You can draw a line in the sand across which we have the testimony of George Hincapie on one side and all that which came before hand on the other. Greg Lemond, Betsy and Frankie Andreu, David Walsh, Emma O’Reilly, Filippo Simeoni, all were attacked on the basis of character. It was said they are liars. It was said they are in it for the money. It was said they were simply jealous.
George Hincapie’s character is above reproach in this instance. He has not denied doping at length in the past. He has not been through a disastrous arbitration proceedings regarding doping accusations. He is not writing a book. There is no money interest at issue. Therefore his testimony cannot be likewise impugned.
George Hincapie, one of Lance Armstrong’s closest friends during their time together at the U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams and the only member of all seven of Armstrong’s Tour de France-winning squads, testified before a federal grand jury that he and Armstrong had supplied one another with EPO and testosterone, CBS News reported Friday afternoon.
It will be interesting to see how Lance Armstrong positions himself in regards to these latest allegations next week.
Boom does the dynamite.
Reydin – that’s not quite what Hincapie said.
He did not deny anything related to his Grand Jury testimony. He merely stated he did not communicate directly with the 60 Minutes program.
Again, not denial of his prior testimony under oath (which, of course, none of us have seen). He instead leans on a line I am certain his lawyer strongly suggested he adhere to unfailingly – “I cannot comment on anything relating to the ongoing investigation.”
The classic non-denial. And, really, what else can he do at this point? The Grand Jury testimony is a done deal, he cannot take it back, it has already occurred, and the damage is large.
I’d like to think that bike racing — and other professional sports — will become more and more irrelevant to a public disgusted by increasing allegations and proof of doping. However, that has yet to be borne out by the math. Sponsors and stars are still making money hand-over-fist. Fans are still buying logo-emblazoned apparel and paying for tickets and/or travel to sporting events. While a few naysayers here and there may have actually given up on these professional sports for good, their numbers are so few as to be insignificant. The sad fact is that most people — fans and pro athletes alike — have come to accept that ever-more spectacular results can only be achieved with increased use of performance-enhancing drugs. Most shrug and say, “that’s racing”; as long as they can continue to enjoy the sport, they don’t really care so much about the cheating.
All that remains is a scientific tweaking of the ingredients already in place, a perfecting of the prescribed script; so that at the appointed time in the athlete’s career he will stumble quite publicly with a lackluster placing now and then, thereby maintaining fan interest in the “drama”. Psychological studies have proven, after all, that fans lose interest in someone who wins All The Time (are you listening, Contador?).
Until the public — the fans — start voting with the feet and their wallets, and stop giving these juggernauts so much damned money, we will continue to see such non-events as these “damning” interviews with Tyler, George and other stars of the sport. I think that nearly every one of these guys is winking and nudging each other behind the scenes, because they’ve all been careful enough to guard a bit of nest egg to insure a decent lifestyle after the allegations come out. And if that makes me sound like a crackpot conspiracy theorist, so be it.
To me the amazing thing here is the instant about-face of the Lance fans. All the others were “dirty dopers”. Let’s hang them! -that is- until Laance was caught. Then- all of a sudden, we hear “We don’t care about dope! They all did it, so let’s move on”. From the same people who dog-piled on any OTHER cyclist who doped. Perhaps “mental gymnastics” is the next big sport?
lance, madoff, nba, mlb, trump….. cash rules.. nfl, nascar, politics, oil… cash rules.. cash the opiate… whatever
bread and circuses
bmj, fair enough on the government sponsorship money issue but will the gubment get a refund check from Johan and Lance or is this just additional sunk cost?
Anyway, George can’t go wrong cause he’s a French adviser: his wife Mélanie !
…i’ve gotta wonder about the psychological aspect of constantly appearing undaunted in the face of what are becoming overwhelming odds…
…it’s been proven time & time again that the uni-baller is one focused motherfucker but are we looking at old school obsessive denial or does it run deeper ???…
…on the surface, the man has a very determined but casual demeanor (check out his tweet thingy) but is it real or does this ‘grand jury’ situation have him sweating behind the scenes ???…
…for a long time now, it’s been a case of “i’m clean, i’ve always been clean, no one has ‘proven’ otherwise & this whole big (& growing) circle of detractors have something to gain by attacking me”…
…that’s all well & good in the media but now we’re talking government prosecutors, courtrooms…
…just how obsessed is mr armstrong ???…would he lie to a grand jury to protect his legacy, thinking he’d be letting down the whole ‘livestrong’ organization, ???…
…or would he lie to the feds because he honestly thinks he’s bigger than life & can get away with it ???…
…i mean, does the man even have a conscience left or is he just obsessed with seeing himself as a ‘savior’ of the cancerous portion of mankind ???…
…too many questions, not enough answers…& the few answers that come out of the armstrong camp are ‘same old, same old’…
Or maybe he really is clean.
…i’ll give you this, joe, you are your own man but i’d suggest you’re a man in denial of a lotta things…
…& remember…i was one of the last guys here to turn…i gave him the benefit of the doubt long past reason, given the evidence…
…i’ll always believe armstrong is a champion caliber cyclist, i’ll always believe that the ‘livestrong’ foundation is definitely worthwhile for what it accomplishes but as far as lance armstrong, the man, i think he’s lying through his fucking teeth…
Wow, been fishing at Lee’s Ferry in the Canyon for a few days. Missed the looting parties and these news tidbits.
At #22 maybe a handle change for you? A little too similar for my taste. No offense and condolences if you really are a hellbilly.
I’ve historically had a problem with the continued lying by all involved and the technique of discrediting all who spoke out, specifically the Andreu’s. The big picture problem is definitely with the governing body and maintaining doping as the status quo. The sport does need to get broken down and re-built.
If Lance really was a core good guy, then maybe many of us would feel different.
He’s a fucking prick
Hincapie made some comment in Velonews about sacrificing his life for the sport. Sounds like he’s balls-deep in that choice. No sympathy here, but I’ll buy Tyler’s book and George’s when he gets to it. Sad, but entertaining as hell.
I feel fortunate to have spent my formative racing years during simpler times when the only international cycling news came from trying to read the local bike shop’s copy of Mirroir Du Cyclisme. Hero’s remained a little more pure in that format.
With Ya Hellbelly,
In my formative years, my heroes rode Motocross, only smoked dope, drank shitloads of beer & fucked their teammates wife, (Graham Noyce, I’m looking at you).
Lance, I’ve never met him but several books that I’ve read say that he’s an arsehole, the TDUs he’s done confirm that.
Tyler, I’ve never met him but I’ve always like the man, yes he doped but any man who does a pro cycling event with a busted collar bone, (regardless of how doped he was), has my admiration.
& there’s the dogs.
In fact, Tyler, from down under, GOOD ON YOU! FUCKING GOOD ON YOU !!
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