(Related stories: Tour de France champ Floyd Landis fails drug test;
Former cyclist and OLN commentator Frankie Andreu admits to doping)
This is the story that will never die: Did he or didn't he?
The French newspaper Le Monde has reported that Lance Armstrong told doctors treating him for cancer in 1996 that he had taken the blood-boosting agent EPO and other drugs — this before he won his first Tour de France victory in 1999. The sources — former friend, teammate and OLN cycling commentator Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy.
An attorney for Armstrong immediately rejected the allegation, citing an affidavit from one of Armstrong's doctors. The seven-time Tour de France champion also rejected the report, calling it absurd.
I'd like to believe Armstrong, but I can't understand why the Andreus would choose to make up the quote and endure the scrutiny it will bring. Essentially, they're calling an American hero a liar. Could there have been a misunderstanding?
Sworn testimony
The information in Le Monde's Friday editions comes from sworn testimony given in a closed arbitration hearing in Dallas early this year.
The scene of Armstrong disclosure is a room at the Indiana University Medical Center in Indianapolis on Oct. 28, 1996. Armstrong and doctors are discussing his treatment for cancer. Frankie and Betsy Andreu and a few others are standing nearby. Two doctors enter. Later Betsy Andreu testifies in her deposition (published online at NPR's Weekend Edition):
“I said, I think we should leave to give you your privacy. I said that to Lance. And Lance said, that's OK. You can stay. And I turned to Frankie and I said, I think we should leave. And Frankie said, no, Lance said it's OK. We can stay. And so the doctor asked him a few questions, not many, and then one of the questions he asked was… have you ever used any performance-enhancing drugs? And Lance said yes. And the doctor asked, what were they? And Lance said, growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone.”
Frankie Andreu backs up her story. According to Le Monde, Armstrong denied the claims and told the court that Betsy Andreu “hated” him and Frankie Andreu just backed her up.
VeloNews talked with Betsy Andreu.
“I didn't ask to be dragged into this mess … We were served with subpoenas by a … court and we had no choice but to testify.”
(Update: July 27, 2006 — The Andreus' attorney releases a statement that his clients testified reluctantly, only to comply with the subpoena, and they are both upset that their testimony was made public. CyclingNews has a full transcript.)
Conflicting testimony
Another witness in the hospital room, Stephanie McIlvain, disagrees with the Andreus' testimony. A friend and employee of Armstrong sponsor Oakley took the stand in late 2005 and denied hearing Armstrong admit to taking banned substances, according to Eurosport.
NPR reports, however, that former Tour de France champ Greg LeMond had talked to McIlvain in 2004 about the incident in the hospital room, and she said it happened. Cycling journalist and photographer James Startt testified in a deposition that McIlvain had confirmed Armstrong said he'd been taking those drugs.
Three other witnesses — a former Armstrong girlfriend and trainer Chris Carmichael and his wife — aren't asked to testify. Neither are any of the doctors who were present.
Report “absurd”
Armstrong said in a Friday statement: “The latest story, which alleges an admission of using performance enhancing drugs in a hospital in 1996, is today as absurd and untrue as when it was first circulated years ago. It never happened.”
Contacted by the Associated Press, Armstrong's attorney, Tim Herman, denied the claim. He issued a sworn affidavit from Craig Nichols, a doctor who treated Armstrong at the Indiana University Medical Center.
“Lance Armstrong never admitted, suggested or indicated that he has ever taken performance-enhancing drugs. Had this been disclosed to me, I would have recorded it, or been aware of it, as a pertinent aspect of Lance Armstrong's past medical history as I always do. … Had I been present at any such 'confession,' I would most certainly have vividly recalled the fact.”
According to AP, Le Monde reported that Armstrong said in a November deposition to the court that no doctor had asked him whether he had used doping products.
Interestingly, Herman told the AP that Armstrong's doctors repeatedly asked him during his treatment about substances he may have taken and Armstrong answered only that he occasionally drank beer.
A misunderstanding?
In an interview with NPR, Herman says:
“Mr. Armstrong was taking steroids at the time, as part of his post-operative treatment. … It's very possible that there could've been mention of steroids and epo in this conversation with these two doctors indicating either the current regimen, or the regimen that Armstrong was gonna be subject to after this surgery, or when he got out of the hospital.”
Both Andreus, however, insist they heard the doctor ask about performance-enhancing drugs and Armstrong list the drugs he used. In Armstrong's statement on Friday, he says:
“Ms. Andreu confirmed her ignorance of steroids prescribed as part of my post-operative treatment and of EPO also included in my required post-operative regimen, subjects which could conceivable arisen under the circumstances.”
Arbitration case
Le Monde won't say how it came by the testimony from the arbitration hearing. It involved Armstrong's suit against insurance company SCA to recover a $5 million bonus owed him for winning his 5th Tour de France in 2004.
The company had reneged because of allegations swirling about his use of drugs, primarily in the book “LA Confidential — The Secrets of Lance Armstrong”. Armstrong slammed a libel suit on that book in Europe, and it hasn't appeared in the US.
VeloNews reports that according to sources near the case, a settlement was reached after the court indicated that the SCA contract contained no provision to negate the payment, even if cheating had occurred.
Where to read more:
NPR — Ex-friends say Armstrong admitted drug use
AP — French paper; Armstrong admitted doping
Eurosport — Armstrong took EPO before cancer
Daily Peloton Forums — Excerpts from LA Confidential
VeloNews — Papers charge Armstrong admitted doping
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