Posted on 07/27/2009 7:07:08 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Yeah, I know what you mean, Bay.
Someone asked on the live thread if Lemond was going to be around; I thought about answering ‘no, they sent Landis instead’. lol
NBCSports.com news services
updated 11 minutes ago
Lance Armstrong dismissed as "nonsense" a reported claim by Greg LeMond that the seven-time Tour de France champion tried to pay someone $300,000 to say LeMond used a banned drug.
LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, told the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung's weekend issue that Armstrong tried to implicate him "by all means" in a scandal involving EPO, a performance enhancer.
LeMond refused to reveal the identity of the person who was allegedly offered money by Armstrong, saying he still works in cycling.
Armstrong dismissed the accusation after Sunday's 14th stage of the Tour.
"That's absolutely nonsense — $300,000?" Armstrong said, when asked by The Associated Press about the allegations. "Come on. I know (about the report). But he says a lot."
"That's just another thing," he said, alluding to years of antagonism between the two American Tour champions.
According to a report Friday in the Daily News of New York, LeMond has been served with a grand jury subpoena as part of a federal investigation of possible fraud and doping charges against Armstrong and his associates.
The federal investigation was spurred by accusations by Floyd Landis, a former teammate of Armstrong's on the US Postal team, in a series of emails sent to cycling and doping officials this spring.
Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour title for doping, said the use of banned substances was common on the team. Armstrong has denied those allegations and has questioned Landis' credibility.
...more...
ahhh the annual Greg Lemond ‘LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME I AM STILL RELEVANT’ article. Thank you for posting.
I swear Lemond has an ego the size of New York city, and he cannot stand the fact that any other american Cyclist might get more press or have more accomplishments than he does.
IMO Lemond has even less credit that Landis.
UGh - credibility = credit.
'Forget it, he's on a roll'. ;>)
Lance hires attorney for GJ in LA
Prosecutors Step Up Armstrong Probe
Investigators Subpoena Documents and a Witness in Bid to Prove the Tour de France Champion Used Banned Substances
By REED ALBERGOTTI And VANESSA O'CONNELL
Federal prosecutors handling an investigation into cheating in professional cycling have subpoenaed documents from an arbitration case that sought to prove that Lance Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.
The documents contain depositions from former teammates and associates of the seven-time Tour de France champion during a period when a promotions company was trying to prove that Mr. Armstrong employed banned drugs and practices—known as doping—during his cycling career.
Jeffrey Tillotson, the attorney who represented the company, SCA Promotions Inc., in the arbitration hearings, said it received a subpoena for the records on July 16. He is preparing to send the files to the federal prosecutors in Los Angeles who are handling the investigation, he said.
Mr. Armstrong has repeatedly denied doping allegations and has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
Using performing-enhancing techniques in sports is generally not against the law in the U.S. But federal prosecutors could make the case that Mr. Armstrong defrauded investors by accepting sponsorship dollars with the understanding that he would not use the drugs, if they prove that he doped.
...
The money quote:
"Prosecutors "aren't going to charge somebody with doping," said Mike Straubel, an attorney at the Valparaiso University Sports Law Clinic in Indiana, who represents athletes. "They are going to charge somebody with a secondary offense of fraud in some fashion—perjury or lying to a federal investigator."
It seems like at best so far they have a whole lot of innuendo. A bunch of one on one conversations that may or may not have taken place. I guess eventually they can gather enough smoke to convince a jury there was a fire at one point, but it is going to take a lot of work.
Frankly I’m totally indifferent to conversations that took place pre-cancer. Even if he doped then, that doesn’t prove that he was doping after. He came back with a much different body and outlook.
TRANSLATION: An ambitious prosecutor wishing to garner publicity for himself by going after celebrities can still get his name in the papers & burnish his CV even if in the end he only wins the mickey mouse tacked-on charges.
If you initiate an investigation not to seek justice for a crime committed, but to to trap somebody for lying to authorities during the investigation itself, you still get just as rich & famous as the attorneys who pursue suspects with the intent of actually proving that the very alleged crimes which precipitated the investigation did indeed occur.
Kinda makes ya feel all warm & fuzzy inside about our federal justice system, doesn't it?
Gee, it's just too darn bad Ironman doesn't have a fishing expedition component in its competition. Looks like Lance will be getting a lot of practice for that in before Hawaii if he does indeed decide to enter.
Meant to ping you too
Thanks! I’m interested in it all even though I find it depressing.
Me too, luvvy, me too...
US Postal investigation gathers pace
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/us-postal-investigation-gathers-pace
Holczer accuses Leipheimer of blood manipulation
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/holczer-accuses-leipheimer-of-blood-manipulation
It might be time to being bracing ourselves for the worst.
hiya, Vision. Sorry, i’ll make sure to ping you on these, too.
yeah, as soon as I heard the rumblings about a GJ I had a bad feeling, if only for the fact that Fed prosecutors can get you on damn near anything even if you’re clean.
OTOH, the whole house-o’-cards may be fixin’ to come tumbling down.
I long ago prepared myself for the possibility Lance would get nailed. He's innocent until proven guilty but I'm not naive. I've just always kinda compartmentalized it by rationalizing that if everybody's been doping like everybody keeps saying (& now confessing), then all that means is he won 7 times by riding on a level playing field 7 times.
I'd be more surprised - and disappointed - about Big George for some reason, though. Don't have any idea why it would be different for him, it just is.
Sprinter & green jersey winner Petacchi, incidentally, invoked the Italian version of the 5th amendment the other day during a meeting with prosecutors there who are investigating him for doping.
Laurent Fignon passes away from cancer at 50.
Sad, RIP Laurent.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/laurent-fignon-passes-away
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