Book alleges doping by Armstrong

[MrRant 0]

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.

 

Yahoo Sports

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Maybe if this would be about a sport most people in America would give two shits about it could qualify as news...

[Black Lushus 0]

i don't care about cycling but i think Armstrong is a tough motherfucker to do the shit he's done...that's too bad if it's true...but if it hasn't hurt Bonds yet, it won't hurt him...

[RepoMan 0]

I'm not a French basher, but many of the French hate that an American is winning their race every year and would love to Lance discredited wither it's true or not.

[CanadianChris 0]

We've never seen Bonds be tested...Lance has been tested regularly for years and come up clean every time. I call bullshit until there's some actual proof.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

I'm not a French basher, but many of the French hate that an American is winning their race every year and would love to Lance discredited wither it's true or not.

Most French cycling fans love Lance Armstrong. Watch the end of last year's TDF; despite all the stuff that has happened with regards to Iraq and so on, the crowd boisterously cheered Armstrong and the US anthem. I would say that currently the only more popular rider is Richard Virenque, and few serious racing fans consider him a contender for the overall crown. You will never see a fan run out of the crowd and punch Armstrong in the gut like someone did to Eddy Merckx.

 

Armstrong only gets targetted with this stuff because of his high profile, which happens often in cycling.

[geniusMoment 0]

People in cycling can have a high profile? The only one I have ever even heard of is Lance Armstrong. For that matter the only race I have ever heard mentioned in the U.S. is the one in France.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I read something the other day about gene therapy inevitably making its way into the world of sports. There's no way a person could test for that, either.

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

People in cycling can have a high profile? The only one I have ever even heard of is Lance Armstrong. For that matter the only race I have ever heard mentioned in the U.S. is the one in France.

Cycling is a huge sport in Europe. In countries like Belgium something like 1/4 of the population watches the TDF.

[geniusMoment 0]

I can't say anything bad about belgium, as I really like their taste in breakfast foods.

[CanadianChris 0]

Well, you knew this was coming...

 

ESPN.com

 

Lance Armstrong's lawyers will initiate libel proceedings Tuesday in response to a book that reiterates allegations he has used illegal substances since recovering from cancer in 1998.

 

The elite cyclist has never tested positive for banned substances, has never been disciplined and has repeatedly denied using illegal substances.

 

Nevertheless, the French-language book, "L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong" -- scheduled to be released this week -- cites a former staff member on Armstrong's team as saying the U.S. cyclist asked her to dispose of used syringes and lend him makeup to conceal needle marks on his arms.

 

Armstrong begins his bid to win a record sixth straight Tour de France next month.

 

The book is co-written by London Sunday Times sports reporter David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, a cycling expert formerly with L'Equipe. Walsh also wrote a story critical of Armstrong in 2001, linking him to Dr. Michele Ferrari, who was forced to leave the Gewiss-Ballan team after comments about EPO.

 

A spokesman for his U.S. Postal Service team, Jogi Muller, said Walsh was seeking "personal revenge" against the cyclist.

 

Armstrong's lawyer, Bill Stapleton, didn't return messages seeking comment. But on his Web site, www.lancearmstrong.com, Armstrong issued a statement in which he denied the latest allegations and has instructed his lawyers to "immediately institute libel proceedings" in two different courts:

 

In the High Court in London against the Sunday Times and Walsh seeking an injunction and substantial damages;

 

In Paris, against Walsh, Ballester, the publishers of "LA Confidential" and the publishers of L'Express, the French newspaper in which excerpts of the book appeared this week.

 

The heart of the accusations come from Emma O'Reilly, who worked for 3½ years as Armstrong's masseur, physical therapist and personal assistant. A USPS team spokesman confirmed O'Reilly "was a past employee" but declined additional comment.

 

O'Reilly, according to the reports, accuses Armstrong of using the banned substance EPO (erythropoietin), which helps endurance athletes by boosting concentrations of red blood cells.

 

The book claims Armstrong asked O'Reilly to dispose of a black bag containing the used syringes after the Tour of the Netherlands in 1998. O'Reilly said she did not know what was in the syringes, according to the book.

 

In addition, the book claims that in May 1999, Armstrong asked O'Reilly to drive to Spain to pick up drugs and bring them to his training camp in France, where he took delivery.

 

Excerpts of the book were published Monday, a few weeks before Armstrong begins his bid to win a record sixth straight Tour de France next month.