Video: Lance Armstrong Talks To Outside Magazine

Lance Armstrong has maintained a relatively low profile over the past year, during which he admitted to using performance enhancing drugs while competing in, and winning, seven Tour de France races. Over the months since his confession, he has started to come clean about those transgressions, and he has been very open and frank about the nature of cycling in that era, and his own involvement. In the video below, he continues to speak candidly, this time with Outside magazine, about the situation. When asked if he feels he won the those seven Tour titles, that have since been stripped from him, he unequivocally says yes. It is an interesting, and straight forward interview, that fans of cycling and Lance should see. And for the record, I agree with him. He won those races on the road.

Lance Armstrong Is Naming Names

It has been awhile since we've heard anything new about Lance Armstrong, and the doping scandal that brought dow the 7-time Tour de France champion. But earlier this week, some details of Armstrong's deposition from a lawsuit that was brought against him from an insurance company seeking repayment for bonuses paid out during his TdF winning streak were revealed. In that testimony, which took place back in November, Lance revealed the names of those who supplied him with performance enhancing drugs, or at least knew about their use.

Most of the names will probably come as no surprise to cycling fans. For instance, Armstrong says that team director Johan Bruyneel "participated in or assisted with" the use of PEDs for him and the rest of the squad. This is the first time that Bruyneel has been named outright by Lance, who says that  the Johan knew about the use of drugs through "conversations and other acts" throughout their time together.

The report also points the finger at those who were involved with administering Armstrong's blood transfusions, which aided in increasing oxygen levels in his blood for better performance. Four names came up as part of that conversation. They include trainer Pepe Marti, Dr. Pedro Celaya, Dr. Luis del Moral, and the infamous Dr. Michele Ferrari, who was part of a large program for doling out performance enhancing drugs to athletes on a massive scale.

Others who were singled out for delivering PED's to the cyclist include team soigneur Emma O'Reilly, as well as bike mechanics Julien de Vriese and Philippe Maire. It was also revealed in the testimony that team manager Mark Gorski and Armstrong's personal coach Chris Carmichael knew about his use of performance enhancing drugs as far back as 1995.

Two-Time Ironman Champ Challenges Lance Armstrong To One-On-One Competition

Australian triathlete Chris McCormack sent shockwaves through the racing community earlier this week when he issued a challenge to Lance Armstrong. McCormack, who is a former two-time Ironman World Champion, has proposed the two men meet in a one-on-one competition in an unsanctioned race to see just who is the better triathlete.

Apparently, the idea for this competition first came up prior to Armstrong being banned from competition for life last year. When the USADA stripped the former pro cyclist of his seven Tour de France wins, negotiations came to an abrupt halt. But McCormack says that he recently read an interview in which Lance said he believed that he could win the Ironman World Championship. That prompted the Aussie to reach out to Armstrong to see if they could put something together.

According to this article, Lance is interested in the idea and would be down for an opportunity to compete, even though the event would be completely unsanctioned. Due to his ban,  he can't officially enter any races, but that wouldn't prevent these two world-class athletes from challenging one another. It seems there is a chance that that could happen.

Despite the fact that he has been stripped of his Tour wins, Armstrong is undeniably an amazing athlete. This would be the chance for him to go head-to-head with someone who has plenty of experience in Ironman events and see just where he stacks up. I believe that interest for this event would be enormous. People would want to see just how good Lance still is and pitting him against one of the best triathletes in the world would be a great measuring stick.

It's hard to say if we'll ever see this race become a reality, but I'd certainly love to see it happen. I also happen to believe that it would be a fairly close race, provided Lance has some time to train and get back into competitive form. I guess we'll just have to wait to see if these two men get the chance to square off.

Video: Trailer For Cycling Documentary The Armstrong Lie

Here's a video that is sure to be of interest to a lot of readers. It is the trailer for a new film called The Armstrong Lie which is a documentary that started out as a film to chronicle Lance's return to cycling and ended up being so much more. The movie is written and directed by Alex Gibney, who was originally forced to shelve the project when the allegations of the doping scandal broke. Gibney returned to the film however when Lance made his confession to Oprah earlier in the year. This looks very compelling and it's already on my list to catch at some point. It goes into limited release on November 8 and wider release sometime after that.

U.S. Justice Department Sues Lance Armstrong For Millions

Yesterday the U.S. Justice Department announced its intentions to recoup millions of dollars that were paid to Lance Armstrong by the U.S. Postal Service when it sponsored his team from 1998 to 2004. During that period, the team received more than $40 million, of which $17 million went to Armstrong who rode to six of his seven Tour de France wins under the USPS banner. 

 In the lawsuit the Justice Department says the former pro cyclist was "unjustly enriched" by using performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour. Furthermore, they point out that the sponsorship agreement prohibits the use of banned substances and that Armstrong committed fraud by agreeing to those terms and yet knowingly used PED's anyway. The suit looks to reclaim triple the damages that could be awarded by a jury. Johan Bruyneel, the USPS team director and  management company Tailwind Sports were also named as defendants.

This new case joins a federal whistle-blower lawsuit that has been brought against Armstrong by former team-mate Floyd Landis, who also tested positive for high levels of testosterone in the 2005 Tour de France, and subsequently had his titled stripped at the time. Tuesday was the deadline for moving forward with the case. 

It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. On the one hand, Lance clearly knew he was doping while he was taking the USPS money, but on the other hand it'll be difficult to prove any damages. Clearly all of Armstrong's sponsors benefited by being associated with him at the time, probably to the benefit of far more cash than they actually paid him. But in this case, we are talking about U.S. tax dollars and a breach of contract. How a jury will be swayed on this one way or another could be fascinating to watch.

This isn't the only legal headache that Armstrong is facing at the moment. Sports-promotions company SCA of Dallas, TX is also suing to get $12 million in bonuses back, while the Sunday Times of London is hoping to recover $500,000 paid out in the settlement of a libel case that later proved to be true. With all of these mountain financial issues, it's no wonder that Lance recently sold his home here in Austin. 

And I thought I was having a rough year. 

Deadline Passes For Lance Armstrong To Deal With USADA

Yesterday was the deadline for Lance Armstrong to come forward and fully cooperate with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency if he hoped to get his lifetime ban from competition reduced to eight years. The deadline came and went without Armstrong meeting with USADA officials, leaving many to wonder what the next move is for the disgraced cyclist who seems embattled on numerous fronts at the moment.

Following his much publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey last month, in which he admitted to doping while riding in the Tour de France, the USADA asked Armstrong to testify under oath about his use of performance enhancing drugs. The organization dangled the carrot of removing the lifetime ban if he came clean on the subject and shared his information on which doctors, coaches, trainers and cycling officials facilitated his doping over the years. In other words, they were willing to reduce the ban provided Lance named names.

Armstrong's lawyers say that he is willing to cooperate and share more details, but the cyclist fears opening himself up to more lawsuits. He also says that the USADA should be a part of a larger investigation conducted by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency. Lance believes that WADA has more jurisdiction over the sport because cycling is so Euro-centric. Lance has always maintained that the USADA's efforts were too narrowly focused on only select American riders when the entire sport needs to be cleaned up.

For its part, the USADA now says it'll move forward with its own investigations. After extending the deadline for Lance already, they don't seem too thrilled with the idea of delaying further. The organization still has a lot of work to do in terms of tracking down everyone who was involved in the widespread use of PED's in cycling. As we all know by now, that is a rabbit hole that runs quite deep.

Personally, I believe Lance is hoping to get his ban reduced even further. A lifetime ban from competition is pretty clear cut and an eight-year ban isn't much of an improvement. For an athlete, eight years is an eternity. Most can survive a two or three year band and get back to a competitive level, but eight years might as well be a lifetime. The chances of us ever seeing Lance competing in a race of any kind again seems fairly remote at this point.

So? What Did You Think Of The Lance Armstrong Confession?

Last night the first part of the much-hyped interview between Lance Armstrong and Oprah Winfrey was aired and as we all knew, the cyclists finally admitted publicly that he doped throughout his career. By the time the interview was shown however that was pretty much an accepted fact and most of us were just waiting to hear what else Lance had to tell us. It was the content in the rest of the interview, and the second part that will air tonight, that was most important to many fans of both cycling and Armstrong himself.

Watching the former Tour de France champion answer Oprah's pointed questions was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was refreshing to hear Armstrong answer directly and honestly but we still got the same reserved, stoic man that we've all come to know over the years. As he has done so many times in the past, Lance kept his emotions in check and didn't offer much of a glimpse of what was going on inside. If there was ever a moment to show his human side, it was now. I'm not sure we saw that, at least in the first part of the interview.

It was interesting to hear Armstrong fess up to his bullying tactics and offer a few mea culpas to some of his past behavior. While his systematic doping process is a major part of the story, the way he handled those who criticized him or spoke out on his alleged doping in years past, is another important aspect. Lance and his team trampled the lives of many people who dared to speak out against him, and some of those people have had a very hard time getting their lives back together. These confessions and apologies won't help them reclaim years abuse and torment that they were forced to suffer by the Armstrong hype-machine.


But then again, the mending of old wounds has to start somewhere and Lance did start that process with this interview. He does want to see Livestrong continue on with its cancer-work and he has begun to reach out to those he steamrolled in an effort to open a dialog. Where he goes from here remains to be seen.

Obviously there is more to be revealed in the second part of the interview tonight, although I'm not sure what else will be talked about. Perhaps in this second segment we'll see a softer, more remorseful side of Armstrong, which would go a long way towards repairing his status with the general public. What we got last night sparked as much outrage as it did acceptance and I've heard others saying that he is "arrogant" and "pompous," words that have stuck with him over the years.

So? What did you think of the interview? Were you satisfied with what we got so far? What would you still like to hear from him as we move forward? Are you ready to forgive or are you a bit more cynical and feel he is doing this for his own gains?

I came away thinking that it was good to air out much of what was said, but that we were still looking at a man who is saying these things because he got caught. A man who is trying to rebuild his reputation and walk away with what little dignity he has left. Clearly Armstrong thrives on competition and attention, and part of this was to start the process that might allow him to step back onto the athletic stage once again and compete in more events. Only time will tell if he was successful in any of those pursuits.

Lance Armstrong Confesses To Doping

Yesterday the much ballyhooed interview between Lance Armstrong and Oprah Winfrey took place here in Austin, Texas. We'll have to wait until the interview airs on Thursday to get confirmation of what was talked about exactly, but an anonymous source is telling the Associated Press that Lance did indeed fess up to using performance enhancing drugs while competing as a professional cyclists. If true, and I see no reason to believe it isn't, the confession would be a complete reversal from years of denials and could be the first step for Armstrong towards being able to compete again.

It is also being reported that hours before he met with Winfrey, Lance asked for a meeting with the staff of the Livestrong Foundation, the organization he formed to help fight cancer. In that meeting we're told that he gave a very heartfelt and teary eyed apology to the staff there for casting the organization in a negative light following the allegations and revelations that came out as part of the investigation led by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency last year. Armstrong supposedly vowed to put Livestrong back on the right course and to save the reputation of the charity organization.

The Livestrong staff aren't the only people that Lance is reportedly apologizing to. Outside Online reports that he may have also reached out to Floyd Landis in an attempt to mend fences with the former teammate who also tested positive for doping at the Tour de France in 2006. Landis finished first in that race but was later stripped of the title. Afterwards, he made public accusations about Armstrong's use of performance enhancing drugs as well, something that Lance vehemently denied. The two have squabbled public ever since, with Armstrong being particularly vicious in his attacks on Landis' character.

According to the anonymous source to the AP, Lance admitted that he began using PEDs in the early-1990's, prior to being diagnosed with cancer. That would prove consistent with some of the earliest allegations against Armstrong by the likes of Betsy Andreu, the wife of Frankie Andreu, another former teammate, who says she heard Armstrong confess to doping to his doctors when being treated for testicular cancer in 1996. The former Tour de France champ was also ruthless in the way he went about discrediting her and completely running her character into the ground as well.


If Lance did come clean in the Oprah interview as reports suggest, he may indeed be trying to get back into competition. He has demonstrated considerable skill at a marathon runner and triathlete in the past few years, putting up some excellent times in both sports. But according to the rules handed down by anti-doping agencies, his current lifetime ban from competition could at best be reduced down to just eight years. That's an awful long time to go without competing. Armstrong may try to cut a deal in some other way however, providing more names and information about how he doped and who he worked with. It is possible that that could further reduce his sentence. We'll just have to wait to see if such a deal can be made.

In the end, this confession is just the first step in a very long road to redemption in my book. Armstrong has a lot to answer for to friends, family, teammates and fans. His years of denials and personal attacks have hurt a lot of people and he needs to apologize to them as well. If he does come completely clean, makes those apologies and comes across as sincere, he'll probably find a whole lot of people who are willing to forgive and move on. But it isn't going to be an easy road back.

Still, I give Lance a lot of credit for stepping into this maelstrom. Some would say he didn't have a whole lot of choices, but I would argue that he could have just as easily slipped off somewhere and stayed out of the limelight, keeping a low profile. For awhile, he is only going to be under more scrutiny and criticism, much of which probably won't be easy to hear. But if he stays focused and honest, he has he opportunity to at least rebuild his reputation as person, if not an athlete.

Only time will tell how willing to forgive the public will be. Here in the U.S., I think many will be happy to see him back. Cycling fans abroad will probably not be quite to kind. I'll reserve judgement until after I've seen the interview.

Lance Armstrong Considering Admitting Guilt, But Does It Matter?

One of the biggest news stories this past week has been the rumor that Lance Armstrong is considering coming clean about his use of performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during his cycling career. Earlier in the week, the New York Times reported that an anonymous source from within the Armstrong camp had told them that Lance was hoping that his admission of guilt would allow him to serve a suspension then resume competing in athletic events such as marathons and triathlons. When the story broke, lawyers for the cyclist denied that there was any truth to the story.

Now we're told that Armstrong sat down with the queen of television Oprah Winfrey and a 90 minute interview will air on her OWN network on January 17 – exactly one week from today. The interview was reportedly conducted in Lance's home in Austin, Texas recently, but what exactly he tells Oprah remains a topic of speculation. The question at this point is does it really matter what he has to tell us? Does anyone even care?

At one point, Lance was amongst the most respected and revered personalities on the planet. People looked up to him not only because he beat cancer and came back to win seven Tour de France titles but because his Livestrong Foundation was a symbol of strength for those who were also afflicted with the disease. He was an outspoken proponent for increased funding for cancer research and we held him up as a paragon of sportsmanship, determination and sacrifice.

Earlier this year that all came crashing down when the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a report detailing Lance's use of PED's while competing as a pro cyclist, something that the USADA called "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program" in history. The report hit Armstrong's reputation like an atom bomb, destroying the good will that he had built up with the American public and wiping out any sympathy and understanding that fans had for the man. After all, he had been telling us for years that he was clean, that he never tested positive for a banned substance and the allegations were a witch hunt perpetrated by those who were jealous of his success and wanted to see him brought down.

For a long time we believed him too. After all, we all wanted to believe that our almost-mythical hero was as good and clean as he claimed to be. Even when everyone else in the sport was testing positive and more and more cyclists were admitting to doping, we still held out hope that Lance was different. Deep down, we knew the truth, we just didn't want to admit it. That was the part of the story that we didn't want to believe.

There was a point last summer where I feel Armstrong could have salvaged his reputation and possibly his career. Had he taken ownership of the mistakes he made while riding, came clean about what he had done and asked forgiveness, we would have been eager to forgive. Had he said that he was willing to help the USADA in their investigations into cycling, we would have probably applauded him for his candid approach and frank declaration of his wrong-doing. Lance would have served a suspension and would probably be planning his return to competition – and the spotlight – in just a few months time. Instead he clung to the story that he had given us for years, even as his world crumbled around him.

Make no mistake, if Armstrong comes clean about his doping to Oprah he is only doing it for himself. At this point, the rest of us have moved on and don't really care any more. He has already given us an indication of what kind of man he is and now any admission, at least as far as I'm concerned, is too little and too late.

I will always respect Lance Armstrong as an athlete. I truly believe that he was the best rider in all seven of those TdF's that he won. He has also proven his athletic ability in a number of marathons and triathlons over the past few years, in some cases smashing course records in the process. There is no question that he is a physical specimen that few can match. But his steadfast denials of his wrong-doings, even in the face of mounting evidence, not to mention his ruthless attacks on any who spoke out against him, give us a different look at Lance Armstrong the man.

Unfortunately, that isn't a very pretty portrait.

What do you think? Is there anything Lance can say that will convince you to support him again? Can he win us back at all? I guess we'll find out in a week.

Greg LeMond Wants To Be President Of The UCI

For years three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond has been an outspoken critic of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and its methods for handling doping scandals and testing of riders on the professional circuit. Now he wants to be a part of the process of cleaning up that institution and the sport that he dearly loves.

Yesterday it was revealed that Lemond has said that he would be willing to step in as the interim president of the UCI while investigations proceeds over the Union's relationship with Lance Armstrong, who some allege current UCI President Pat McQuaid, and his predecessor Hein Verbruggen, conspired to protect.

Last week the UCI announced that a three-person panel would investigate McQuaid and Verbruggen's dealings with Armstrong to look for any impropriety that may have occurred over the years. In the past, Armstrong had donated large sums of money to the organization, which it has been alleged were payoffs to cover up failed drug tests or to get investigators off the now-disgraced cyclist's back. For his part, Armstrong has always said that those donations were to help fund the UCI and support efforts for cleaning up the sport, something that seems particularly odd considering recent revelations.

At a recent meeting of the Change Cycling Now organization, LeMond questioned how McQuaid could continue to run the UCI while the investigation into any wrong doing was under way. He felt that having an interim president step in to run the Union while things are sorted out was in the best interest of the sport, and while he says he isn't campaigning for the job, he has offered to step into the role if necessary.


Now that Armstrong has been stripped of his Tour de France titles, LeMond is the only American to have ever officially won that race. The two men have sparred with one another in recent years with LeMond urging Armstrong to come clean about his use of performance enhancing drugs while competing. Armstrong always denied those allegations of course, saying that LeMond simply had an axe to grind because he was no longer seen as America's top cyclists.  It wasn't until the past few months that we saw Armstrong's house of cards collapse that we began to see the full picture of what was happening during those seven Tour wins.

Whether or not LeMond will actually become the UCI president remains to be seen, but he does seem like the right man for the job. He has been an outspoken critic of the sport of cycling for quite some time and he has always been committed to helping clean it up. It is hard to say how much he could do serving in an interim role, but if the job were to become more permanent, I believe we'd see some drastic changes.

Tour de France Declares No Winner From 1999-2005

The fallout over the Lance Armstrong doping scandal continues as the Tour de France has declared that there will be no winners of the race from 1999-2005, the seven years that Armstrong dominated the event. The announcement came last Friday, just days after the International Cycling Union (UCI) stripped the cyclist of all of his wins and banned him from competition for life. That followed a damning report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in which former teammates came forward to testify that Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs throughout his career.

Considering the size of this scandal and the amount of doping that has gone on in the sport, the Tour had little choice but to leave the wins during the Armstrong era vacant. Lance was hardly the only rider that was doping at the time, as nearly every other rider that stood on the podium with him has since tested positive or been named in other scandals. In some cases, Tour organizers would have had to go as deep as the 7th or 8th place to find someone who hadn't been implicated in similar doping rings. Those riders that are clean wouldn't likely to have wanted to retroactively win a Tour de France in that fashion anyway.

As part of their decision to strip Armstrong of the titles, the UCI and Tour de France management teams have ordered him to return his prize money. It is believed that Lance won as much as $3.7 million in his seven wins and other Tour placements. I suspect they won't be the only organizations to ask Armstrong for a refund.

So now cycling's greatest and most well known event has a gaping hole in its history. Not surprising considering the way things have played out over the past few months and the past few weeks in particular. It is a real shame that it has come to this, but as a fan of cycling I do think the UCI is working hard to clean up the sport. Next year will mark the 100th running of the Tour de France and I suspect it will focus on new beginnings and restoring the luster to race.

Meanwhile, the UCI World Road Race Championships will take place in Italy in 2013 and the organization has announced their official mascot for the competition. That mascot is none other than Pinocchio, the famous wooden-puppet whose nose grew whenever he told a lie. Read into that what you will.

Video: Anyone Remember This Lance Armstrong Commercial?

This use to be one of my favorite Nike/Lance Armstrong commercials. The message was great. It said that he got to all those Tour de France wins because of hard work and dedication. Because he was "on the bike six hours a day." Now it just just comes across as disingenuous and self serving.

Video: Phil Liggett's Thoughts On Lance Armstrong

For more than 40 years Phil Liggett has been the voice of cycling and served as a commentator for the Tour de France, watching many great cyclists come and go, including Lance Armstrong. Over the years that Armstrong was competing in the race, and those that followed, Phil was a vocal supporter of Lance and his Livestrong cause. In the wake of yesterday's announcement that Armstrong would be stripped of his titles, Liggett went on NBC Sports to discuss his thoughts. You'll hear them in the video below.

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Lance Armstrong Stripped Of All Tour de France Titles

So, what's been going on while I've been away for most of the past week? Nothing major it seems. Just the complete fall from grace by one of the biggest names in the history of cycling.

Last week Lance Armstrong saw all but one of his endorsement deals go up on smoke when companies like Nike, Trek, Giro, 24-Hour Fitness and others dropped him as a spokesman. Only eyewear company Oakley stood by the former pro-cyclist, taking a wait-and-see attitude. Yesterday, Oakley announced that they too were terminating their contract with Armstrong as the news broke that he would be stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles.

On Monday, the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced that they would uphold the findings by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which released a report a few weeks back that accused Armstrong of being the ringleader in "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." The USADA also said that it had retroactively tested urine samples that Lance gave at the 1999 Tour and that they tested positive for EPO, a banned substance that helps build red blood cells, which in turn adds oxygen to the bloodstream. In doing so, the drug can greatly increase performance in strenuous aerobic activity. Those qualities, plus its inability to be detected, made it a popular choice for cyclists looking to get an edge at the time.

It is unclear yet exactly what the Tour de France will do in terms of awarding victories for the seven years that Armstrong dominated the race. Most of the riders that shared the podium with him have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, admitted to their use or have been named in other doping scandals. In some cases, Tour leadership will have to go down the list of final rankings as far as 7th or 8th place to find someone who hasn't been caught up in a scandal a one time or another. It is possible that they will simply leave the titles vacated for those years, effectively leaving a giant blank spot on the sport's biggest and most well known event.

Armstrong's fall from grace has been swift to say the least. Even as recently as a week ago I still heard friends and acquaintances defending him to a degree, despite the mounting evidence against him. Now you'll have a tough time finding anyone to speak up in his defense, even here in Austin, Texas, the headquarters for Livestrong and his base of operations. The revelations of the past few weeks, including the dropping of the endorsement deals and the UCI stripping him of the titles, seem to have put an end to the question of whether or not he doped. Now we'll have to wait to see if criminal charges will be pressed against him and there has already been talk of some the companies he worked with wanting their endorsement money back. Whatever lies ahead for Lance Armstrong, I think it is safe to say that he has a long way to go before all of this is behind him. Whether or not his fans or the American public in general ever forgive him has yet to be seen.

Somewhere Greg LeMond is feeling vindicated I'm sure.

USADA Lays Out Case Against Lance Armstrong

After months of speculation and waiting, the US Anti-Doping Agency released a 200+ page report outlining the case it has against Lance Armstrong yesterday. In the report, the USADA claims that not only did Armstrong use performance enhancing drugs while competing as a professional cyclist, but that he was also at the center of an extensive doping ring that permeated throughout the U.S. Postal squad and cycling in general. To back-up their claims, the report cites 26 witnesses, including 11 former Armstrong teammates.

The document released yesterday is just a synopsis of the vast amounts of evidence that the USADA claims to have on Armstrong. It references eye-witness reports, emails, lab tests and financial documents, and includes details a strict doping regimen that included PED's and blood transfusions, and even says that Armstrong's ex-wife Kristen would wrap cortisone pills in foil and hand them out to riders on his team. Travis Tygart, the head of the USADA,  called it "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

Perhaps the most damning evidence of all comes from the list of cyclists who have testified against Armstrong, including several riders that were close friends. That list includes George Hincapie, one of the most respected riders in the sport, Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde, Dave Zabriskie, Tyler Hamilton and others. Each of them admitted to doping and implicated Armstrong in the process.

As if that wasn't enough, the report also claims that retroactive testing of Armstrong's blood samples taken in the 1999 Tour de France test positive for EPO. Not just one sample, but six. For years Armstrong has used the defense that he never tested positive for a banned substance during his career, but what he doesn't really mention is that a test for EPO didn't come along until a few years later. He would also often dismiss those who spoke out about potential doping by discrediting them in the media, often claiming they had some grudge or axe to grind. The list of people on this list will be much harder to dismiss so lightly.

So what happens next? The UCI now has three weeks to review the report and decide how to proceed. It is that body, along with the Tour de France, that can elect to strip Armstrong of his seven titles. Because he chose to not fight these charges, Lance already faces a lifetime ban from competition, it is just a matter of whether or not his wins will continue to be considered official.

For anyone who has followed the sport of cycling or the Lance Armstrong saga, these results probably aren't much of a surprise. Considering the era in which he competed, it seems virtually impossible that he could have won all those races while competing completely clean. It's a shame that Armstrong's reputation now seems destined to go down in flames, as he has done a lot of good things outside of the sport that made him famous. He is also a tremendous athlete whether he was doping or not, but his legacy will be forever tainted by this scandal.

Tyler Hamilton Talks About Lance Armstrong, His New Book and Doping With NBC

The Secret Race, the new book from former pro-cyclist Tyler Hamilton, was released today and in it he talks about his career and how he personally used performance enhancing drugs and other methods to help him compete. He also talks about his time riding for the legendary U.S. Postal team, led by Lance Armstrong. Hamilton alleges that Armstrong and the entire U.S. Postal squad were using EPO and other banned substance to win major events like the Tour de France.

None of this is really all that new of course. Hamilton has been discussing Armstrong and doping for some time. But the book, which I haven't read yet, supposedly goes into great detail about the system that cyclists use to stay one step ahead of the drug testers and continue to compete in the sport without getting caught. The book blows the lid off a culture that is prevalent in cycling that for a time made it okay to use PED's because it was what everyone was doing. What Hamilton and co-author Daniel Coyle detail in the book caused Outside magazine to proclaim that is now "impossible to believe Lance’s story anymore."

Earlier today, Hamilton and Coyle sat down with Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show and spoke about the book, doping and Lance Armstrong. The video of that interview is below.

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Lance Armstrong Ends USADA Fight, Faces Lifetime Ban And Loss Of Titles

By now I'm sure everyone has heard the news about Lance Armstrong. The seven-time Tour de France winner has decided that he no longer wants to fight the allegations that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is bringing against him. In a statement released on his website last night, Armstrong said "Enough is enough." He knows that this fight will probably go on for months and that even if he manages to clear his name yet again, he'll probably continue to be dogged by allegations and charges for years to come. Rather than face that ongoing battle, he has decided against taking his case to arbitration and simply accept the USADA's decision. He'll almost assuredly get a lifetime ban from competition and could potentially lose all of his Tour wins as well.

There has been a lot of hyperbole tossed around in the press over the past 12-hours or so, thanks in no small part due to statements made by Travis Tygart, the Chief Executive of the USADA. Tygart says that he can and will strip Armstrong of his seven Tour wins, despite the fact that he has no jurisdiction to do so. Only the International Cycling Union (UCI) or the Tour has the ability to do that and at this point we have no idea if or when they'll do that. The UCI has been in contention with the USADA over this investigation for some time and have spoken out against the process. They don't seem likely to want to cooperate with Tygart and his team. Officials from the Tour de France on the other hand, may see things differently.

Despite never failing a drug test throughout his career, reports indicate that the USADA has found two samples from 2009 and 2010 that indicate that there may have been efforts to mask the use of performance enhancing drugs. Lets be clear here. The samples don't show PED's in Armstrong's system, simply that there may have been steps taken to hide their use. Tygart is also said to have ten former teammates of Armstrong lined up to testify that he was doping while winning all of those races, although some believe that those other riders had little choice but to testify or face their own inquiries as well.

More than one critic of the USADA's investigation have called it a "witch hunt." Some have even hinted that there is a bit of a personal vendetta on the part of Tygart. His battles with Lance go back a number of years and his desire to catch Armstrong have continued despite the cyclists retiring. Twice. It should also be noted that the USADA moved ahead with it's investigation despite the fact that the U.S. Attorney General's Office dropped its case against Armstrong back in February. That investigation lasted for two-years and was abandoned for lack of evidence.



Some have wondered why this case is moving ahead now when Armstrong is no longer cycling competitively. While he was no longer on the international cycling circuit, Lance was competing in triathlons and doing quite well. He had planned on racing in the Ironman Championships in Hawaii this fall and by many accounts he was poised to have an impact on that sport as well. Despite the fact that he was retired from pro cycling, Armstrong was competing, just on a smaller stage. The lifetime ban from competition will ensure he doesn't take part in any sanctioned events again.

As a huge cycling fan I realize that the era in which Armstrong raced was one in which nearly everyone in the peloton was using some kind of performance enhancing drug or other method to gain an advantage. That doesn't excuse their use of course, it is just an acknowledgement that it was a different time for the sport. The UCI has taken great strides to clean up cycling and while they're not completely there yet, things have certainly improved over the past few years.

We'll have to wait and see how everything falls out with this case. The USADA will likely pass their brand of judgement very quickly. How the UCI and the Tour de France responds will be very telling. Either way, I'm sure Armstrong is looking forward to turning the page and moving forward. He still has a lot of good work to do with his Livestrong Foundation and I truly believe he is just plain tired of fighting these charges.

Whether or not he gets to keep those seven Tour wins remains to be seen. But fans of the sport and of Armstrong know who won those races out on the road. The results of this investigation won't change that.

Judge Dismisses Lance Armstrong's Case Against The USADA

Yesterday I posted the story about Lance Armstrong filing a legal suit against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in an attempt to block the organization's attempts to move forward with charges against the former pro cyclist. Turns out Armstrong's case didn't hold up for very long, as the judge reviewing the filing tossed it out within a matter of hours.

United States District Court Judge Sam Sparks took Armstrong's legal team to task for filing a complaint that was filled with inflammatory language designed to generate media attention (Ha!) and allegations that were completely irrelevant to the case. Sparks went on to say, “This court is not inclined to indulge Armstrong’s desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement or vilification of Defendants, by sifting through 80 mostly unnecessary pages in search of the few kernels of factual material relevant to his claims.”

Pretty strong words from the judge and I applaud him for taking this stance. It's hardly the end of the story however as Lance and his lawyers can refile the case in another 20 days. I'm guessing we can expect an edited version with more direct language at that time.

I think I mentioned yesterday that this was going to get really ugly. Looks like we're just beginning to see where this will all lead.

Lance Armstrong Files Suit Against U.S. Anti-Doping Agency

While the 2012 Tour de France continues across the pond, seven time winner Lance Armstrong has filed suit today agains the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in a bid to halt the organization's case against him.  The lawsuit was entered into federal court his morning in Austin, Texas amidst allegations of civil rights violations and a personal vendetta against Armstrong on the part of the USADA's Chief Executive Travis Tygart.

You may recall that last month the USADA brought charges against the legendary cyclist, claiming that the organization had proof that he used performance enhancing substances during his career. Armstrong responded in typical fashion, pointing out his spotless record in all of his years of competitive cycling and noting that he was one of the most tested athletes of all time. He pointed out that over the course of his 25 year athletic career he never had a spike in performance and never failed a drug test in over 500 samples.

Today's lawsuit says that the USADA's approach to handling his case has left Armstrong with few alternatives in how to respond and that that case ignored a number of his rights. He claims that he wasn't given due process in the investigation and that he was a "big fish" target that Tygart had on his hit list as a means for the organization to justify it's very existence. Armstrong's lawyers also point out that the USADA is designed to hold arbitration hearings for an athlete who has already tested positive for a banned substance and not charge someone without a pre-existing positive test. The filing also says that jurisdiction of any positive test would fall under the domain of the International Cycling Union and not the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

This news comes after a report over the weekend that several of Armstrong's former teammates and acquaintances are set to testify against the legendary cyclists in exchange for immunity. Some of the riders that were named include Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie. Tygart says that he has more than ten cyclists lined up to testify about first hand knowledge of Armstrong's alleged doping while he was competing professionally.

If Lance is found guilty of the allegations he could be face a lifetime ban from competition and could also be stripped of his seven Tour wins. He has already been forced to withdraw from the Ironman Triathlon championship in October, a sport that he has started to excel at over the past year.

Stay tuned for more. This one is going to get really messy.

Lance Armstrong Responds To USADA Charges

By now I'm sure everyone is aware of the charges against Lance Armstrong by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. The allege that they have blood samples from 2009 and 2010 that show the signs of possible tampering, including the use of EPO and blood transfusions. The story of these charges was big news in the cycling world, and beyond, yesterday and as you could probably guess, Lance had a few things to say on the matter.

Not long after the story broke yesterday afternoon, Lance posted the following statement to his website:

I have been notified that USADA, an organization largely funded by taxpayer dollars but governed only by self-written rules, intends to again dredge up discredited allegations dating back more than 16 years to prevent me from competing as a triathlete and try and strip me of the seven Tour de France victories I earned. These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation. These charges are baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity. Although USADA alleges a wide-ranging conspiracy extended over more than 16 years, I am the only athlete it has chosen to charge. USADA’s malice, its methods, its star-chamber practices, and its decision to punish first and adjudicate later all are at odds with our ideals of fairness and fair play. 

I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one. That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence.

 So there you have. Lance once again maintains his innocence and points to his MANY drug tests over the years as evidence. He is right in pointing out that he has never failed a test and he is quite possibly the most tested athlete in history.

I find it interesting that the USADA is dredging up blood samples from 2009 and 2010, which is when Armstrong came out of retirement to ride. The allegations against Lance were already out there at that point and it would seem foolhardy for him to try to ride again while doping. He had to know that he would be under even more scrutiny in his return than he had been before.

I'm also disappointed that this could mean that Lance won't get to compete in Kona in October. I was personally looking forward to seeing how he would do at the Ironman Championships and it now seems unlikely that this situation will be resolved before then.

This is probably going to get very messy before we're done.