue to support the sport of cycling and the other riders on the RadioShack team who are doing it the right way."

Another crisis PR consultant, Ronald Hanser of West Des Moines, Iowa, suggested one approach would be to find other "stars" of mobility, not just one "chief," especially since Armstrong has retired from racing.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/05/26/3107840/armstrong-doping-reports-create.html (Armstrong doping reports create PR dilemma for RadioShack | Business | Dallas Business, ...)

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Leave the law out of the Lance Armstrong allegations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/leave-the-law-out-of-the-lance-armstrong-allegations/2011/05/26/AGPqdJCH_story.html (Leave the law out of the Lance Armstrong allegations - The Washington Post)

By Eugene Robinson, Published: May 26

Let’s suppose the new doping allegations against cyclist Lance Armstrong are true. Should his seven Tour de France victories be marked with an asterisk, or even erased? If so, then the unofficial title of greatest-in-history would revert to Belgian cyclist Eddy Merckx, who won the Tour five times — oh, and who tested positive for banned stimulants on at least three occasions.

Plus ca change. (That’s French for “same old, same old.”)

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that trying to police the use of performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes is pure, Sisyphean folly. I’m even more convinced that threatening to throw the accused in jail — as might happen with Armstrong, slugger Barry Bonds and pitcher Roger Clemens, and did happen with sprinter Marion Jones — is a gross misuse of criminal statutes intended to sanction actual crimes.

This rant is occasioned by last Sunday’s “60 Minutes” interview with Tyler Hamilton, one of Armstrong’s former teammates on the U.S. Postal Service cycling squad. Hamilton said he watched Armstrong use the banned substances EPO and Andriol, which can boost endurance. Another former teammate reportedly told a similar story to a federal grand jury, which will decide whether to indict Armstrong on criminal fraud charges. One of the most celebrated athletes in the world, Armstrong has firmly and consistently denied any use of performance-enhancing drugs.

This headline-grabbing inquisition is a waste of time and resources. If prosecutors are sitting around with nothing to do, why don’t they go after the remorseless profiteers who nearly wrecked the global financial system? Why not shut down a human trafficking ring or two?

All right, I know, athletes who use steroids or other drugs to boost their performance set a terrible example for the children who idolize them. I can’t dispute that. But if we’re going to expect professional athletes to be role models, we need to give them the proper incentives.

It may sound cold, but you don’t get into anybody’s hall of fame — or score multimillion-dollar contracts and endorsement deals — by competing unremarkably. You get the glory by winning, by being exceptional. There is every incentive, psychological and pecuniary, to seek even the slightest gain in speed or stamina.

The truth is that pro athletes have never set a sterling example for youth, in terms of treating the body as the temple of the soul. Muscle, bone and sinew are subjected to stresses they were not designed to endure. High-velocity impacts — of cyclist against pavement, fastball against chin, helmet against knee — take a terrible toll. Much of what athletes do to themselves should be filed under “Kids, do not try this at home.”

And as for the sanctity of the record books, athletes have never been certifiably drug-free. Baseball purists want to invalidate the home-run records set by Bonds, Mark McGwire and the rest of the recent Michelin Man sluggers. But students of the game should know that from the end of World War II until a few years ago, according to former players, the use of amphetamines was common in the sport. Baseball only began drug-testing players for amphetamines in 2006. Over roughly six decades, how many hallowed records were set by hitters or pitchers juiced up on speed?

We’ll probably never know. What we can be sure of, however, is that there is no drug on Earth that can enable me — or you — to drive a 95-mph fastball over the left field wall. And there’s no drug that allows an ordinary person to ride a bicycle at top speed all day, climb one of the Pyrenees, pose for a picture, get a few hours’ sleep, then jump back on the bike and do it all over again — every day for three weeks.

Professional athletes are freaks of nature, with musculature, lung capacity, hand-eye coordination, visual acuity and other attributes that are different from yours or mine. The training regimens they undertake to marginally extend these gifts are relevant only to those who participate in a given sport at the very highest level. We may say we’re concerned about their long-term health, but all evidence suggests we’re really not.

We like it when they go faster.

If Armstrong lied all these years about using banned drugs, he should answer to his conscience — but not to the law. His teammates say that doping was commonplace among elite cyclists. He’s only guilty of being the best.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Lance Armstrong beefs up legal team after new doping allegations
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/lance-armstrong-beefs-up-legal-team-after-new-doping-allegations/2011/05/26/AGJ08GCH_story.html (Lance Armstrong beefs up legal team after new doping allegations - The Washington Post)

Lance Armstrong has beefed up his legal team in response to renewed allegations from ex-teammates Tyler Hamilton and George Hincapie that Armstrong not only used banned substances like EPO and Andriol, but that he covered up positive test results.

 

[Steroid News]

Investigators met with Swiss lab director over ‘suspicious’ test result in 2001

The director of a Swiss drug-testing laboratory has agreed to provide information to investigators seeking to corroborate accusations by two former teammates of Lance Armstrong that the seven-time Tour de France champion used performance-enhancing drugs and conspired to cover up a positive drug test from the Tour de Suisse in 2001.

[...]

Martial Saugy, the Lausanne-based lab director, sought out anti-doping authorities last year shortly after Floyd Landis became the first cyclist to accuse Armstrong publicly, according to World Anti-Doping Agency Director General David Howman. In September, Saugy met with Jeff Novitzky, a special agent with the Food and Drug Administration who has led the U.S. government’s probe of Armstrong, at WADA’s Montreal headquarters. FBI and U.S. Anti-Doping Agency officials also attended the meeting.

Last July, Saugy met in Moscow with USADA chief executive Travis Tygart, according to an April 14 letter that USADA sent to Saugy.

As a follow-up to the meetings, Saugy agreed to provide by May 2 information about all “suspicious” results from EPO analysis during the 2001 Tour de Suisse, as well as the particulars of discussions related to EPO testing that occurred during a meeting with Armstrong or his team manager Johan Bruyneel, according to the April letter.

Authorities want to determine whether any of Armstrong’s samples raised reg flags, whether he or his representatives were improperly tipped off to testing results, and whether international cycling officials acted appropriately on information they received from the Swiss lab.

Saugy told the German-language newspaper Neue Züricher Zeitung in Friday’s editions that there were four “suspicious” tests during the Tour de Suisse but that he didn’t know whether any belonged to Armstrong and did not believe any cover-up had occurred. He also confirmed meeting with Armstrong and Bruyneel during a later trip to collect blood, and explaining to them how the EPO test worked, but said the meeting was not to discuss any results.

Saugy said the only body to whom he reported the four suspicious results from the race — and which would know the athlete or athletes who produced the samples — was the International Cycling Union (UCI).

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/cycling/investigators-in-lance-armstrong-case-have-met-with-swiss-lab-director-over-suspicious-test-result-in-2001/2011/05/26/AG8ZqKCH_story.html (Investigators in Lance Armstrong case have met with Swiss lab director over ‘suspicious’ test result in 2001 - The Washington Post)

 

[Steroid News]

Swiss lab director confirms meeting Bruyneel and Armstrong over "suspect" samples

Martial Saugy, the current director of the renowned Swiss Anti-Doping laboratory in Lausanne, has confirmed that four of the urine samples taken at the 2001 Tour de Suisse were labeled "suspect" and that he later met with former US Postal sports director Johan Bruyneel and Lance Armstrong to discuss details of the early EPO test method. It is the first time Saugy has reacted publicly to last week's accusations made by Tyler Hamilton, according to which the UCI and the Swiss laboratory covered up "suspect" samples of the seven-time Tour de France winner.

[...]

"They were taken at four different stages, so I don't know whether they were from four different riders or all of the same athlete," said Saugy. "But the tests were not covered up, and it is also not correct that they could have been interpreted as positive. They were suspect, and you wouldn't stand a chance at all with that sole argument in front of a court."

It was during the 2001 season that the first anti-doping test for EPO was introduced, and the scientific community was still arguing on the validity of the test. "The Paris laboratory of Chatenay-Malabry fixed the criteria for a positive test result," he continued. "An athlete was positive only if 80 percent of the signs typical for the use of synthetic EPO were found."

A sample was considered "suspect" when "it showed between 70 and 80 percent of the typical EPO parameters. That meant that the probability of doping was high. But because such a result can also be produced naturally, it was all about excluding false positives."

In 2002, the Paris laboratory finally determined a threshold of 85 percent for a positive test result for EPO. It was during the course of that year that Saugy met with the US Postal team management, "who wanted to know what it meant when I pointed at suspect samples. Shortly before that I had heard that there was suspicion about the 2001 samples being linked to Armstrong."

However, Saugy said that the meeting did not take place at the Swiss lab - as stated by Hamilton in the 60 Minutes TV show - but during a trip made to collect blood samples. "And it also wasn't about discussing a particular result or to cover up anything. I explained how the EPO test worked and why there were suspect samples as well as positive ones. This information was part of a lecture that I had been giving in various locations."

Read more: Swiss Lab Director Confirms Meeting Bruyneel And Armstrong Over "suspect" Samples | Cyclingnews.com

 

[Steroid News]

A Tale of Two Lance Armstrongs - The Atlantic

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A Tale of Two Lance Armstrongs
[SIZE=-1]The Atlantic[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Many fans want to separate the recent doping allegations from his admirable cancer work. Why that's impossible. On 60 Minutes last Sunday, Tyler Hamilton accused Armstrong of being the latter, claiming that his former teammate used ...[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Lance Armstrong beefs up legal team after new doping allegations[SIZE=-1]Washington Post[/SIZE][/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]Armstrong Strengthens Legal Team for Inquiry[SIZE=-1]New York Times[/SIZE][/SIZE]
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Read more: A Tale of Two Lance Armstrongs - The Atlantic

 

[Michael Scally MD]

A Tale of Two Lance Armstrongs
A Tale of Two Lance Armstrongs - Patrick Hruby - Entertainment - The Atlantic

Sorry, America. You can't have it both ways. In the wake of the most recent—and most damning—doping allegations against Lance Armstrong, there's a desire to compartmentalize. A rush to split the celebrity cyclist into two distinct entities.

Cancer hero.

Possible drug fraud.

One or the other.

 

[Steroid News]

Armstrong in trouble - The State

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[SIZE=-1]A federal investigation involving drug doping in competitive cycling has targeted Lance Armstrong for the past year. The Feds are going after him like they went after Barry Bonds. But unlike the BALCO probe, the feds have a number of witnesses willing ...[/SIZE]
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Read more: Armstrong in trouble - The State

 

[Steroid News]

Lance Armstrong and American exceptionalism. - New Republic

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Read more: Lance Armstrong and American exceptionalism. - New Republic

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Lance Armstrong's Lawyers Demand Apology From '60 Minutes'
Lance Armstrong's Lawyers Demand Apology From '60 Minutes'

LOS ANGELES — Attorneys for Lance Armstrong have demanded an on-air apology from "60 Minutes" after the head of Switzerland's anti-doping laboratory denied allegations the seven-time Tour de France winner tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs at the 2001 Tour de Suisse.

In a letter sent Wednesday to CBS News Chairman and "60 Minutes" executive producer Jeff Fager, lawyer Elliot Peters said the May 22 segment about Armstrong was built on a series of falsehoods, and he accused the reputable CBS show of sloppy journalism.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Exclusive: Lance Armstrong takes on feds
Exclusive: Lance Armstrong takes on feds - Mike Allen - POLITICO.com

A new legal team for Lance Armstrong, who is under investigation by a federal grand jury for allegations of organized doping, is going on the offensive against his pursuers, charging in a court filing that the cycling champion has been the victim of “character assassination” through leaks and pointing the finger at government investigator Jeff Novitzky.