US Postal, Lance Armstrong's former cycling team admitted to cheating during his 7 Tour de France victories. In a strange twist, Armstrong himself remains untainted- US Postal say he knew nothing of their scams.
This latest revelation continues the controversy caused over electric motor bicycle assists, dubbed "mechanical doping". When Armstrong was quizzed on the matter he said "If I've said it once, I've said it a hundred times. I don't do drugs now and I never have done".
The reporter then explained she was referring to "mechanical doping". Surprised, Armstrong retorted "Wow, I've never been asked that one before. What is that exactly?" After explaining the basic idea behind it, Armstrong seemed enthused "Gee, what a really cool idea, I can't believe someone would think up that s**t."
When told he had been directly implicated, Armstrong turned "Right, that's f****en it. I've been implicated? No f***ing way. Well, that's just baloney". Reporters in Germany have also quizzed Jan Ullrich over the allegations. He was less reticent in responding and seemed very clued up on the whole affair. Jan Ullrich said "Ja. I've known about this all along. Vell, partly it vas my own idea. Me and a few others. The sponsors liked it and ve agreed. I knew Armstrong had to be doing it too, otherwise he'd have never von so many times. Vhat I couldn't vork out though vas how he kept his sense of moral superiority, as if he'd achieved it, jou know? Everyone knew I was a cheat though, I never protested it that vehemently like he did. I guess he really didn't know though. I feel sorry for the guy. Now he looks ridiculous."
The two other firms implicated in the scandal are Duracell and Energizer. Duracell is trying to spin the situation and claim publicity for the superiority of their products. It was they who manufactured the specialised batteries installed on Armstrong's bike. Each one, weighing only 165 g a piece, generated around 12,000 mAh at 4.5v, giving a massive advantage over rivals. Energizer, who were secretly working in partnership with Team Telecom and T-Mobile, Jan Ullrich's former teams, could only produce a battery generating 10,000 mAh at 4.2V, at 180g weight.
Duracell said this of their protege Armstrong: "Lance was a supreme athlete, we just enhanced slightly what was already there. The other main protagonists were all doing the same thing. The only difference being, Lance never suspected a thing."
Johann Bruyneel, Lance's former director sportif, had this to say over the affair: "Lance is a great guy. It's true he never doped using drugs, I wouldn't call this doping though. We used to activate the motor assist remotely. He was always ringing us up on the team radio complaining about how s**t he felt. So we discreetly activated the assist a few minutes later after telling him to keep his chin up. It worked, and he flew up those mountains. Of course others used the same system, Jan Ullrich for instance, but they activated it themselves. Jan was a lazy b*****d. He used to go through reams and reams of batteries during a race. You don't seriously ever think he pushed those massive gears in the mountains without assist do you? With Lance, it was a case of strictly as and when necessary. I've nothing more to say on the matter. If it was a level playing field, he'd have still won - fair and square."
The UCI, cycling's governing body, has launched a thorough investigation into the affair. This latest scandal is just another in a long line that have plagued the sport for many years. It follows Operation Puerto, an investigation into Puerto Ricans supplying top flight teams with cocaine, for use in numbing the pain during racing. The substance is allegedly rubbed into the gums and anaesthetises the riders for much of the race.
Armstong's latest book "It might have been about the bike after all", published by yellow jersey press, is on sale now priced 12.99 USD. The first 100 buyers from each store also receive a free Duracell AA twin pack, worth 3.50 USD.
