1. travel
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Armstrong
in 1994,
reigning
world
champion
The time has come
to stop arguing about whether
Lance Armstrong doped
and start ­figuring out what it means.
48
May 2011
c r e d i t
that I believed he didn’t dope or, sometimes, that we couldn’t know if
he’d ever doped. She knows that Armstrong has called our house and
left messages and her friends overheard and thought that was really
nuts so he must be cool even if her dad likes him. She knows that I
am embarrassed to have once owned a signed Lance Armstrong lunch
box. She knows that I talked to him last time I was down in Austin. She
knows I’ve been sick to my stomach lately. ■ For all of those reasons and
whatever unknowable simple moralities operate in a child’s mind, she
summoned a moment of empathy for her father and asked, “How does
that make you feel?” ■ “I don’t know,” I said, which was both true and
false. It encompassed the chaos of everything I was feeling but identified none of it. I figured I should pick one emotion, so I said, ­“Accepting
that Lance cheated makes me want to cry. A 46-year-old guy. Can you
imagine that?” ■ But Natalie had already gone back to her life’s own
pressing matters. And I was stuck with mine.
p h o t o
hen I told my daughter that I believed
that Lance Armstrong had doped, she
didn’t have much to say. She had more
important things on her mind, had a
big homework project going—writing a clerihew using her own name.
But she knows in her 12-year-old way what Lance Armstrong means
to me. She knows that I met him before she was born, that I spent
most of a year away from her so I could follow him around the world
and write a book about his comeback, that I think he, along with a few
guys with funnier names she often can’t remember, such as Coppi and
Anquetil and Zoetemelk and Merckx, was beautiful on a bicycle. She’s
heard me talk, for years now, to and about people who confront cancer
or their deaths or that of their beloved with more strength because of
him. She knows that group includes her own mother. She knows I’ve
been on television telling Jim Lehrer or Larry King or John Roberts
p h
g
e to tt yo icmr ae gd ei s
t
W
By
Bill Strickland
I
BECAME A FAN OF LANCE ARMSTRONG before he was the king of the Tour de France,
before he was a heroic cancer survivor and selfless activist. He wasn’t rich. He was neither a friend of celebrities nor
a celebrity. He wasn’t the focus of the longest-running mudfight over doping in sports. Lance Armstrong was 22
when I met him, and he was kicking the shit out of his bicycle.
I was on a motorcycle speeding beside him in a time trial at the 1994 Tour DuPont. Power billowed off his body like
smoke off a burning skillet of grease. He was battering his bike, punishing the pedals with kicks and stomps, pushing
the handlebar as if trying to shove it up against a barroom wall. This brawling ride was the antithesis of what I thought
epitomized the ideal of the sport—the smooth, effortless-looking mastery of the bike called souplesse. The moto driver
throttled us close enough to see Armstrong’s expression. His lips were pursed, his eyes were slits, the bones of his face
were set in hard angles. He seemed to me to be riding mad and in madness, desperate to escape something behind him
and furious that he had yet to punch his way through the horizon.
After the race, I saw Armstrong sitting out on a chair beside his team car—this was such a different time that there
weren’t yet buses. I introduced myself, told him I’d followed his TT.
He nodded and looked at me. Even then, he had a manner, upon meeting you, of letting you know you were being
evaluated. Something in his expression also communicated an awareness that at that point in his life his conclusion
wouldn’t matter to anyone but him, and that he resented such a condition. After what seemed like a long time, he said,
“It felt hard today,” and some inflection in the sentence dared me to try to win an argument about the truth of this.
This kid, I thought, is either going to become one of the greatest bike racers I’ll ever see, or he’s going to explode. I
was too young myself, back then, to anticipate that he might do both.
T
You,
The
Jury
Bikes for Dope
Allegation
Relevancy
The FDA investigation of Armstrong
should finally provide
a definitive legal
answer—judged by
a jury of his peers
to be innocent (or
not worthy of being
indicted) or guilty.
We’ve distilled 10
of the most salient
allegations for you.
If you were on a jury,
your vote would be
based in large part
on your response to
these arguments.
It’s not unheard of for pro teams or racers to
sell off equipment, especially at the end of a
season. What’s key is the allegation that the
team orchestrated the sales explicitly to fund
doping. That would constitute evidence of a
systematic operation with full knowledge and
participation by team officials.
Armstrong’s response
Bruyneel didn’t respond to the Journal’s
request for comment. Robert Burns, Trek’s
general counsel, said Trek was aware of the
sales but not where the cash might’ve gone.
Our TakE
Proving this probably requires corroboration
by a person who knew about the sales and
how the proceeds were used—a small circle
of people not subject to U.S. subpoena power.
Armstrong seems to be the likely winner.
c o u r t e s y
2005
( x 2 ) ;
2004
Armstrong
diagnosed
with testicular
cancer.
50
May 2011
A test for the banned
synthetic blood booster EPO
is introduced.
Armstrong
domestique
Benoit Joachim
tests positive
for Nandrolone,
is rehired after
being cleared on a
technicality.
French prosecutors launch
an investigation after a
TV crew observes the
staff of Armstrong’s team
dumping medical waste,
including potential blood
booster Actovegin, into a
trash bin during the Tour.
G e t t y
Greg Strock files lawsuit
alleging that U.S. coaches,
including Armstrong coach
Chris Carmichael, injected
him with cortisone and other
drugs while he was on junior
national team in early ’90s.
Case is settled out of court.
P r e s s ;
World AntiDoping Agency
(WADA) and
United States
Anti-Doping
Agency
(USADA) begin
operating.
A s s o c i at e d
1996
2000
The Ringleader
Allegation
Relevancy
An eyewitness account of Armstrong doping
would be a game-ender—if corroborated or
on its own accepted as truth by a jury.
Armstrong’s response
In a statement the day after the July story
ran, Armstrong said the account was “full of
false accusations.” Bruyneel said he absolutely denied Landis’s accusations.
Our TakE
A direct eyewitness account, if upheld, is one
of the strongest types of evidence. But investigators most likely need corroboration to feel
confident. George Hincapie, who among others was said by Landis to be present for and
participating in the transfusions, has been
subpoenaed. We can’t call this one.
SCA case goes to
arbitration. In most
controversial testimony,
the Andreus say they
heard Armstrong admit
history of doping to
doctors. Armstrong
awarded $7.5 million
settlement, with no
finding of fact
regarding doping.
French sports
publication L’Equipe
alleges Armstrong
urine samples from
’99 Tour contain
EPO. Armstrong
denies claim,
UCI investigation
exonerates him.
03
Roberto
Heras, who
rode ’01–’03
Tours with
Armstrong,
stripped
of Vuelta
Espana win
after EPO
positive.
In accounts published in two books, Motorola
racer Stephen Swart says Armstrong was the
central agitator pushing riders to dope.
Relevancy
This predates Armstrong’s time on Postal,
but could help establish that he had both the
ability and intent to push other riders into a
systematic program of doping.
Armstrong’s response
Armstrong sued over one of the books, L.A.
Confidentiel, in France. In England, he sued
the author’s employer, the London Sunday
Times, for repeating some of the allegations.
He dropped one of his suits in France; the
other was dismissed. The Times settled out of
court for a rumored six figures.
Our TakE
Without corroboration, Swart’s story probably
isn’t enough to sway a jury. If prosecutors
find another witness, establishing that
Armstrong had been elemental in a previous
systematic doping program could help boost
their case that one existed at Postal.
Landis admits to doping, alleges
witnessing and participating in systematic
doping program that included Armstrong,
Johan Bruyneel and others.
Federal prosecutor Doug Miller and FDA’s
Jeff Novitzky launch investigation into the
doping allegations against Armstrong.
2010
Armstrong finishes
23rd in the Tour.
Armstrong retires after winning his
seventh consecutive Tour de France.
( x 2 ) ;
2002
Journalists Walsh and
Pierre Ballester publish
LA Confidentiel, accusing
Armstrong of doping. The
racer files libel suits in
France and England.
V e e r
2001
Tyler Hamilton,
who rode with
Armstrong in
’99–’01 Tours,
tests positive
at the Athens
Olympics
(overturned)
and the Vuelta.
I m a g e s
1999
Journalist David Walsh exposes
Armstrong’s tie to Michele Ferrari,
an Italian doctor linked to doping.
When Greg LeMond criticizes the
relationship, a feud is born.
Postal fires
Gianpaolo
Mondini after
learning that
drugs had
turned up in his
room during the
’01 Giro.
02
In the original e-mails leaked to the media on
May 20 and in the July Journal story, Landis
claimed that during the ‘04 Tour he transfused blood twice under the supervision of
Postal team personnel, and saw Armstrong
taking transfusions both times.
Former Armstrong personal
assistant Mike Anderson claims
he found androstenedione in
Armstrong’s Girona apartment.
Years of Controversy
A raid in San Remo turns up dope such as EPO
and growth hormone in rider Pavel Padrnos’s
room, but no proof he’d taken them. He avoids a
ban, later rides with Armstrong in ’02–’05 Tours.
The Transfusions
Allegation
In a July 2010 Wall Street Journal article, Floyd
Landis said Johan Bruyneel told him that
Armstrong’s team sold some sponsor equipment to finance doping.
HE YEAR AFTER I MET HIM, HE’D COMPLETE A Tour de France for the first time, along
the way pointing skyward as he won an emotional stage in honor of his teammate, Fabio Casartelli, who’d died
descending a mountain a few days earlier. The year after that he retired from the sport for the first time, to
battle his cancer. In 1998 he made his first comeback and finished fourth in the Vuelta Espana, which seemed like all the
miracle anyone ever needed to become a hero. Then he began winning the world’s biggest bike race.
—Joe Lindsey
And the way he won redefined the sport. Forget the practical, paradigm-changing innovations: teams that focused
on one race a year, that were unapologetically set up to support only one man, that paid salaries high enough to convince
Grand Tour and Classics winners to ride as domestiques. In those seven Tours, from 1999 to 2005, he created with his bicycle
moments that made the world catch its breath. When a spectator’s musette got tangled with his handlebar and threw him
to the ground on Luz Ardiden in 2003, Armstrong jumped back on his bike and chased the leaders down then, even though
a chainstay had been broken in the crash, won the stage by 40 seconds. That same year, when Joseba Beloki slipped on
Continued on p. 54
Upon his return to the
Tour de France, the
French newspaper Le
Monde reports that
traces of a banned
corticosteroid had
been found in one
of Armstrong’s
urine samples.
After a delay, his
team produces a
therapeutic-use
exemption.
01
2004
SCA Promotions
withholds $5 million
in bonus money from
Armstrong, citing
doping allegations.
Armstrong and team
ownership file lawsuit.
2006
Frankie
Andreu and
unnamed
former
teammate
tell New York
Times they
took EPO to
make ’99
Tour team.
Floyd
Landis, who
rode ’02–’04
Tours with
Armstrong,
is stripped
of his Tour
win after
positive test.
Armstrong
announces
his
retirement.
2008
Former Armstrong
domestique Manuel Beltran
tests positive for EPO in Tour.
2007
David Walsh publishes From Lance
to Landis, asserting widespread,
organized doping in cycling.
Armstrong
announces
his comeback,
and goes on to
finish third in
the Tour.
2011
2009
Sports
Illustrated
publishes
story on
Armstrong
with claims
of illegal
activity and
cover-ups.
The Ugly Truth
Doping in the Armstrong Era
Even the staunchest supporters of Lance Armstrong have to admit he reigned over a period of cycling that by objective terms was filthy with dope. Here’s
how the Tour de France would look during every year Armstrong podiumed if the top 10 were scrubbed of any finisher who at any time in his career
was formally connected to performance-enhancing drugs or blood doping. (Those riders appear in the shaded boxes.) Because we had to draw a line
somewhere to prevent unsubstantiated accusations from eliminating a rider, we defined “formally connected” as riders who:
> Admitted doping or were banned or fully (not provisionally) suspended by a sanctioning group for doping or in relation to it
> Were fully (not provisionally) suspended or fired by their teams or individually withdrawn from races by their teams for some connection to doping
> Were convicted of doping in a sporting, criminal or civil hearing or trial, or paid a fine to settle charges related to it.
Basso Suspended in 2007 for two years after admitting to “attempted doping” in relation to his involvement in Operacion Puerto, a wide-ranging investigation into blood doping that centered on Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes.
Beloki Implicated in Operacion Puerto and banned by his
team from the 2006 Tour de France (later cleared by Spanish courts).
Botero Dropped from team in 2006 after being implicated in
Operacion Puerto (later cleared by Colombian cycling federation).
Our criteria leaves lots of room for argument, and, frankly, allows some riders who inspire widespread public doubt to remain categorized as clean. But
even through this somewhat constrained lens, the decimation to the General Classification of the sport’s crown jewel is shocking.—Christie Aschwanden
10. A. Peron
9. W. Belli
8. R. Virenque
7. D. Nardello
6. A. Olano
5. A. Casero
4. L. Dufaux
3. F. Escartin
2. A. Zulle
contador Suspended after testing positive for Clenbuterol at 2010 Tour de France,
cleared to return to racing in 2011, with no loss of Tour results, by Spanish cycling federation.
1. L. Armstrong
1999
Dufaux Ejected from ’98 Tour as part of the Festina Affair, in which doping products
were discovered in a Festina team car shortly before the race. Later confessed to doping.
Galdeano Banned for six months after testing positive for salbutamol in 2002 Tour de France and Midi Libri.
10. Nardello
Heras Stripped of 2005 Vuelta win and banned for two years after testing positive for EPO.
Kloden In 2009, paid fine of 25,000 euros in return for German prosecutors agreeing to end an
investigation into his involvement with a 2006 blood-doping scandal at Freiburg University Clinic. (This
is an accepted legal resolution in Germany, and is not considered a legal admission of guilt.)
Landis Stripped of 2006 Tour de France win and banned for two years after testing positive for synthetic testosterone, then in 2010 confessed to long-term, systematic doping and accused other former teammates of also doing so.
Mancebo Not allowed by team to start 2006 Tour de France after being linked to Operacion Puerto.
10.
10.DC.Nardello
Sastre
9. Heras
7. Mancebo
6. J. Azevedo
5. Gonzalez
de Galdeano
4. Botero
3. R. Rumsas
2. Beloki
1. Armstrong
8. L. Leipheimer
Leipheimer Stripped of national criterium championship in 1996 after testing positive for ephedrine.
2002
Mayo Banned for two years, subsequently retiring, after
testing positive for EPO in 2007 Tour de France.
2005
10. Mancebo
Rasmussen Ejected by his team from 2007 Tour de France then later suspended for two
years for misleading doping officials about his whereabouts to avoid out-of-competition dope tests.
Rumsas Banned for one year after testing positive for EPO at 2003 Giro d’Italia, then in 2006
given four-month suspended sentence by French court for importing prohibited drugs.
Sevilla Not allowed to start 2006 Tour de France by his team, T-Mobile,
after being linked to Operacion Puerto, then later that month fired.
10. O. Pereiro
9. Sastre
9. Leipheimer
7. I. Basso
8. Moreau
8. Sastre
6. Mancebo
5. Azevedo
4.
Ullrich
3. Basso
2. A. Kloden
1. Armstrong
2004
7. G. Totschnig
6. I. Mayo
5. H. Zubeldia
4. T. Hamilton
2. Ullrich
1. Armstrong
3. A. Vinokourov
Moreau Ejected from ’98 Tour as part of Festina scandal, then later confessed to EPO use.
2003
Ullrich In 2008, made a payment of a reported 250,000 euros in return for German prosecutors
agreeing to close their investigation into his alleged blood doping and involvement in Operacion Puerto.
4. Mancebo
5. Vinokourov
6. Leipheimer
7. Rasmussen
8. Evans
9. F. Landis
10. Pereiro
4. B. Wiggins
5. F. Schleck
6. Kloden
7. V. Nibali
8. C. Vande
Velde
9. R. Kreuziger
10. C. Le Mevel
c r e d i t
3. Ullrich
3. Armstrong
Zulle Kicked out of the’98 Tour during the Festina scandal.
Given an eight-month suspension after confessing to four years of EPO use.
p h o t o
2. Basso
2. A. Schleck
May 2011
Virenque Ejected from’98 Tour during the Festina scandal, later confessed to EPO use then cleared of wrongdoing
by French court before receiving nine-month ban from Swiss cycling federation.
ph a
c
or
t o
l ic
e r le adyi tt o n
1. Armstrong
1. A. Contador
Vinokourov Banned for two years after testing positive for blood doping in the 2007 Tour de France.
2009
52
9. M. Serrano
8. Botero
7. O. Sevilla
6. F. Simon
5. I. Gonzalez
de Galdeano
4. A. Kivilev
3. Beloki
2. Ullrich
1. Armstrong
2001
Hamilton Banned for two years for blood doping at 2004 Vuelta a
Espana then, facing a lifetime ban, retired in 2009 after testing positive for DHEA.
10. M. Boogerd
9. F. Mancebo
8. Escartin
7. S. Botero
6. Virenque
5. R. Heras
4. C. Moreau
3. J. Beloki
2. J. Ullrich
1. Armstrong
2000
May 2011
53
Continued from p. 50
the descent of the Cote de la Rochette and broke his elbow, wrist and
femur in a crash that effectively ended his career, Armstrong sliced his
bike clear, rode into a field, jolted down a rocky meadow then unclipped
to leap across a ditch and rejoined the pack on the road. He never got
sick in July, never was the unfortunate guy who ran into the cat darting
through the peloton, never fell and broke a collarbone in a wet corner,
never committed the kind of dumb human blunder any of us eventually
would have at some point.
During those years the Livestrong bracelet became an icon of hope,
bravery and solidarity. Professional racing achieved unprecedented
mainstream exposure. Amateur road racing in the United States drew
bigger fields after years of decline. There was also evidence that more
regular people were riding their bikes for leisure and to work. And the
roads just seemed friendlier, as drivers­ who once would have squeezed
a Saturday club ride off the shoulder
instead leaned out their windows and
shouted, “Hey, Lance Armstrong!”
My relationship with him accordioned through those years, as did
the intensities of my fandom. There
were periods when I had his mobile
number handy (and once let a friend
drunk-dial him), and there were races,
speeches, publicity events, especially
The Hospital Room
04
Allegation
In arbitration between Armstrong and SCA Promotions (over the
payment of a bonus he was due for winning the Tour), former
teammate Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy, said under oath
that in ‘96 Armstrong admitted to medical staff that he had doped
with EPO, growth hormone, testosterone and other drugs.
Relevancy
Though this has been one of the most contentious incidents in
the decades-long doping debate, it predates Armstrong’s time on
Postal. One tenuous connection: This allegation could be used to
establish that Armstrong was at least at one point in his career
open to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
Armstrong’s response
Other witnesses present that day—including Chris Carmichael,
then-girlfriend Lisa Shiels and Oakley’s Stephanie McIlvain—­
either didn’t testify or didn’t corroborate the Andreus. Armstrong
introduced a signed affidavit from his chief oncologist, Craig Nichols, MD, affirming that he never heard the racer admit drug use.
Our TakE
This one is a mess. McIlvain—who seems to contradict her testimony in a widely distributed tape Greg LeMond secretly made
years ago, and who was reportedly questioned under subpoena
by FDA investigators for seven hours—is easily painted as lacking
credibility; Betsy Andreu maintains Nichols wasn’t in the room.
Unless other witnesses corroborate the Andreus, Armstrong
probably wins here—and if he loses it may have limited bearing
on the case. (Disclosure: James Startt, Bicycling’s European
correspondent, testified at the arbitration that McIlvain told him
she heard the doping admission.)
He looked me in the eye, and told me he was
looking me in the eye and telling me he’d never doped.
54
May 2011
Cover-Ups
05
Allegation
In a Sports Illustrated story in January, Armstrong is said to have
returned at least three tests in the 1990s that indicated testosterone doping. When requested by the USOC to confirm the results
by testing the B samples, Don Catlin, the anti-doping scientist
whose laboratory performed the procedure, was allegedly unable
to confirm two. The result of the third was not addressed by Catlin
in the materials the SI reporters discovered.
Relevancy
Some experts say such a high incidence of failing to confirm a
test is extremely unusual, and at worst could indicate collusion.
But, once again, the three tests predate Armstrong’s time on
Postal and may lack influence in this trial.
Armstrong’s response
He did not respond to SI’s requests for comment or offer any
statements afterward, other than one by Mark Fabiani that the
story was based on lies. Catlin has said his quotes were taken out
of context and mischaracterized.
c r e d i t
p h o t o
The key isn’t the tests, which aren’t actionable. It’s the picture
SI paints of an improper relationship between athletes and the
people policing them. Armstrong’s agent, Bill Stapleton, was a
USOC official from ’97 to ’04, and Catlin was the expert Armstrong
called on in ‘08 to devise an independent testing program, which
was discontinued after a single test sample. At most, prosecutors might try to use this allegation to establish the existence of a
collusive atmosphere conducive to lawbreaking.
i m a g e s
Our TakE
g e t t y
during the height of his celebrity, when he stared so thoroughly through
me I was sure he no longer recognized me. There were the early Tours
that seemed like universal ­human triumphs, and the later editions when
I longed for upsets by Iban Mayo or Ivan Basso or Tyler Hamilton.
And like most cycling fans—aside from those who wish at any cost
to either beatify him or crucify him—the strength of my belief that
Armstrong could have accomplished all that without doping ebbed and
flowed. Racer after racer he’d defeated or teamed with turned up positive,
more and more former teammates and staff accused him of cheating, the
circumstantial evidence and investigative books and high-profile feuds
accumulated—yet all while he never returned a positive test, never was
legally judged to have doped, never hedged in his assertion of innocence.
The public controversies were dwarfed by a flow of off-the-record
stories in first- and second- and third-hand from racers and others who
were incredulous that I refused to publicly accuse Armstrong of doping,
yet who would tell me something only on the condition that it had never
happened. There was the story that never happened about Armstrong,
an EPO syringe sticking out of his shoulder, taunting a teammate. There
was the story that never happened about Armstrong being interrupted
while doping and asking the interloping teammate if he was “a mouse or a
man.” There was the time in a bar in Europe when I got into a long, heated
argument about my refusal to label Armstrong a doper and in front of at
least 10 people one of the most vociferous shouted, “But I’m friends with
someone who delivered doping products to him!” When I later, in private,
requested to meet the shouted-about friend to put such a delivery on the
Continued on p. 60
May 2011
55
Will Livestrong Stay Strong?
By Nina Burleigh
56
May 2011
c r e d i t
p h o t o
p h o t
r
n oa cwri es d
e i/ te p a / c o r b i s
F
not. “You may not want to be associated with the individual,” says Andrews, “but if you stop supporting
the foundation, you may have a backlash. You may be
our years after his bone cancer went into remission, Carlos Garcia,­
seen as punishing cancer survivors and others who are
25, began signing up for the Austin Livestrong Challenge, annual
helping them.” That said, Andrews thinks the specter
charity rides benefiting the nonprofit started by Lance Armstrong
of performance-enchancing drugs (PEDs) creates bigin 1997 to boost survivorship of people battling cancer via educager problems than those faced by troubled ­celebrities
tion, assistance and inspiration. Garcia rode 10 miles one year, and
like Tiger Woods. “In Woods’s case, the brand image
90 miles the next—with a prosthetic leg. ■ Today, he says his yelthat companies were tying into was all about his perlow Livestrong bracelet, which he’s never taken off, gave him faith
formance on the golf course and they could separate
and helped him get through his training and two years of treatment. “Everybody
themselves from his personal behavior,” says ­Andrews.
has their opinion on the allegations,” he says. “But that has nothing to do with
“But if the athletic performance itself is tainted, you
Livestrong. The foundation is not about Lance Armstrong. It’s about 28 million­
don’t have a way to excuse it.”
people fighting this disease and doing everything they can to raise money and
Ken Berger, CEO of Charity Navigator, agrees:
awareness, and I don’t tie them together.”
“The most precious commodity any foundation has is
The allegations have certainly harmed Armstrong’s popularity with public trust. Once you damage that trust, all bets could be off.”
Not surprisingly, Livestrong CEO Doug Ulman, a cancer survivor
the general public, says Harry Shafer, executive vice president of Q Scores,
which rates the public perception of celebrities. According to Shafer, the himself, sees the scandal as little more than a sad distraction from a ­noble
seven-time Tour de France winner’s popularity has been on a down- cause, and he sees no need for a formal distancing from Armstrong. “This
ward trajectory since it peaked in 2006, and by last September—a few organization has never been stronger in terms of fulfilling our mission
months after the release of Floyd Landis’s accusations that ­Armstrong and the support that we receive from literally millions of people,” he says.
“We are trying to tackle a global problem, the number one cause of death
had doped—he was at average or below-average levels.
The question that will affect survivors like Garcia is whether around the world. And so the investigation unfortunately has become a
­Armstrong’s travails might hurt Livestrong’s ability to help the cancer distraction from our mission. We are literally, positively changing lives
community. The ­organization is small compared with philanthropic every day and we have so much more to do and to be pulled away and
­giants such as The American Cancer Society. According­ to its own fig- distracted even for 10 minutes is frustrating.”
And what does Armstrong himures and reports by watchdogs such
self think? In an interview with
as Charity Navigator, Livestrong has
­BICYCLING, which was granted on the
raised more than $390 million in its
condition we not question him ­directly
14-year lifetime, including­ $48 milabout the investigation or PEDs, he
lion collected from 215,000 donors
insisted that Livestrong—and his role
around the world last year. More than
with the organization—would sur81 percent of the total income has been
vive. “If people think that I am going
invested directly in cancer programs,
to be distracted or we are going to be
initiatives and advocacy efforts, which
sidetracked from our mission, they
earns the foundation a three-star ratare sorely mistaken,” he said. “The last
ing (out of four) by Charity Navigator.
Craig Bida, executive vice president at Cone, a cause-branding agency thing that I am is a quitter. So I would reiterate to anybody in the cycling
that has developed campaigns for the American Heart Association and community who wants to question my commitment or the passion of
other nonprofits, predicts Livestrong will withstand any takedown this organization, they are making a big mistake.”
Asked whether he envisioned a time when he might not be involved
Armstrong faces. “One difference with Livestrong is that Armstrong has
­leveraged grassroots support,” Bida says. “People participate in the rides with Livestrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner said: “That’s like
and believe in the cause. This has become a movement. And Armstrong asking what’s my association going to be like with my kids in five or 10
is a symbol for survivorship.” To wit: 79 percent of Americans recognize years. It goes without saying that I am committed to the foundation, but
even bigger than that, committed to the larger fight against cancer. We
Livestrong’s iconic yellow wristband and say it’s important.
Jim Andrews, a senior vice president for IEG, a firm that advises work very closely with the American Cancer Society, and, believe it or
­corporations on sponsorships, says that if the investigation procedes, not, the FDA. We are all a team in this fight and my commitment is fullArmstrong’s sponsorship deals with brands such as Nike, RadioShack, time now. I am committed for as long as I need to be, and it’s not going to
Nissan, Oakley, Giro and Trek will suffer while his ties to Livestrong might go away in a month or a year.”
May 2011
57
Cast of Characters
Undeclared or
Even obsessive followers of the drama that’s surrounded Armstrong since the rumors of
his doping surfaced in 1999 have trouble keeping track of the sheer number of players—and
which ones consider him a hero or a villain. Here’s our distilled guide to the Tour champion’s
allies, enemies and those whose ultimate impact on him remains uncertain.—Joe Lindsey
PRO LANCE
Mark Fabiani
Armstrong’s spokesman and communications strategist,
hired in August ’10.
Former White House
special counsel who
represented President
Clinton during Whitewater. Nicknamed “The
Master of Disaster” by
Newsweek in ’96.
Michele Ferrari
Most controversial
coach and physiologist
in cycling, worked with
Armstrong ’96 to ’04
before dope-related
conviction (later thrown
out due to statute of
John Korioth
Longtime friend and
confidant. Nicknamed
“College,” first
employee of Lance
Armstrong Foundation
(now Livestrong).
Levi Leipheimer
Teammate ’00 to ’01
(Postal) and ’09 to ’10
(Astana and Radio­
Shack). Didn’t make
Postal’s Tour teams.
Bill Stapleton
Armstrong’s agent
since ’95, chief
management officer of
Livestrong and former
vice president of U.S.
Olympic Committee;
accused by Landis
of interfering with
out-of-competition
drug testing aimed at
Armstrong.
Steve Johnson
CEO of USA Cycling;
founded USA Cycling
Development Foundation with seed money
from Weisel in 2000.
Jonathan
­Vaughters
Teammate ’98 to ’99.
Retired after ’03 season. Has implied but
never explicitly admitted doping. Founder of
Garmin-Cervélo team,
noted proponent of
clean racing.
Allen Lim
Physiologist who
worked with Landis
in ’06, physiologist for
popovych
Anti Lance
Mike Anderson
Former personal
­assistant who claims
relationship soured
when he discovered
illegal drugs in Armstrong’s bathroom and
says Armstrong told
him that “everyone”
in cycling doped. Suit
over termination (and
countersuit) settled
out of court. Owns bike
shop in New Zealand.
Betsy Andreu
Wife of Frankie, one of
Armstrong’s harshest
critics since testifying
in SCA case that Armstrong admitted doping
to doctors in ’96. Has
never claimed to have
seen Armstrong dope.
Frankie Andreu
Testified in corroboration of wife, Betsy,
in SCA arbitration.
Armstrong’s closest
friend in racing from
’96 to ’00 on Motorola
and Postal. In ’06,
admitted using EPO, on
his own, to make ’99
Tour team.
Mike Ashenden
Australian anti-doping
expert, member of UCI
analysis panel for antidoping biopassport.
Testified in SCA arbitration that Armsrong
urine samples from ’99
prove his EPO use.
Bob Hamman
Founder of SCA
Promotions, which lost
arbitration over Armstrong’s Tour bonus.
If Armstrong is convicted, could attempt to
recover money.
Paul Kimmage
Ex-pro cyclist, author
of ’88 path-breaking
doping confessional
A Rough Ride. Now
writer for London
Sunday Times. Called
Armstrong a “cancer”
in the sport of cycling.
Floyd Landis
U.S. Postal rider ’02
to ’04, supported
Armstrong in three
Tour victories and
won the’06 Tour on
Phonak then lost title
after doping conviction.
Denied doping until admission in May ’10 that
included accusations
implicating Armstrong.
Filed False Claims Act
against Armstrong,
seeking compensation.
Greg LeMond
Three-time Tour
winner questioned
­Armstrong’s cleanliness in ’04 and has
since been locked in
bitter feud culminating
in lawsuits and dissolution of his bike brand
operated by Trek.
Doug Miller
Assistant U.S.
attorney assigned to
Armstrong investigation, has never
commented publicly
on role or confirmed
his particiaption. Was
involved in BALCO case.
Jeff Novitzky
FDA agent investigating Armstrong, famous
for breaking open
BALCO doping ring in
baseball and track.
Emma O’Reilly
Former Postal
soigneur who, among
other charges, told
David Walsh that she
helped Armstrong
conceal needle tracks
from doping, and was
present when the
prescription for cortisone that dismissed
a ’99 positive test was
manufactured and
backdated.
Stephen Swart
Motorola teammate, told Walsh that
Armstrong promoted
EPO use.
Travis Tygart
CEO and former chief
counsel of United
States Anti-Doping
Agency. Secured numerous bans in BALCO
case and played central
role in doping cases of
Landis and Hamilton.
david walsh
Former sportswriter
for the London Sunday
Times; exposed Armstrong’s relationship
with Michele Ferrari
and co-authored 2004’s
L.A. Confidentiel.
swart
hamilton
livingston
ferrari
tygart
kimmage
Kevin Livingston
Teammate from ’96 to
’00 on Motorola, Cofidis
and Postal. Essential
to ’99 and ’00 Tour
wins. In ’01 rode for
Armstrong’s rival, Jan
Ullrich, at Telekom.
Retired after ’02 season. Runs Pedal Hard
training studio in basement of Armstrong’s
Mellow Johnny’s bike
shop in Austin, Texas.
Mark MacKinnon
President of the
Republican political
strategy firm Maverick
Media, advisor to senator John McCain’s ’08
presidential campaign,
advisor to Armstrong
and member of
Livestrong board.
Thom Weisel
Investment banker,
cofounder of Montgomery Securities
and Thom Weisel
Partners. Sponsored
Armstrong’s first
trade team (SubaruMontgomery) and was
founding sponsor of
Tailwind Sports/Postal.
Tyler Hamilton
Teammate from ’98
to ’01; instrumental in
three Tour victories.
Banned for two years
after testing positive
for blood doping in ‘04
Vuelta Espana. Tested
positive in ’09 for DHEA
and received eightyear ban.
Marty Jemison
Teammate on Postal
’98 to ’00, rode ’97 to
’98 Tours but didn’t
make Tour squad for
Armstrong’s ‘99 to ’00
wins. Wife, Jill, worked
as soigneur for Postal.
catlin
johnson
carmichael
lemond
Levi
Leipheimer
vaughters
Levi
Leipheimer
Leipheimer
o’reilly
daly
bruyneel
c r e d i t
Brian Daly
Defense attorney hired
by Armstrong in July
’10. Former federal
prosecutor with experience in fraud and
whistle-blower cases,
specifically False
Claims Acts like the
suit filed by Landis.
Bart Knaggs
President of former
Tailwind Corporation
(owner of Postal),
longtime friend, on
Livestrong board of
directors.
Yaroslav Popovych
Teammate in ’05
­(Discovery) and ’09
to ’10 (Astana and
RadioShack). Subject of
raid in Italian home and
questioned by investigators in Los Angeles.
Hein Verbruggen
President of UCI ‘91
to ’05, currently vice
president of IOC.
Rumored to be part of
Armstrong business
group interested in
buying and privatizing
cycling’s ProTour, similar to Formula One.
stephanie mcilvain
Was Oakley company
liaison to Armstrong,
testified in support of
him in SCA arbitration,
but she seemed to contradict her testimony
in a phone call surreptitiously taped by
LeMond, and in other
admissions made while
not under oath.
p h o t o
Chris Carmichael
Coach who largely
claims credit for
discovering him.
Used association with
Armstrong to build
Carmichael­Training
Systems business. In
’06, USA Cycling settled
doping case brought
by two former national
team riders against
him and others.
Tim Herman
Armstrong’s longtime
attorney and lead
lawyer in ’05 actions
that involved Brian
Hamman’s insurance
company SCA Promotions, which sought to
annul $5 million bonus
due Armstrong for winning Tour, and dispute
with Mike Anderson.
Jim Ochowicz
Armstrong’s first
pro team director, at
Motorola. Current coowner of BMC Racing
team. Advisor ’05 to
’06 to Phonak, Landis’s
team. President of USA
Cycling board of directors ’02 to ’06. Former
employee of Thom
Weisel Partners.
teams of Jonathan
Vaughters ’05 to ’09.
Post-Tour ’09, joined
RadioShack to work
with Armstrong.
c r e d i t
Johan Bruyneel
Director for Armstrong’s Tour wins and
comebacks. Accused
by Floyd Landis of
helping run systematic
doping program.
limitations) led Armstrong to cut ties.
George Hincapie
Armstrong’s closest
and most tenured
teammate (’98 to ’05).
Since start of FDA
investigation, remarks
have been studiously
neutral.
p h o t o
John Burke
President of Trek
­Bicycles, Armstrong’s
bicycle sponsor since
’98. Granted Armstrong
minority share in the
company. Alleged by
Greg LeMond to have
conspired with Armstrong to destroy the
LeMond bike brand.
Don Catlin
Dean of American antidoping, former head
of WADA-accredited
UCLA lab, created test
to detect EPO and
helped break BALCO
case. His Anti-Doping
Sciences Institute runs
independent testing
for HTC-HighRoad and
Garmin-Cervélo.
Uncertain
landis
Levi
Leipheimer
novitzky
hincapie
58
May 2011
May 2011
59
I
07
I m a g e s ( x 5 ) ; B o n g a r t s / G e t t y I m a g e s ;
J o h n P i e r c e / P h o t o S p o r t I n t e r n at i o n a l
06
p r e v i o u s s p r e a d : A s s o c i at e d P r e s s ( x 6 ) : G e t t y
A F P / G e t t y I m a g e s ( x 5 ) ; AP I m a g e s f o r Q u i z n o s ;
The Saddle Sore
yes, I did poke through the refrigerator
Continued from p. 54
Allegation
and cabinets. At the Tour de France, I was
record, there came only ­silence.
Former Armstrong soigneur Emma O’Reilly
sitting in the team car before the start of
I was on a ride with Armstrong once
told journalist David Walsh that, in ‘99, the
team forged a backdated prescription to
a stage when Armstrong’s personal assiswhen I finally just asked him: “Did you
explain a positive test in Stage 1 of the Tour.
tant, Mark Higgins, saw me, walked over
dope?” He looked me in the eye and told
Relevancy
and said to Bruyneel, in the driver’s seat, “A
me ­he was looking me in the eye and tellThe federal case potentially includes an
journalist in the car?”
ing me he never had.
accusation that Armstrong defrauded the
“He’s one of us,” Bruyneel said.
“Plenty of people can do that and lie,” I
government by securing more than $40
million of sponsorship money from the U.S.
I suppose I was, though only ever on
said. “That means nothing to me.”
Postal Service from ‘99 to ‘04. If Armstrong
the
outermost ring of the inner circle,
“It means everything to me.”
duped his way out of a positive test, fraud
might become a reasonable assertion.
close enough to see how much there was
“Look,” I said. “All I know for sure is that
I couldn’t see. Yet, as Armstrong rode himyou’ve never been busted.”
Armstrong’s response
self onto the podium, I became convinced
And that became, amid the claims and
He has always maintained that the prescription—to treat a saddle sore—was legitimate.
that however much I might not know, the
counterclaims and conflicting testimonies
comeback was clean. The riders regarded
and legal settlements that ended matOur TakE
him with an awe that could have nothing to
ters while ­never deciding the truth of the
At this point it’s Armstrong’s word against
O’Reilly’s. Unless other witnesses corrobodo with chemical mastery, and eventually I
­matter, what felt to me like the sole fact.
rate her story, Armstrong wins this one.
did, too. I’d gone back to my old faith.
Years later, the integrity of even that eroded
Betsy Andreu, one of Armstrong’s most
as dopers such as Thomas Frei and Bern­
dogged critics, tells me that I practiced
hard Kohl explained in their confessions
how easily test results could be ­manipulated, how they’d been caught ­willfull ignorance all these years. I don’t ­disagree with the substance of
only because they’d committed the kind of dumb human blunder any of her judgment, but I choose to call it hope instead.
us eventually would have at some point.
Yet I clung to the possibility that Lance Armstrong had never doped.
I thought he deserved at least that uncertainty. Just a few people in
THOUGHT I’D STOP BEING a fan, hate him too much
the world had directly experienced his acts of innocence or guilt. Their
to appreciate him. That’s what we’re told, that we must either ad­accounts so contradicted one another that whatever any of us believed
mire him or alternately despise and pity him. And I do: I admire
about Armstrong could be confirmed from the same canon of incidents him and despise him and pity him—for the years of lying as much as
cited by those who just as passionately swore the opposite to be true. the cheating—and I’m enraged and morose, and I think he owes us
Doubt would never be enough for me to accuse Armstrong; devotion something and he should just disappear, and I could keep going like this
would never be enough for me to absolve him. I became an agnostic.
and some days have. Can you imagine that? A 46-year-old guy all twistWhen Armstrong made his comeback in 2009, I was the closest jour- ed up because of the ugly way a cyclist did beautiful things on a bike?
nalist to the phenomenon. His longtime team director and confidante,
I don’t know how you’ll feel. I don’t know, if you’re not already there,
Johan Bruyneel, had leaked to me that the comeback was coming. I was what might lead you to believe that Lance Armstrong doped. It wasn’t
riding with one of his most trusted coaches, Chris Carmichael, when the Floyd Landis for me, or the federal investigation, or any public revelation.
world found out about it. I was there when Armstrong broke his collar- My catalyst was another one of those statements that was never said by
bone in Spain, and in the team car during his rehab races at the Tour someone I never talked with. It was not from one of Armstrong’s oppoof the Gila and Giro d’Italia. I spent time alone in the team bus—and, nents. It was not from anyone who will gain any clemency by affirming
Allegation
In the e-mails to cycling officials obtained by the Wall Street Journal and other publications, Landis alleged that Armstrong told him that
­Bruyneel and Armstrong flew to UCI headquarters in Switzerland to make a financial agreement with UCI president Hein Verbruggen to
­suppress a positive test result Armstrong generated at the Tour of Switzerland.
Relevancy
If proved true, this would be highly damaging to Armstrong. It would establish that he doped while on Postal. And bribing away positive tests
would destroy what is probably Armstrong’s most compelling overall contention: that for more than a decade he’s been extensively examined
by anti-doping officials (he says he’s the most tested athlete in the world) and not once turned up positive.
60
Both Armstrong and the UCI pointed out that he didn’t ride the Tour of Switzerland in ‘02, as seems to be claimed in one interpretation of
Landis’s letter. (Another interpretation: ‘02 refers to the date he was told about the bribe, and he references the ‘01 edition, which Armstrong
won.) The UCI has denied bribes or cover-ups, and threatened legal action against Landis for defamation.
Armstrong has made at least two donations to the UCI, totaling $125,000, which have been characterized by him and UCI officials as contributions to anti-doping efforts. (Some of the money was used to purchase a Sysmex blood analyzer.) Current UCI president Pat McQuaid
acknowledged the donations and admits it was a mistake to accept them, but claims nothing untoward resulted. Given the array of individuals
and paperwork involved in sampling, testing and confirming a positive test, suppressing a result would be difficult but not unimaginable—and
covering up the telltale paper trail seems all but impossible. If there’s a crime here, it’ll be found.
May 2011
c r e d i t
Our TakE
p h o t o
The Bribe
Armstrong’s response
May 2011
61
it under oath. It was an admission that doping had occurred, one disguised so it could
assume innocence but unmistakeable to me
in meaning. The moment I received it felt
strangely like a relief, and after all these years
unreal and apart from what was happening,
like those odd instants that sometimes immediately follow the death of someone you
love, when grief is eclipsed by gratitude that
the suffering has ended.
Though I had an aunt whom cancer­
wasted­to nothing in a trailer in West ­Virginia,
and my wife had her thyroid ­removed because of the disease, I’ve otherwise been lucky
to remain untouched by it. But I’ve visited Livestrong in Austin and read
the plaques on the wall, each signifying a ­person fighting a battle I can’t
comprehend. I’ve walked over prayers chalked yellow on the roads of the
Tour of California. I spent time traveling with the Chalkbot, the machine
that spray-painted tributes along the route of the Tour de France. And in
researching my book about the 2009 comeback, I came to know some of
the cancer community. My sense is that they think less, “Did he cheat?”
than I’m trying to stay alive, and this guy did it then won the Tour de France
and I’m going to believe in that. We humans get pretty good pretty fast at
compartmentalizing when it comes to life and death. Drawing hope from
someone who cheated in a bicycle race isn’t unreasonable.
His fervent critics are going to end up frustrated. He might lose his
jerseys but I don’t think he’ll be judged guilty—in a court, anyway—of
any crime related to doping, let alone fraud or racketeering. If I’m wrong,
androstenedione
there’s no legal sentence dire enough to slake their
thirst for retribution.
He might lose his jerseys, but I don’t think
he’ll be judged guilty—in a court, anyway.
Relevancy
Armstrong’s association with Ferrari has
long been problematic. Ferrari has been
linked to doping many times, dating to his
work with the Gewiss team in the mid ‘90s.
This allegation seems more explosive than it
really is—Landis never says he saw Ferrari
transfuse blood from Armstrong.
Armstrong’s response
When David Walsh in ‘02 revealed the
­association between Armstrong and Ferrari
(which is understood to date to the mid ‘90s),
Armstrong defended the doctor. After Ferrari
was convicted in Italy of fraud and malpractice
in ‘04 in relation to doping, Armstrong formally
severed ties. (The conviction was later thrown
out over statute-of-limitations issues.)
Our TakE
Corroboration of this specific claim would
likely cement the reputation of the man
known as “Dr. Evil,” but on its own, it’s ancillary to the federal case against Armstrong.
May 2011
SI reported in January that Armstrong
­obtained the blood substitute HemAssist,
which had been pulled from clinical trials.
Relevancy
HemAssist was a strictly controlled experimental drug, illegal for private citizens to
possess—which would be why the FDA is
investigating events that might have occurred
in European bike races a decade ago.
Armstrong’s response
Impossible, says his spokesman, Fabiani:
HemAssist was pulled from clinical trials in
‘98, before Armstrong won his first Tour.
Our TakE
Fabiani is correct that HemAssist was pulled
in 1998, but supplies still may have been
available: Its maker operated a hemoglobin
therapeutics division in Boulder, Colorado,
until ‘03, and when a clinical drug trial is
discontinued, each trial site (there were more
than a dozen in the United States and Europe) disposes its own stocks. To prove this
one, the prosecution will likely need a paper
trail of a transaction, or produce witnesses
with direct knowledge of how Armstrong
used or came into possession of HemAssist.
If they have either, Armstrong is in trouble.
The 1999 Samples
10
Allegation
After Armstrong retired in ‘05, French sports
daily l’Equipe published a story claiming that
anti-doping samples belonging to Armstrong
from the ‘99 Tour had tested positive for EPO.
Relevancy
This would be direct clinical evidence of doping by Armstrong on Postal—damning proof.
Armstrong’s response
Armstrong let the UCI handle the matter.­
An independent investigator, Emile Vrijman,­
issued an official report exonerating
­Armstrong and calling into question the ­
lab’s handling of confidential samples.
Our TakE
Whichever side wins this battle probably wins
the war. A draw—inconclusive effect on the
jury—favors Armstrong. The test samples
were drawn for research only—in part, to
help develop tests such as the one for EPO
that began in the 2000 season—so there
was no twin A and B sample as mandated
under anti-doping regulations. Those rules
don’t apply in federal court, so if the FDA
obtains samples that can be shown to be
Armstrong’s and contain EPO, it could stand
as solid proof. Armstrong’s legal team could
question the chain of custody and, as with
any compromised evidence, the admissibility.
c r e d i t
Allegation
In the leaked e-mails and in the Journal,
­Landis claims that in 2002 Dr. Michele
­Ferrari, Armstrong’s coach and training
advisor, extracted half a liter of blood from
Landis that Ferrari said would be transfused
back into him at the Tour de France.
62
09
p h o t o
Allegation
HemAssist
i m a g e s
08
g e t t y
Dr. Ferrari
It’s those of us in the middle, the fans, who are stuck trying to make
sense of what he’s done, trying to decide what to tell our daughters and
sons about him, and trying to remember that he must do the same.
His ultimate legacy most likely is out of our hands. Fans who may not
yet be alive will decide who he was. To us, today, Eddy Merckx is the greatest cyclist who ever lived, not a fraud who tested positive for a stimulant
while leading the 1969 Giro d’Italia and had his 1973 Giro di Lombardia
win stripped for the same. Joop Zoetemelk is the hardman who started
and finished 16 Tours—a record—and won one. He’s not a reprobate
who was caught doping at the 1979 Tour, received a paltry penalty of
a 10-minute time addition, and maintained his second-place podium
spot. Jacques Anquitel is the five-time Tour winner who in 1961 took
the yellow jersey on Stage 1 and wore it all the way to Paris, not a boastful cheater who said, during a French television interview, “Leave me in
peace—everybody takes dope.” And Fausto Coppi is il campionissimo, the
champion of champions, not an admitted doper who said on Italian television that he only took drugs when necessary—“which is nearly always.”
We live in a different age, one that may not allow the forgiveness of
Lance Armstrong, that may hold him to be the creator rather than the
product of the era he reigned over. We might even judge this champion’s
cheating and lying too vile to permit the remembrance of the part of him
that, even now, convinced that he doped to win the Tour, I can’t stop
being a fan of: the plain fact that he was, as even his bitter enemy Floyd
Landis told me when we spoke last year, “a badass on a bike.”
May 2011
63