Posted on 10/11/2012 9:55:58 AM PDT by AmericanSamurai
Officially, Jose "Pepe" Marti was listed as trainer for the Postal Service cycling team. But those on the team knew him as "The Courier."
One day while chatting with Tyler Hamilton, Pepe told the Postal Service surrogate that he had to drive to Nice, France, to make a delivery. That night, at the Villa d'Este Restaurant in Nice, Pepe arrived to a late dinner that included Lance Armstrong and his then-wife, Kristin, as well as Betsy Andreu, wife of Postal rider Frankie Andreu. According to Betsy, the reason given for the late dinner was because Pepe was there to deliver EPO (erythropoietin, a banned hormone that controls red blood cell production) to Lance and it was safer for him to cross the border with illegal drugs at night.
After dinner was over, the Armstrongs drove Betsy home. At some point, she saw Pepe hand Lance a brown paper bag. As Armstrong opened the car door for Andreu, he smiled, held up the bag and said, "Liquid gold."
On another occasion, as the Armstrongs and Andreus drove to a bike race in Milan, Italy, Armstrong stopped at a hotel/gas station outside Milan to meet Dr. Michele Ferrari, now infamous for supplying cyclists with performance-enhancing drugs. When asked why they were meeting him in such an odd place, Armstrong replied, "So the [expletive] press doesn't hound him." Leaving the other three in the car, Armstrong disappeared into Ferrari's camper for about an hour. When he returned, Armstrong exclaimed, "My numbers are great!" – the insinuation being he wouldn't test positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
The next day, Betsy Andreu asked Kristin Armstrong about her feelings on EPO. Her answer: It's a necessary evil.
Just three months later, Lance Armstrong won the 1999 Tour de France.
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.yahoo.com ...
I can’t believe he’s from Texas, and he’s just another cheatin A-hole liberal.
As a doctor, I’m really at a lost to understand this.
Erythropoietin is used in treating anemia also in the treatment of cancer. I’m not sure how this aids in cycling unless it has other attributes on increasing skeletal muscle, but it doesn’t it increases smooth muscle fibers.
If Armstrong is getting benfit from the hormone, then you would think his RBCs are sky high and thusly it would be obvious. If his RBC levels are normal or low, then how is he benefiting from the hormone?
I mean we’re not talking steroids.
Secondly, are we to believe that he pulled this off over a period of 7 years, and countless drug tests?
I can understand him getting away with it the first couple years, but they’re not able to catch him during 7 years?
I agree that Armstrong is guilty, and a nasty SOB.
And yet, I think two of his complaints are valid: 1. He was unfairly targeted, and 2. There is a lack of due process with regards to the USADA.
I have to admit that the hear-say evidence is overwhelming, but it is interesting that every single one of the witnesses against Armstrong failed multiple drug tests and Lance never failed a single one.
I will never be able to say that Lance did NOT dope, but in the absence of concrete evidence I will never be able to say Lance DID dope.
And therein lies the crux of the whole matter - while the testimony is pretty overwhelming and damning the bottom line is it is all circumstantial evidence and hearsay evidence.
I don’t know who in the cycling world gave these anti-doping agencies such authority, but I bet they regret it now. I agree with Lance’s decision not to contest the charges — why spend years and millions going over “he said-she said” testimony?
Sure, drugs are bad, mmkay? But the point of drug testing in a sport is to enforce agreed-upon rules banning certain substances so as to ensure a level playing field. If you have passed the tests you were required to take, is there really an obligation on your part to prove that you also wouldn’t have tested positive if they had better tests at the time, especially years after the fact?
For the protection of the sport I should have hoped that the ICF or the French TdF authorities would apply a statute of limitations to the doping agencies’ inquiries. Who now won the Tours that Lance has now forfeited? I’d bet a majority of the other guys on the podia either have already been convicted of doping infractions of their own, or could not stand up to a probe of the intensity of the one Lance got; if they had a race, and nobody won — was there really a race?
One of Armstong’s weapons is to claim outrageous facts. Armstong has tested positive for dope a few times, but was always about to work the system and intimidated reporters about it.
His “chicken's are coming home to roust.”
Can’t the whole thing be judged by deductive reasoning? I mean take for example a murderer who successfully gets rid of the body to the point where no one will ever find it, does that mean they are innocent?
Two words that should tip people off about Lance’s actual character (PR and appeals to sport patriotism aside): Sheryl Crow
“I have to admit that the hear-say evidence is overwhelming, but it is interesting that every single one of the witnesses against Armstrong failed multiple drug tests and Lance never failed a single one.”
George Hincapie never tested positive either, was Lance’s main riding team partner, etc....And he has now fessed up and said they were all using, despite having a clean reputation himself.
Hincapie has thrown himself under the bus when he didn’t need to in an effort to change the culture of the sport.
He did fail one. Since this obviously was unacceptable to Team Lance, he had a doctor write an "excuse" for him and the drug test was nullified (excuse was something like another drug interfering, but it was bogus).
Also, you have to realize these people are professionals and the best in the world at bicycling. They are also professionals and the best in the world at evading drug tests. Sometimes it's as simple as not answering a knock at the door. Or having a lookout in the hotel to warn the others of a tester coming through. This is why Team Lance always knew where the closest fire escape was.
Sheryl is an idiot in many ways but I believe Armstrong is more evil.
EPO is NOT evil for those patients that depend on it...
I’m guessing that since it increases red blood cells, you therefore carry more oxygen in the blood. More oxygen to the muscles = better performance, more stamina. Perhaps, since one can perform better, one can push harder during training, so it helps to build muscle in an indirect way.
In 1998 Lance was pissed that guys who were dirty were beating him. So he decided to join them. So did his teammates.
I heard a stat on the radio once that if you were to give the Tour de France trophy to the rider that was never suspected of taking PEDs that you'd have to go to the #23 rider. The sport is dirty. Everybody knows it, nobody cares.
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