Salon.com > Tour de France

Postal Service to Lance Armstrong: Pay up!

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 14:57:00 +0000

The Lance Armstrong beatdown continues apace. The disgraced former cycling superstar, who recently capped several years of vehement, passionate denials of doping with a half-assed admission and a mea culpa to Oprah Winfrey, has been trying to salvage his decimated public image. After withdrawing from his leadership role at his Livestrong charity and losing sponsors faster than NBC can lose viewers, he's made a few noises about returning to competition, but has largely receded from the public eye.

But Armstrong has not been forgotten – especially by the U.S. government. On Tuesday, the Justice Department filed a 28-page complaint against the man, detailing what USA Today plain-spokenly refers to as "several years of lying, cheating and manipulating" Uncle Sam during the six years he was sponsored by the Postal Service.

The suit claims "the USPS paid approximately $40 million to sponsor [Armstrong's] USPS cycling team from 1998 to 2004," a period Armstrong is charged with using "prohibited drugs" in violation of his contract. Under the False Claims Act, Armstrong could be held accountable for $100 million in damages. On the bright side, it looks like the government has come up with a plan to help the economy.

J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot to produce Lance Armstrong biopic

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:30:00 +0000

Hot on the heels of the disgraced cyclist's confession, Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot, the production company co-owned by legendary director J.J. Abrams and producer Bryan Burk, have acquired the screen rights to the story about the fall of American hero Lance Armstrong, reports Deadline.

Unlike Bad Robots' typically sci-fi cache, the Armstrong pic probably won't include aliens or time travel. Instead, the movie will be based on the proposal for "Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong," a HarperCollins book to be written by New York Times sports reporter Juliet Macur, who has covered Armstrong's career throughout his tragic downfall.

Armstrong and Te’o's apologies could use some performance enhancement

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 16:55:00 +0000

This week, two very different athletes came under intense, worldwide scrutiny for their elaborate deceptions. And in light of a deluge of unassailable evidence, Lance Armstrong and Manti Te’o faced different media firestorms and had to hold themselves accountable. Your mom said it best: Are they sorry they did it, or are they just sorry they got caught? But neither Armstrong nor Te'o seems sorry at all.

At first glance, Armstrong and Te'o would appear to have little in common beyond professional athleticism and a penchant for elaborate ruses. In an interview with our national confessor in chief Oprah Winfrey, the 41-year-old Armstrong acknowledged that he'd been doping up a storm throughout his professional cycling career, including his seven winning Tour de France races. Meanwhile, after a sensational exposé in Deadspin, Notre Dame linebacker Te'o admitted that his girlfriend Lennay Kekua, who'd tragically died of leukemia in September, had never existed at all. And it's in the way that both men have handled their deceptions that another commonality has emerged – neither one will ever win a prize for World's Greatest Apologizer.

Lance Armstrong’s unmoving confession

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Lance Armstrong appeared with Oprah last night, the first part of a two-part confession special, to publicly admit to taking the performance enhancing drugs he has not just denied using, but vehemently, ruthlessly denied using, denigrating and bullying and seeking to destroy the far less powerful people who have told nothing but the truth about his habits. Armstrong picked Oprah to conduct this interview — as opposed to some sports journalist, or Barbara Walters, or Brian Williams or any of the other possible choices — because she alone confers on public screw-ups the sense that just by speaking to her they are beginning the long road back to acceptability. Oprah is a journalist, as she ably demonstrated last night, but she also occupies a particular space, that of celebrity confessor in chief, our national moral proxy, the woman empowered to find her subjects wanting or sufficiently remorseful, the person who accepts tears but not excuses, holds her subjects to the facts and, more important, the feelings. Unfortunately for Lance Armstrong, he does not appear to have enough of those.

Lance Armstrong comes clean

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 13:02:00 +0000

Lance Armstrong, who last year lost the titles to his seven Tour de France wins over charges related to taking performance enhancing drugs, finally came clean to Oprah in a no-holds-barred interview after years of denial. Watch some of the highlights from the first part of the interview, below:

Armstrong reveals the range of banned substances for 13 years. He says was not possible to win the Tour de France seven times without the drugs:

When Oprah asks, "Why now admit it?" Armstrong responds, "I don't know that I have a great answer," adding, "this is too late." He explains that having "the perfect story" compelled him to maintain the lie:

Will Armstrong come clean?

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:42:00 +0000

Oh, this is going to be good. Lance Armstrong, America's favorite cyclist/cancer survivor/alleged epic doper has revealed he is going to speak the most openly – and at length – he has since being stripped of his seven Tour de France wins and banned from competition last August. If you're watching, you might want to stock up on Gatorade because this is an endurance event – his first interview is going to be 90-minute sit-down with (arm flourish) Opraaaaaaaah Winfreeeeeeeeeey.

On her site, Winfrey and company promise the interview, airing next week, will be "no-holds-barred" — and that "Armstrong will address the alleged doping scandal, years of accusations of cheating, and charges of lying about the use of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his storied cycling career." Last week, the New York Times laid the groundwork for what he might reveal, with the news that "he is considering publicly admitting that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his cycling career." The Times says rumor has it Armstrong is mulling an admission in the hopes of an eventual reinstatement for competition – a career move that the 41-year-old realistically doesn't have a whole lot of time left to make.

Armstrong’s un-awardable Tour de France titles

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 19:30:00 +0000

Cycling's governing body, UCI, officially banned Lance Armstrong for life for doping Monday, stripping the once celebrated sportsman and charity wristband trailblazer of his seven Tour de France titles.

Many people have wondered whether Armstrong's titles will be re-awarded to whomever came second in the seven races dating back to 1999. However, Tour de Frace director Christian Prudhomme announced earlier this month that, if Armstrong is stripped of his titles, no one will be crowned winner for those years. Prudhomme said the Tour title under Armstong's reign, "depicts an era and a system which are forever soiled. The best solution is to say that there should be no winner those years."

One might think the director's decision would enrage the second-place cyclists who battled against Armstrong those years. However, all of Armstrong's runner-ups have been embroiled in some sort of doping scandal over the past decade or so, even if some may have been clean the years in which they came second to Armstrong. With an entire sport permeated with doping, no cyclist has stepped forward to demand Armstrong's sullied titles.

Lance Armstrong, most disappointing cancer survivor

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 18:12:00 +0000

On Wednesday, Lance Armstrong announced he was adding a few more titles to his impressive résumé, along with seven-time Tour de France winner, Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year. You can now refer to him as the former chairman of Livestrong, and Most Disappointing Cancer Survivor of the Week.

The allegations of doping that have dogged Armstrong for most of his career seemed to come to a head in August, when it was announced he would be stripped of his Tour de France wins and banned from future competition. Back then, Armstrong tossed off a fiery response to what he called "an unconstitutional witch hunt," saying he was going to devote himself fully to "serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities." He continued, "This October, my foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction."

Lance Armstrong might take polygraph, lawyer says

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 21:54:00 +0000

Lance Armstrong may take a lie detector test to clear his name after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency labeled the cyclist a “serial cheat” who ran "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," the Guardian and other news outlets reported.

Additionally, Armstrong’s lawyer Tim Herman said he would like to see the 26 witnesses who testified against Armstrong to the Usada take polygraphs as well. "A lie detector test properly administered, I'm a proponent of that frankly, just personally. I wouldn't challenge the results of a lie detector test with good equipment, properly administered by a qualified technician. That's a pretty simple answer."

Herman said Armstrong might not take a lie detector, however, "Because he's moved on. His name is never going to be clear with anyone beyond what it is today. People are fans, most of the people that I've talked to, this is their opinion, it is: 'We don't care whether he did or he didn't."

Tome of evidence produced against Lance Armstrong

Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:05:00 +0000

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has produced a 200-page tome of evidence, listing 26 accusers, against Lance Armstrong and his team in what the agency has called "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

Following a lifetime ban and the removal of his seven Tour de France titles, the cycling and charity wristband icon challenged the USADA to present hard evidence of his doping. As John Leicester of the AP commented, "Lance Armstrong once said the extraordinary accusations that he doped needed to be backed by extraordinary evidence. Well, the evidence is more extraordinary than anyone could possibly have imagined."

The report includes testimony from 11 of Armstrong's former teammates detailing not only his personal use of performance-enhancing drugs but that he "ruthlessly" expected and "required" his teammates also partake.

The USADA called the evidence "as strong or stronger than any case brought in USADA's 12 years of existence." Evidence from 26 people, including 15 riders with knowledge of the U.S. Postal Service team's doping activities, provided material for the report, which includes (via AP):

Lance Armstrong won’t fight doping charges

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 03:16:00 +0000

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Lance Armstrong said Thursday night he is finished fighting a barrage of drug charges from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, putting his unprecedented string of seven Tour de France titles at risk along with his legacy as one of the greatest cyclists in history.

The decision sets up a likely lifetime ban from the sport and the possibility that Armstrong will be stripped of his signature achievement — the extraordinary run of Tour titles he won from 1999-2005.

Armstrong, who retired last year, declined to enter arbitration — his last option — because he said he was weary of fighting accusations that have dogged him for years. He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests that he has passed as proof of his innocence.

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." For me, that time is now," Armstrong said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. He called the USADA investigation an "unconstitutional witch hunt."

"I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999," he said. "The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today - finished with this nonsense."

Armstrong faces decision in doping case

Thu, 23 Aug 2012 17:15:00 +0000

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong faced a deadline Thursday to formally challenge sweeping doping allegations from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency or accept sanctions that could include a lifetime ban from the sport and potentially strip him of his titles.

Armstrong has strongly denied doping during his stellar career. The question was whether he will keep fighting USADA or officially give up and move on, risking a permanent stain on his legacy. The deadline is 2 a.m. EDT Friday.

Anti-doping officials have accused Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs, including steroids and blood boosters, and participating in a complex doping scheme on his teams while winning the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005. USADA officials say up to 10 former teammates are ready to testify against him and they have drug test results from 2009-2010 that are "consistent" with doping.

Armstrong says he has passed more than 500 drug tests in his career and accused USADA officials of waging a personal vendetta against him.