ARMSTRONG 'ADMITS DOPING BEFORE SUFFERING CANCER'

Well, that got our attention.

PARIS June 23, 2006 (AFP) - Seven-time Tour de France ["TDF"] winner Lance Armstrong allegedly admitted taking banned doping products before suffering from cancer, according to evidence given under oath to a court in Dallas earlier this year and published in Saturday's edition of French daily Le Monde.

Huh? Wait a minute, the headline says it is Mr. Armstrong who admits. Mr. Armstrong cannot allege that he admits, he can only pronounce what he does admit or does not admit. Ah, but Mr. Armstrong has admitted nothing, so AFP has cooked up a delicious headline to hang over this Le Monde rechauffe.

According to former friends of the American cyclist, Armstrong, who suffered from testicular cancer in 1996, allegedly told a doctor in Indiana University Hospital in October of that year after undergoing brain surgery that he had previously taken the banned substances EPO, testosterone, growth hormones and cortisone. Frankie Andreu made the same statement in court on October 25, 2005, according to Le Monde, who claim that the Andreus previously told the same story during an arbitration hearing between Armstrong and his insurance company SCA Promotions [NB].

A third witness Stephanie McIlvain, who was also present at the meeting with the doctor in 1996 [NB], told the court however that she had never heard Armstrong say that he took doping products. Armstrong denied that any doctor had ever asked him if he had used doping substances, and claimed that Betsy Andreu was acting out of dislike for him and was supported in this by her husband.

Actually there were eight persons present, none of whom have corroborated the Andreus' story. AFP doesn't bother to mention this testimony:

Armstrong's primary cancer doctor, Craig Nichols, submitted a sworn affidavit in the case saying, "I have never seen any evidence, either from myself or any other doctor [NB], that indicates Lance Armstrong admitted, suggested or indicated that he has ever taken performance-enhancing drugs."

The mysterious doctors (the Betsy Andreu deposition alleges there were two) are never named (the Betsy Andreu deposition alleges they wore name tags) and never make a court appearance.

Armstrong took legal action against SCA Promotions in 2004 after they refused to pay five million dollars [NB] of a performance award he earned by winning six consecutive Tour de France, citing rumours of performance enhancement against the American. But the Dallas court found in favour of Armstrong in February estimating [sic, ruling] that the insurance company should pay the former cyclist the bonus.

The court awarded Mr. Armstrong $7.5M.

Here is Mr. Andreu in 2004:

And in 1998 the team made what turned out to be a key move, they hired Lance Armstrong. And they got a Lance Armstrong who was ready to prove a point. Lance had been passed up by more than a few other cycling teams after his recovery from cancer and he was ready to show them they had made a big mistake.

In 1999, both U.S. Postal and Lance struck gold. Of course, that was Lance's first Tour de France win and for the U.S. Postal Service, it was a marketing dream. At first, no one in the sport of cycling realized what it had on its hands and the phenomenon that Lance would become. ... In 1999 Johan Bruyneel came on board and turned a free wheeling team into a structured one. He had a great deal of faith in Lance, and Lance respected Johan. The two pushed each other toward the same goal - winning the Tour de France. In 1999, Lance's first Tour victory, the win came as a complete surprise.

Not a surprise in Lance's abilities, but a surprise that in his first attempt at winning the Tour he pulled it off. The win was even more impressive because he had just come back from his fight with testicular cancer.

[All emphases added.]

Let's see if we follow. There's bad blood between Mr. Armstrong and the Andreus. The Andreus, husband and wife, in the interests of truth (on behalf of SCA) pursue an allegation through the courts that no one else corroborates, and that the court, in ruling for Mr. Armstrong, does not find credible. Mr. Andreu writes a glowing tribute in 2004 to Mr. Armstrong in the full knowledge of his alleged 1996 witness to Mr. Armstrong's doping admission, but fails to give it a mention. We imagine Mr. Andreu was inspired to high principle belatedly by a phone call from SCA Promotions.

And now defense testimony from a dispute settled months ago in favor of the plaintiff is reported by Le Monde -- aped by AFP -- as near-fact and read-worthy. (Le Monde: Selon de nouveaux témoignages...) All of this by way of trying to taint Mr. Armstrong's dominance of the Tour de France. Please bear in mind that Mr. Armstrong, under the supervision of the TDF, tested clean in every single Tour (1993, 1995, 1999-2005).

But that's not the story Le Monde is determined to tell, truth be damned. Pathetic.

PFFT (What is this?): Pathetic AFP 5 | Grotesquely pathetic Le Monde 5 | Rayonnement français 0