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Backpedaling Armstrong's threat only adds to suspicion
Updated: Friday December 15, 2000 7:42 AM
Two-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong made a curious vow Tuesday on his personal Web site in response to reports that the performance enhancing drug Actovegin, which is at the center of the controversy involving Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team, had recently been banned by the IOC. Claiming he'd never heard of "Activ-o-something" and that the Postal Service team was "a very clean and professional team that has been singled out due to our success," Armstrong threatened not to defend his title if all the allegations of illegal drug use didn't go away. Certainly sounds like the reaction of an innocent man, doesn't it? Dadgummit, I never took performance-enhancing drugs and I never will, but since French prosecutors are investigating the question, I'm staying home from the only important cycling race of the year. That'll show 'em. That'll show 'em he's guilty. Here's the background: In October French officials launched a preliminary investigation into the U.S. Postal Service team after receiving an anonymous letter saying a TV crew had noticed two men allegedly associated with the team suspiciously disposing of bags that contained medicines and drug paraphernalia, including Actovegin. Actovegin, which was not banned prior to the 2000 Tour, is a derivative of calf's blood that's manufactured in Norway. When injected, it improves the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood, similar to the performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin (EPO). EPO, you may recall, was at the center of the controversial 1998 Tour de France, which was rocked by one drug scandal after another. Seven teams either pulled out or were thrown out when police began searching hotel rooms of competitors and found large supplies of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia. One trainer, Willy Voet, who worked for the French-based Festina team, was arrested with 234 vials of EPO, 24 vials of growth hormones and testosterone, and 60 capsules of an aspirin-based product called Asaflow, which thins the blood. Those substances all were banned by cycling's governing body, the Union de Cycling Internationale. As Voet sat in prison, Festina's cyclists blithely denied ever having used the drugs. Most vocal in his denials was the team's star, Richard Virenque. A year later I visited Voet in his hometown of Veynes, France. He had written a bestselling book, Chain Massacre: Revelations of 30 Years of Cheating. The book exposed how drug use among the world's top cyclists was pervasive, organized and well-funded. He said, in essence, those very few riders who were clean finished at the back of the pack. By then Virenque had recanted his denials of drug use and was facing criminal charges of his own. I found Voet surpassingly credible. He had seen the light and was trying to clean up his sport. I asked Voet about the two top American cyclists, Greg Lemond, who was retired, and Lance Armstrong, who in 1999 would win his first Tour. Voet carefully explained he had never worked with either one of them. He had only written about what he saw with his own two eyes. But all the top riders he worked with used performance-enhancing drugs, often injected by Voet himself. Armstrong was beating them. He advised me to draw my own conclusions. The point is that the U.S. Postal Service team has not been "singled out," as Armstrong claims. For the past three years cycling has undergone an increased level of scrutiny by French officials in an effort to regain some credibility with the public. It needs it. Many insiders believe that the abuses continue. If Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team really are innocent, they should welcome any and all investigations geared toward cleaning up the sport, instead of claiming persecution by French prosecutors. Armstrong should return to France in 2001 to defend his title. Why would he even think of doing otherwise, unless he has something to hide? E.M. Swift is a Sports Illustrated senior writer and a regular
contributor to CNNSI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely
those of the writer.
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