Former Postal teammate says he saw Lance Armstrong inject

[SP33Demon]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/20/teammate-i-saw-lance-armstrong-inject-banned-substances/?hpt=T2

Hamilton, who had previously denied using the substances, said that he and riders took the drugs because they felt they needed to gain an edge.

"(Armstrong) took what we all took ... ," Hamilton told CBS. "There was EPO ... testosterone ... a blood transfusion."

Ok, if Lance did all of that, why was he never caught? Drug tests would catch anything and everything this guy just said. These morons will do anything to make a buck, shame on them.

 

[Blackjack200]

The guy sure seems to be hated in the cycling world. I wonder if it's mostly jealousy or because he's a legit db.

 

[highland145]

I think he did. Just like they all do. Drugs + sports= more $$.

I base my opinion on him winning the tour de france 7 times. Either it's rigged or he is. No way he's the best that many times unless something else is in play. Maybe the chemo altered his DNA.

 

[BeauJangles]

Why did this guy choose to speak up now? Why not a few years ago? Why not when other people were accusing Lance of the same thing? I'm not saying Lance is innocent, but these accusations often seem to be as much about boosting your own name as bringing down Armstrong's.

 

[Platypus]

cheat to win / no one cares about this asshole

 

[Blackjack200]

Why did this guy choose to speak up now? Why not a few years ago? Why not when other people were accusing Lance of the same thing? I'm not saying Lance is innocent, but these accusations often seem to be as much about boosting your own name as bringing down Armstrong's.

It seems like people only accuse him of cheating after getting caught themselves. His story is not believable anyway, with the kind of scrutiny Lance is under, he's going to have a fridge full of EPO and inject in front of people? Please.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

In those days there was not a reliable way of testing for the presence of EPO, so the only potential penalty for EPO use was that riders whose red blood cell count was too high were simply prevented from riding for safety reasons (because their blood was literally too thick) but not punished.

For my money, there is little question Lance doped. There is now pretty much nobody other than Lance who denies it, and a lot of people with no incentive to fabricate the allegation have stated they saw him dope or admit to doping. They have said these things despite the fact that, if the accusations were false, Lance could sue them for defamation. Moreover, Lance was working with Dr. Michele Ferrari, who was a one-man BALCO in the heart of cycling's doping era.

That being said, Lance absolutely dominated professional racing in an era in which EVERYBODY was doping. I'm sure the USPS team had state-of-the-art doping regimens, but ultimately it seems to me the reason he was so dominant was that he is more naturally gifted than other riders and trained the hardest of anyone. In that sense, he deserved his wins. I see no percentage in continuing to investigate something that may or may not have happened, years and years ago. It's not as though he was a serial killer . . .

 

[Capt Caveman]

Stay Classy Tyler!!!

I've met Tyler and he's a prick. I'm sure he's lying to push his book.

 

[MarkXIX]

This whole thing reminds me of what my kids do when one of them gets in trouble. If I catch one of them doing something they shouldn't be, they usually say "But he did it too!" in order to take the heat off of themselves.

Lance has been subjected to so much scrutiny for so long that I find it hard to believe that he's never been caught.

 

[ElFenix]

Why did this guy choose to speak up now? Why not a few years ago? Why not when other people were accusing Lance of the same thing? I'm not saying Lance is innocent, but these accusations often seem to be as much about boosting your own name as bringing down Armstrong's.

he's got a book coming out

 

[SP33Demon]

I think he did. Just like they all do. Drugs + sports= more $$.

I base my opinion on him winning the tour de france 7 times. Either it's rigged or he is. No way he's the best that many times unless something else is in play. Maybe the chemo altered his DNA.

Lance won the Iron Kids Triathlon at age 13, was he doping then? His VO2Max is around 85~, and the only way he could consistently keep it that high is to blood dope (easily detected during the years he won 7 straight). Simply put, he had one of the highest VO2Max in the world of cycling at the time, just like Micheal Indurain (5 time winner)@88 VO2Max. That's something you're born with and cannot enhance without easily getting caught.

 

[Juddog]

Wow someone in sports used performance enhancing drugs? NO WAY!

 

[JulesMaximus]

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/20/teammate-i-saw-lance-armstrong-inject-banned-substances/?hpt=T2



Ok, if Lance did all of that, why was he never caught? Drug tests would catch anything and everything this guy just said. These morons will do anything to make a buck, shame on them.

The drug companies spend millions trying to skirt the rules of cycling and beat the drug tests. The UCI tries to keep up with the drug companies but it's a battle of money and the UCI doesn't have the deep pockets the drug companies do.

I used to work with a guy who raced at the CAT 1/2 level and he was convinced that everyone on the pro peloton was doping.

 

[bigdog1218]

How many of his teammates have confessed to cheating at this point? Are we supposed to believe that everyone on the team except Lance was cheating?

If everyone was clean Lance probably would have won anyway, since all he did was train for the TDF. But with everyone around him doping left and right I doubt he had a chance clean.

 

[Zeze]

I thought it was understood EVERYONE doped in cycling.... and it's too easy to bypass drug test.

 

[MiniDoom]

I thought it was understood EVERYONE doped in cycling.... and it's too easy to bypass drug test.

^ this... everyone dopes in pro cycling. too physically demanding of a sport to not.

 

[SP33Demon]

In those days there was not a reliable way of testing for the presence of EPO, so the only potential penalty for EPO use was that riders whose red blood cell count was too high were simply prevented from riding for safety reasons (because their blood was literally too thick) but not punished.

For my money, there is little question Lance doped.

Wrong.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626100921.htm

EPO testing was introduced in 2000, year 2 of 7 of Lance's tour wins up to 2005. Try again.

In any case, how did Lance place 3rd in 2009 Tour de France, and in 2010 2nd in the Tour of Switzerland and 3rd in the Tour of Luxembourg? No way in hell he doped for an entire decade without getting caught and was still very competitive in major races in the past 2 years before retirement.

 

[BrownShoes]

Armstrong was taking EPO, PPO and HMO.

 

[SP33Demon]

How many of his teammates have confessed to cheating at this point? Are we supposed to believe that everyone on the team except Lance was cheating?

Only 2 sore losers who were caught cheating and are trying to make a buck off his name.

 

[highland145]

Lance won the Iron Kids Triathlon at age 13, was he doping then? His VO2Max is around 85~, and the only way he could consistently keep it that high is to blood dope (easily detected during the years he won 7 straight). Simply put, he had one of the highest VO2Max in the world of cycling at the time, just like Micheal Indurain (5 time winner)@88 VO2Max. That's something you're born with and cannot enhance without easily getting caught.

He may just be a genetic freak and props to him if he's drug free. Like he said, "500 tests and not one failure."

But the "simplest explanation is most likely the correct one."

No one will ever know for sure.

Wasn't Tyler was testifying under oath when he said this once?

 

[highland145]

Cyclist Tyler Hamilton has turned in his 2004 Olympic gold medal to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/05/20/teammate-accuses-lance-armstrong-doping/#ixzz1MuZeMI00
​

 

[BrownShoes]

According to sworn testimony reviewed by NPR, two witnesses heard Armstrong openly acknowldege in 1996 that had used several performance enhancing drugs.

The Andreus testified under oath last fall about their experience in the hospital room. It was part of a legal case involving a lawsuit Lance Armstrong filed against a company that owed him money.

In her sworn testimony in that case, Betsy Andreu recounts what happened after, she says, two doctors, wearing white coats and name tags, walked into the hospital room. Andreu never identified the doctors, but says in her testimony they were not Armstrong's two primary oncologists, or his brain surgeon.

In her deposition, Betsy Andreu testified:

I said, I think we should leave to give you your privacy. I said that to Lance. And Lance said, that's OK. You can stay. And I turned to Frankie and I said, I think we should leave. And Frankie said, no, Lance said it's OK. We can stay. And so the doctor asked him a few questions, not many, and then one of the questions he asked was... have you ever used any performance-enhancing drugs? And Lance said yes. And the doctor asked, what were they? And Lance said, growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone.

When asked last week about her testimony, Betsy Andreu said, "I answered every question truthfully and honestly. It is 100 percent truthful."

Frankie Andreu and Armstrong were close friends over the years. They lived and trained together in Italy in the early 1990s; they were teammates when Armstrong won his first two Tours-de-France... in 1999 and 2000. In his deposition, Frankie Andreu expressed his reluctance at having to testify; he was subpoenaed. But he still told the same story as his wife about the hospital room in 1996.

This exchange is from his deposition — testimony under oath, in response to a lawyer's questions.

QUESTION: And what is it Mr. Armstrong said in response to the doctor asking him about use of performance-enhancing drugs?
ANDREU: I don't know how the doctor phrased the question, but Lance's response was that he had taken EPO and testosterone and growth hormone and cortisone.
QUESTION: Did he say when he had taken these drugs?
ANDREU: ....when the doctor proposed the question, he said, 'Have you taken anything in the past or previous?' So obviously, it was sometime before that point.
QUESTION: Were you surprised when Mr. Armstrong said he had taken those various performance-enhancing drugs?
ANDREU: Yeah. I was surprised.

On the key issue of what was asked and what was said in the hospital room, Betsy Andreu insists she heard a doctor ask about performance-enhancing drugs, and heard Armstrong answer with a list of banned substances. Frankie Andreu insists he heard Armstrong respond with a list, too.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5508863

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Wrong.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080626100921.htm

EPO testing was introduced in 2000, year 2 of 7 of Lance's tour wins up to 2005. Try again.

In any case, how did Lance place 3rd in 2009 Tour de France, and in 2010 2nd in the Tour of Switzerland and 3rd in the Tour of Luxembourg? No way in hell he doped for an entire decade without getting caught and was still very competitive in major races in the past 2 years before retirement.

It's my understanding (as borne out by the very article you linked) that the EPO testing is considered relatively unreliable and unlikely to yield positive, accurate results.

To answer your question, I would maintain it's not only possible but highly likely that Lance doped for an entire decade without being caught. He had the greatest financial and logistical resources of any cyclist in history at his disposal, and was highly motivated to a) win and b) not get caught. I simply don't see how there is any reasonable explanation for the sworn testimony of, among others, Frankie Andreu (who, unlike Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, has admitted doping despite never being caught at it), Betsy Andreu and Emma O'Reilly, none of whom appear to have anything to gain from "defaming" Lance, which carries the risk of being sued into the ground by an astronomically wealthy, litigious professional athlete. There is also the question of how a cancer survivor could be so dominant in a peloton full of cheaters without doping.

As I said before, it seems to me Lance deserves his victories because every other rider in the top of the peloton was also cheating, but I think the evidence clearly supports the proposition that he was doping. I am not a Lance hater - just a pragmatist.

 

[BrownShoes]

Lance Armstrong’s former personal assistant and mechanic told a newspaper in New Zealand on Sunday that he believes the seven-time Tour de France champion risks becoming a “symbol for decades of corruption.”
“Whatever happens, happens,” Mike Anderson said in an interview with New Zealand broadsheet the Sunday Star-Times when asked about the current federal investigation into Armstrong. ”What he may become is a symbol for decades of corruption in professional cycling.”
Anderson is one of several former employees and teammates to speak out against Armstrong, who is the subject of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) probe in the United States following allegations of doping leveled by former teammate Floyd Landis.

Anderson has already provided evidence to FDA special agent Jeff Novitzky, an investigator who has a feared reputation since leading a successful probe into disgraced athlete Marion Jones.
Key to Anderson’s evidence is a claim that he discovered a cardboard box labeled “Andro” in Armstrong’s bathroom cabinet in Spain and that he was involved in an attempt to fool random drug testers who turned up at the cyclist’s ranch in Texas.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011...t-armstrong-era-symbolic-of-corruption_156673

 

[SP33Demon]

According to sworn testimony reviewed by NPR, two witnesses heard Armstrong openly acknowldege in 1996 that had used several performance enhancing drugs.

The Andreus testified under oath last fall about their experience in the hospital room. It was part of a legal case involving a lawsuit Lance Armstrong filed against a company that owed him money.

In her sworn testimony in that case, Betsy Andreu recounts what happened after, she says, two doctors, wearing white coats and name tags, walked into the hospital room. Andreu never identified the doctors, but says in her testimony they were not Armstrong's two primary oncologists, or his brain surgeon.

In her deposition, Betsy Andreu testified:

I said, I think we should leave to give you your privacy. I said that to Lance. And Lance said, that's OK. You can stay. And I turned to Frankie and I said, I think we should leave. And Frankie said, no, Lance said it's OK. We can stay. And so the doctor asked him a few questions, not many, and then one of the questions he asked was... have you ever used any performance-enhancing drugs? And Lance said yes. And the doctor asked, what were they? And Lance said, growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone.

When asked last week about her testimony, Betsy Andreu said, "I answered every question truthfully and honestly. It is 100 percent truthful."

Frankie Andreu and Armstrong were close friends over the years. They lived and trained together in Italy in the early 1990s; they were teammates when Armstrong won his first two Tours-de-France... in 1999 and 2000. In his deposition, Frankie Andreu expressed his reluctance at having to testify; he was subpoenaed. But he still told the same story as his wife about the hospital room in 1996.

This exchange is from his deposition — testimony under oath, in response to a lawyer's questions.

QUESTION: And what is it Mr. Armstrong said in response to the doctor asking him about use of performance-enhancing drugs?
ANDREU: I don't know how the doctor phrased the question, but Lance's response was that he had taken EPO and testosterone and growth hormone and cortisone.
QUESTION: Did he say when he had taken these drugs?
ANDREU: ....when the doctor proposed the question, he said, 'Have you taken anything in the past or previous?' So obviously, it was sometime before that point.
QUESTION: Were you surprised when Mr. Armstrong said he had taken those various performance-enhancing drugs?
ANDREU: Yeah. I was surprised.

On the key issue of what was asked and what was said in the hospital room, Betsy Andreu insists she heard a doctor ask about performance-enhancing drugs, and heard Armstrong answer with a list of banned substances. Frankie Andreu insists he heard Armstrong respond with a list, too.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5508863

<<Armstrong suggested Betsy Andreu may have been confused by possible mention of his post-operative treatment which included steroids and EPO that are taken to counteract wasting and red-blood-cell-destroying effects of intensive chemotherapy.[92] The Andreus' allegation was not supported by any of the eight other people present, including Armstrong's doctor Craig Nichols,[93] or his medical history. >>

and

<<A settlement was reached in February 2006 before the three-person arbitration panel made a ruling. As part of the settlement, SCA Promotions paid Armstrong and Tailwind Sports $7.5 million, to cover the $5-million bonus plus interest and lawyers' fees. In a statement, Armstrong said, "It's over. We won. They lost. I was yet again completely vindicated." Armstrong's statement also suggested that Betsy Andreu may have been confused by possible mention of his post-operative treatment which included steroids and EPO that are routinely taken to counteract wasting and red-blood-cell destroying effects of intensive chemotherapy.[6]>>