Armstrong & Andreu: High Drama (of the Sicilian Kind)
deerfencer1
coming clean and admitting he cheated several times in his career by
blood-doping. This is exactly the kind of honesty the sport needs to
get back on track. Unfortunately, Andreu is also bearing the wrath of
mightly Lance as he (Andreu) and his wife testified under oath in a
recent court case that they had both overheard Armstrong admit to the
doctors in the hospital years ago when he was first being
diagnosed/treated for his cancer that he (Armstrong) had used
performance enhancing drugs of many kinds in his racing career.
This story has been out for a while now but has gotten little press
coverage of note. If you read the Times piece today, you'll start to
see why Armstrong is looked upon by some as a vengeful bully--less a
god than a godfather. Andreu's been fired from his job as co-director
of a US Pro team and nobody else still active in the sport dares talk
to reporters about the whole controversy!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/12/sports/othersports/12andreu.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Larry
deerfencer1
so have e-mailed it separately and it is in another (self-evident)
folder.
L
joep
probably hit a pub or 2 along the route.
Funny side coincidence - I am still pending getting into the NYC Marathon (waiting for a back door to open). BUT the Lance
Armstrong charity still has some vacancies open for anyone willing to commit to $5000 or more in donations. If I don't run NYC I'll
do a much less popular one in CT.
joep
actually neither times link works without a login.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tidal...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Tidal...@googlegroups.com]On
Behalf Of deerfencer1
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 12:29 PM
To: TidalForce Forum
deerfencer1
Frankie Andreu, who twice helped Lance Armstrong win the Tour de
France, stood in the kitchen of his suburban Detroit home last month
and faced the question: Had he ever doped?
As his three young children played in the next room, Andreu, 39, bowed
his head. At first, he said he did not know what to say. He did not
want to answer. Then, he said that thinking about all of the athletes
who had lied about drug use compelled him to tell the truth. So he
revealed his secret.
"I tried my best never to use performance-enhancing drugs," he
said. "I did make a couple of bad choices, but that was a long, long
time ago. It's not something to be proud of. I did use EPO, but only
for a couple of races."
Andreu, a widely respected competitor throughout his career and a
member of the USA Cycling board, spoke at considerable risk. The United
States Anti-Doping Agency can investigate and punish athletes who say
they have used performance-enhancing substances.
Even so, he said, the guilt of using EPO, a synthetic drug that helps
boost endurance, had been eating at him. He compared using the drug for
a few races to robbing a bank: "Does it matter if you stole 10 cents
or 10 million dollars?" he asked. "It's still stealing."
Andreu, once Armstrong's teammate and roommate, said he hoped his
admission would help expose the tradition of doping in cycling and
perhaps begin to change it. He said he wanted his children to be able
to ride professionally someday and not have to use drugs to succeed.
Someday, he said, he and his wife, Betsy, would tell their children,
who are all under 8, about his decision to use EPO and to later make a
stand against it. Until now, however, none of his family members except
his wife have known about his past.
"I think our kids will appreciate the fact that their father just
could not lie," Betsy Andreu said. "It will teach them to be
honest, no matter what the consequences are."
Until July, Frankie Andreu, a two-time Olympian, was co-director of the
Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team, which races in the United States. He
was fired because he missed a race, a team spokeswoman said.
Shortly before learning of Andreu's dismissal, Tony Cruz, a rider on
the team, said: "We all like Frankie. He is very good at his job."
Betsy Andreu said she thought Frankie was let go because they had
testified in a contract dispute between Armstrong and a company called
SCA Promotions, which had withheld a bonus from Armstrong because of
allegations of doping. In February, Armstrong and the company that
owned his race team settled their suit against SCA, receiving the bonus
as well as interest and legal fees.
The Andreus said they were reluctant to testify, but they were required
to do so under a court order. Under oath, they said they both overheard
Armstrong, who had been found to have cancer, tell his oncologists that
he had used performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong testified that no
one at the hospital had asked him if he had used performance-enhancing
drugs, and he denied using such drugs. He also challenged the motives
of the Andreus.
Nearly a dozen people in cycling declined to be interviewed about the
Andreus, saying they feared for their jobs because of Armstrong's
influence in the sport.
The Andreus wonder how Frankie's confession will affect his future.
He has been a television commentator at the Tour and does motivational
speaking about cycling. He has a small real estate business in
Dearborn, Mich., to fall back on, but he says he still dreads being
called "a rat, a narc or a traitor."
Nonetheless, he says he hopes others come forward. He said a program
should be established for athletes to disclose details about doping
without facing punishment.
"Everybody's afraid to talk because they don't want to implicate
themselves," he said. "But there are guys out there who love the
sport and who hate doping. They are the guys who have to speak up if
the sport is going to survive."
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