Armstrong Doping Allegations Escalate

slimvictor

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The US Anti-Doping Agency, USADA, has accused cycling champion Lance Armstrong of running the "most sophisticated" doping program in the sport's history. Armstrong's lawyer has rejected the allegation as a "hatchet job."

The USADA revealed on Wednesday that it had collected extensive evidence to prove the seven-time Tour de France winner had engaged in the biggest doping conspiracy to date.

"The evidence of the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team-run scheme is overwhelming," USADA chief executive Travis T. Tygart said in a statement, summarizing more than 1,000-pages of agency findings which are due to be released on the agency's website.

"The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that the sport has ever seen."

Teammate testimony

The 1,000 page report was the result of a long-running investigation into Armstrong and the US Postal Service team after the anti-doping agency opted to ban the cyclist from the sport for life in August.

It includes the sworn testimony of 26 people, including 11 former Armstrong teammates. Among them was George Hincapie, who admitted in a statement Wednesday that he took performance-enhancing drugs.

"Lance Armstrong did not merely use performance-enhancing drugs. He supplied them to his teammates," the report said. "He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team. He enforced and re-enforced it."

Other riders cited in the report were Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.

According to Tygart, the report also included evidence of financial payments, emails and lab tests that "prove the use, possession and distribution of performance enhancing drugs by Lance Armstrong." He said the report had been handed over to the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

cont at
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16297041,00.html
 
A Glossary of Lance Armstrong’s Secret Language

Yesterday the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released its 202-page report that chronicles Lance Armstrong’s use of performance enhancing drugs during his cycling career. According to the long-awaited report, Armstrong repeatedly beat drug testers with an elaborate, mafia-like system of doping doctors, drug mules, and payoffs to the sport’s governing body.

Cycling fans, however, got a good taste of Armstrong’s covert world last month when his former teammate Tyler Hamilton released a tell-all book, The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, And Winning at all Costs. Among other revelations, the book unearthed the secret language used by cyclists when discussing drugs. Armstrong, other cyclists, and doctors used this strange terminology to fool authorities should they come under investigation, according to Hamilton.

BB — Bags of blood that were extracted from a rider’s body months before a major race. The riders would then transfuse the blood back into their veins during rest days. The process increases blood’s oxygen-carrying capabilities, which provides a significant boost in endurance.

Band-Aids — Patches with testosterone gel in the center. After they were applied to the body for a couple of hours, the rider would receive a boost of testosterone. “And by [the next] morning,” writes Hamilton, “be as clean as a newborn baby.”

Butter — Armstrong and his wife Kristin referred to the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin, commonly referred to as EPO, as “butter” because, according to Hamilton, they stored it near the butter in their refrigerator.

Cecco — Luigi Cecchini, Hamilton’s trainer who lived in Lucca, Italy, and who encouraged him to “dope as little as possible.”

Choads — Whiners, weaklings, or riders who complained or couldn’t hack it. A term used specifically by Armstrong. For example: American cyclist Bobby Julich was deemed to be a “grade-A choad.”

Edgar, Zumo, O.J., Salsa, Vitamin E, Therapy — All terms used for EPO. “Edgar” was shorthand for “Edgar Allen Poe.”

Glowing, Glow-time — The period immediately after a cyclist has taken performance enhancing drugs, when he would be most likely to record a positive test for PEDs.

Have dinner, Give you a present, Meet for coffee — Code terms Hamilton used for meeting Dr. Fuentes to have a blood transfusion.

Hematocrit holiday — Pre-EPO test, if a rider’s hematorcrit (percentage of red blood cells) exceeded 50 percent due to doping, he had to sit out of racing, being deemed “unfit” for competition.

Lunch Bag — Kits of EPO and drug-taking paraphenalia. Needles and vials of EPO were distributed to the Postal riders in white paper lunch bags after stages of the 1999 Tour de France.

Motoman — Code name for Armstrong’s shadowy drug mule—whose real name is Philippe Maire—who followed the U.S. Postal team on his motorcycle during the 1999 Tour de France and delivered supplies of EPO.

Paniagua — A term that refers to racing clean, without PEDs, or on simple bread (pan) and water (agua).

Pas Normal (not normal) — A term used by Armstrong when describing a rider’s unusually strong performance that was obviously the result of performance-enhancing drug use.

Polvo — A gray powder riders would sprinkle in urine if it was “glowing” (see above), to cause the drug test to come back negative.

Radioactive Coke Can — Waste. Riders dumped used syringes in empty Coca-Cola cans, and a team assistant then crushed and disposed of the cans to hide the medical waste.

cont at
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-11/a-glossary-of-lance-armstrong-s-secret-language
 
So just EPO, testosterone, and blood-doping? Seems simple enough. I suppose that's where the beauty of the scheme comes in, if you have people going off on a wild ass goose chase for synthetic steroids you can then proceed the "natural" route!
 
nike just dropped him. he stepped down from livestrong.

wtf, as if doping isn't the norm at the upper echelons of ALL competitive sports. it's such a shame that he's being so disgraced.

go lance, you're still right near the top in my hero book.

/"choade" and "paniagua" are now in my lexicon ;P
 
the press are once again missing the big picture; the work in encouraging cancer sufferers/survivours to get active and stay possitive far outweighs the damage caused by cheating in a sport renowned for being rife with performance enhancing drugs.

personally i feel he is being used as a scapegoat and that these riders/witnesses ar just trying to furthur there own goals/avoid a ban
 
I think it's great as I have now reached my goal of winning as many tour de france titles as Lance ..... ZERO !!!
 
I think it's great as I have now reached my goal of winning as many tour de france titles as Lance ..... ZERO !!!

Dont forget how pissed the French are that an american won there race 7 times in a row(or w/e it was). Especially since it came during a time of heightened political tension between the US and France following the second Iraq war. Personally I dont care he cheated its sour grapes he kicked ass the French need to man up and find some drugs. I like the old car racing saying "If you aint cheating you aint trying".
 
I like the old car racing saying "If you aint cheating you aint trying".
eh i like the gist of that, but it disgusts me that it's cheating in the 1st place. all pro's/con's of performance-enhancements aside, the fact of the matter is that, while the IOC and USADA are able to forbid athletes from using, they absolutely *cannot* promise any athlete that his competitors are not using. Quite the contrary- in reality, it is all but guaranteed that some will use despite regulations. Therefore you've setup a rule that punishes one for observance - I would hardly call breaking such a rule "cheating". And for the USADA and IOC to pursue this specific violation of the World Anti-Doping Code so vigorously is a disgrace.

A part of me almost wishes he held his ground, but jesus christ are people doing everything they can to crush him - “There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now." So he's not contesting this, and this world champion, cancer survivor, elite athlete, hero/idol is now being drug through shit in almost all social/cultural contexts, he's been stripped of all titles since like the 90's, he's being dropped (and looks like sued!) by all his former sponsors, he's gotta step down from livestrong foundation for the sake of it (not that it hasn't been dealt a huge blow by all of this - i'd hope it hasn't but imagine it has).....and he cannot even ride again - he is banned FOR LIFE.

Nice journey Lance, it's terrible it had to end like this - at least it was all good b4 this bullshit started.

LIVESTRONG
 
Images of drug cheat cyclist Lance Armstrong being torn down across Adelaide

A CITY that once hailed Lance Armstrong yesterday airbrushed the disgraced cyclist from public view as the fallout grew from his long-term doping.

Yesterday, the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, which houses Livestrong, a cancer survivors' charity started by Armstrong, started removing images of the fallen cyclist from within its premises.

Former sponsor Nike is also planning removing a large photo of Armstrong from its Mall store "as soon as possible".

The decision by Flinders to remove a large image of the cyclist from doors within the centre was taken after Armstrong stepped down as chairman of Livestrong in the US, although he will remain on the charity's board.

Chairman of the Flinders Medical Foundation, which built the $28 million facility, Alan Young said Livestrong was bigger than "any one man".

"We looked at it and we made the decision," he said.

"We can hardly have Lance's image on anything now even though it was attached to Livestrong."

Mr Young said Livestrong was only a small part of the Flinders centre but its program for cancer survivors was the best in the world and would continue to operate,

"Livestrong has the number one program for cancer survivors in the world and it's that what we have been after," he said.

He also denied there was any financial relationship between the two parties.

"If you are wondering whether there has ever been any hard or soft dollar arrangement ... because of the connection between Lance and the Government of South Australia, we've never seen it," he said.

Health Minister John Hill also confirmed no money had been paid to Livestrong by the SA Government.

The State Government has never released how much money it paid to lure Armstrong to the Tour Down Under but it is believed to be between $1 million and $2 million a year.

Mr Young also said Flinders would be hosting an Australian-first cancer survivors conference next year and two speakers from Livestrong were included in the program and were attending at their own expense.

A Livestrong guidebook for cancer survivors rewritten for an Australian audience is also to be released by the centre.

As well as standing down as Livestrong chairman, Armstrong yesterday lost long-term, multimillion-dollar sponsor Nike from his roster.

"Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs in any manner," the company said in a statement.

----------

>> The Armstrong Empire

Estimated net worth: $US125 million.

Livestrong: Raised $US500 million since 1997.

Sponsors bailing out: Nike, Anheuser-Busch, RadioShack, Trek bicycles, Giro helmets, FRS sports drinks, Honey Stinger energy bars.

In Limbo: Oakley sunglasses.

Hanging tough: Johnson Health Tec sports equipment.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/...-across-adelaide/story-e6frea83-1226498760163
 
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