Lance Armstrong Angrily Denies Sports Illustrated's Doping Report
We've read through Selena Roberts and David Epstein's "The Case Against Lance Armstrong" and will have more analysis later, but here are the key points for those who don't have time to read the whole thing.
Most of the claims and evidence arise from lawsuits filed against Armstrong and his company, as well as from sources involved in the grand jury investigation currently ongoing in Los Angeles. Armstrong denies all the charges in the story.
Among the key claims:
Armstrong hired a UCLA anti-doping lab to monitor his drug testing regimen after returning to the sport in 2009. A former employee of the lab says the director is Lance's "greatest admirer."
That same lab had three of Armstrong's test samples from the 1990's that tested well above normal levels for testosterone-epitestosterone, but because they could not be confirmed by a second sample they were listed as negative.
Stephen Swart, a teammate of Armstrong's in the 1990s, says "Armstrong was the "instigator" of the team's decision to start taking EPO, though he claims he never saw Armstrong inject EPO or give it to anyone else.
Swart does claim that he his teammates (including Armstrong) regularly tested their hemacrit level and Armstrong's was once "54 or 56." A positive test at that level would have resulted in a 15-day ban.
Mike Anderson, a former bike mechanic of Armstrong's, claimed he once saw a box labeled "Andro" in Armstrong's apartment.
Anderson also claimed that he helped with a ruse to fool anti-doping testers who had showed up at Armstrong's house when he was not here. (Athletes in testing program are required to report their whereabouts at all times.)
Betsy Andreu, the wife of Armstrong's former teammate Frankie Andreu, claimed in a sworn deposition that she witnessed Armstrong being asked by his doctors if he had ever taken performance enhancing drugs. She says Armstrong replied, "Yes," and listed "EPO, growth hormone, cortisone, steroids, and testosterone."
Stephanie McIlvain, an Oakley marketing rep and friend of Armstrong's, also witnessed that conversation and refuted Andreu's claim in court. However, cyclist Greg LeMond has a taped phone conversation with McIlvain, where she appears to confirm it.
Two of Armstrong's teammates on the 1990 U.S. Junior cycling team said coaches administered steroids to them directly.
An arrest of one of Armstrong's former Radio Shack teammates uncovered emails and texts that linked Armstrong to Michele Ferrari, a controversial doctor who has publicly supported use of EPO (A blood doping drug.) The contacts are from 2009, though Armstrong claimed to sever all ties with Ferrari in 2004.
Floyd Landis claims that Armstrong's use of private planes allowed him to easily bypass customs, even when carrying drugs in his luggage.
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