LA responds to SF Chron columnist
Jim Feeley
Tour de France champ fires back
Cyclist says column implied he cheated
by Lance Armstrong
Sunday, March 21, 2004
Gwen Knapp on March 2 authored a piece that I believe was unfair in
its treatment of me, my fellow athletes who believe in drug testing,
and my long-time trainer, Chris Carmichael. In my opinion I was
portrayed as a drug cheat aligned with a drug-pushing trainer.
==
The rest is here:
<sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/21/SPG6O5ONH21.DTL>
Jim
Sierraman
"Jim Feeley" <pov...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:dccff6ae.04032...@posting.google.com...
Gwen Knapp article was short too, cynical and more of a troll then anything
else. Another journalist looking to raise her profile at the expense of
someone noteable. Happens all the time. That's why my cousin got out of
journalism, he was asked to do a lot of questionable things to raise viewer
interest.
B-
onefred
Gwen Knapp = Jayson Blair
Cranky
news:405dda4d$0$70123$39ce...@news.twtelecom.net:
> O5ONH 21.DTL>
>
> Gwen Knapp = Jayson Blair
>
Also just happens to be in San Francisco where a certain someone, the
orginization and the league which employ him are feeling a wee bit heat
for (gasp!) performance enhancing drug use.
B. Lafferty
"Cranky" <cfe...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94B37EE3...@216.146.78.166...
> "onefred" <datay...@yahoo.com> wrote in
> news:405dda4d$0$70123$39ce...@news.twtelecom.net:
>
> > "Jim Feeley" <pov...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
> > news:dccff6ae.04032...@posting.google.com...
> >> Thought you all might find this mildly interesting:
> >>
> >> Tour de France champ fires back
> >> Cyclist says column implied he cheated
> >>
> >> by Lance Armstrong
> >>
> >> Sunday, March 21, 2004
> >>
> >> Gwen Knapp on March 2 authored a piece that I believe was unfair in
> >> its treatment of me, my fellow athletes who believe in drug testing,
> >> and my long-time trainer, Chris Carmichael. In my opinion I was
> >> portrayed as a drug cheat aligned with a drug-pushing trainer.
> >>
> >> ==
> >>
> >> The rest is here:
> >>
> >
B. Lafferty
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/03/21/SPG6O5ONH21.DTL
Gwen Knapp on March 2 authored a piece that I believe was unfair in its
treatment of me, my fellow athletes who believe in drug testing, and my
long-time trainer, Chris Carmichael. In my opinion I was portrayed as a drug
cheat aligned with a drug-pushing trainer.
Ms. Knapp stated: "His trainer (mine) just happens to be charged with
distributing performance-enhancing drugs."
My trainer for the past 15 years has been Chris Carmichael. He discovered me
as a young athlete, convinced me to focus on cycling, stood by me during my
cancer treatments, orchestrated my comeback, and has been by my side every
winter in between my five Tour (de France) wins. Chris has never been under
any sort of investigation for distributing drugs.
In her column, Ms. Knapp states that Dr. Michele Ferrari is my trainer, and
she relies on that statement to build her case. The truth is that Chris has
been my coach, my trainer and my primary source of daily training schedules
for many, many years. I believe it was irresponsible of Ms. Knapp to ignore
that fact. I would like to thank The Chronicle for printing a clarification.
The fact is that Dr. Ferrari is among a number of people who consult with
Chris and me on issues like diet, hypoxic work and recovery. To say that
Michele Ferrari is my trainer is like saying that your nurse is your
"doctor" just because he or she may provide support to your doctor.
It is true that Dr. Ferrari has been on trial in Italy for a number of years
for allegedly providing drugs to athletes. I have been clear about this
issue. First, I have never seen anything that would lead me to believe that
Dr. Ferrari would do such a thing and, second, I continue to believe that he
deserves the benefit of a simple presumption: innocent until proven guilty.
Finally, I have said that if Dr. Ferrari is found guilty I will immediately
re- evaluate his role as a consultant to Chris and me.
Furthermore, Ms. Knapp states that my association with Dr. Ferrari was
"revealed" in a 2001 article in the Sunday Times of London. The truth is
that my association with Dr. Ferrari has never been a secret. I have never
denied my association with him or intentionally attempted to hide it. Beyond
that, dating back to 1996, there have been a number of respected journalists
aware of our association. It is my belief that they chose not to write about
it because they did not find it sensational or particularly newsworthy.
Last year I was drug tested more than 24 times. That's twice a month. Ms.
Knapp claims that "savvy fans know that the tests are unreliable." Really?
If that's the case, then I know a lot of professional cyclists who are not
very "savvy." The truth is that we believe the current tests do work and we
are proud that our sport has led the way to create cutting-edge testing and
forced that testing on ourselves. I would ask Ms. Knapp if she called
someone like Dr. Don Catlin head of the IOC-accredited UCLA testing lab, to
ask him if he thought that drug testing was "unreliable" or if,
specifically, the test for EPO does not work.
I would challenge her to do a little homework on the EPO test and reconsider
her view.
I believe in the importance of organizations like the U.S. and World Anti-
Doping Agencies. I sincerely hope they are enforcing "reliable" drug
testing. And I've put my money where my mouth is. I have donated my own
money to speed research into improved drug testing.
Beyond the obvious clarification of who my trainer is, I would also like to
clarify a few other statements:
1. She stated that my sport has been spared of investigations into drug
taking. Are you kidding? There have been any number of government
investigations into our sport. In fact, my own team suffered through a two-
year investigation by the French government that, in the end, concluded that
we had taken no drugs or done anything wrong. Yes, we have had our problems.
But we have joined together in the fight against doping and our sport should
be proud of that. I challenge anyone to find a sporting event that has more
doping control than the Tour de France.
2. She called my performances, post-cancer, a "stunning improvement." She
makes it sound as if I came out of nowhere and won the Tour de France (with
the hidden implication being that I did that with the aid of drugs). The
facts are that I was winning professional triathlons at age 17, that I am
still the youngest-ever world road cycling champion, and that I was the
youngest ever Tour de France stage winner at age 21.
When I found out I had cancer at age 25, I was on my way to maturing as a
professional and was just beginning to have the sort of experience that
could have allowed me to make an overall win at the Tour a goal. When I did
win the Tour, there were a number of journalists, mainly French, who
questioned my accomplishment. They even insinuated that the chemotherapy I
was administered may have enhanced me physically and permanently, thus
explaining my Tour win in 1999.
I suppose I could just sit back and say nothing when I'm attacked like this.
Life is short, and I know that from my own personal experience. I have said
it before and I will say it again: I believe that I am the most tested
athlete on this planet, I have never had a single positive doping test, and
I do not take performance-enhancing drugs.
Howard Kveck
"onefred" <datay...@yahoo.com> wrote:
Keep up with the times! Blair is old news, so try Jack Kelley.
<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-usatoday20mar20,1,1590
448.story?coll=la-home-headlines>
--
tanx,
Howard
Q: Why did the metalhead cross the road?
A: Because he's a gullible moron who'll buy
anything with a skull on it.
remove YOUR SHOES to reply, ok?
smiles
news:OKl7c.2337$HP....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> Very amusing reply from Krispy.
Don't you think they should be tested for them also?? In college someone
turned me on to Krispy Kreme's, I went from a lazy over weight slob to a
3:13 marathon in less than a quarter and ran a 2:52 3 month later!! ... and
that's the truth!!
B. Lafferty
"smiles" <csmi...@removethisboardnbike.com> wrote in message
news:mPq7c.126289$rB4.1...@bignews6.bellsouth.net...
benjo maso
Amrstrong was nor the youngest world road cycling champion, nor the youngest
Tour the France stage winner ever. Karel Kaers became world champion at 20,
and at the age Armstrong won his first TdF stage, René Vietto had already
won six of them and Henri Cornet won his first and only stage at 19. About
the rest: well, you can't blame him. Bicycling racers are more or less
forced to be hypocrites.
Benjo Maso
rcracer69
I hate to say it but I have tested positive for the krispy kreme test and am
in rehab so my skinsuit will fit again :(
"B. Lafferty" <Ma...@Italia.com> wrote in message
news:j9r7c.2514$V66....@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
Tom Kunich
"B. Lafferty" <Ma...@Italia.com> wrote in message
news:OKl7c.2337$HP....@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
Bestest Handsander
appearance got me some commerical work. You might have seen them. In all
of them I came bashing through a wall and delivered sugar-water to thirsty
kids.
"B. Lafferty" <Ma...@Italia.com> wrote in message
news:j9r7c.2514$V66....@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net...
Jim Flom
> Brian, you forgot the usual cheap shot.
He's restraining himself because deep down inside he knows he shouldn't do
things like that.
B. Lafferty
"benjo maso" <benjo...@chello.nl> wrote in message
news:c3lfo2$29oncu$1...@ID-75468.news.uni-berlin.de...
I sent the following letter to the paper today:
March 22, 2004
Letters to the Editor
San Francisco Chronicle
901 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Re: Armstrong Letter Inaccuracies
To The Editor:
Lance Armstong's recent letter to your publication displays an amazing
ignorance of cycling history. Mr. Armstrong, despite his assertions, was
not the youngest professional world champion nor was he the youngest winner
of a Tour de France stage. As the noted European cycling historian Benjo
Maso has stated, "Karel Kaers became world champion at 20, and at the age
Armstrong won his first TdF stage, René Vietto had already won six of them.
Henri Cornet won his first and only stage at 19."*
Mr. Armstrong may be a superlative champion in certain aspects of cycling,
but he would do well to read a bit about the long history of his sport
before Coach/Trainer Carmichael discovered him and he hired Dr. Ferrari as a
consultant.
Brian Lafferty
* Usenet 3/22/04, rec.bicycles.racing
benjo maso
"B. Lafferty" <Ma...@Italia.com> wrote in message
Of course I wasn't really shocked. But it's still amazing that Armstrong is
making claims like that without checking upon it. And it's true that he is
pretty ignorant of cycling history. A Dutch journalist told me one or two
years ago that Armstrong hadn't even heard of Bordeaux-Paris.
Benjo Maso
Van Hoorebeeck Bart
analysis and forecasts from the many esteemed specialists on this forum. Please
keep us informed.
B. Lafferty
Perhaps we could come up with a suggested reading list for him.
There are many books, but here are several to get him started.
1. European Cycle Racing--Nicholson
2. Fausto Coppi--Jean-Paul Ollivier
3. Cycling Heros--Les Woodland
4. The Giants of Cycling--Jean-Paul Ollivier
5. Eddy Merckx--Rick VanWalleghem
6. Malliot Jaune--Ollivier
7. Fausto Goppi-- Jacques Augendre
8 The Giro d'Italia--Dino Buzzati
9. Tour de France...--Graeme Fife
10. A Century of Paris Roubaix--Pascal Sargent
Presumable he already has the Centennial Tour book as he did the forward to
the US version. Perhaps Sheryl could read some to him every night before
bed. ;-)
gwhite
> Presumable he already has the Centennial Tour book as he did the forward to
> the US version. Perhaps Sheryl could read some to him every night before
> bed. ;-)
Dumbass,
Regarding athletes, lawyers, rbr posters, et alii, ignorance is not
prohibited in any way, as you demonstrate regularly.
B. Lafferty
"gwhite" <gwh...@ti.com> wrote in message
news:698b8866.04032...@posting.google.com...
Thanks for sharing that with us.
Tom Kunich
news:edv7c.233566$A12.132949@edtnps84...
I expect you laughed at that as hard as I did? I'm wiping my eyes as I type.
Jim Flom
>
> I expect you laughed at that as hard as I did? I'm wiping my eyes as I
type.
Hehe. I'm still trying to figure out why ol' Brian would serve Gwen Knapp
by splitting hairs over Lance's "first" claims in a letter to the editor.
Watch, the Chronicle will publish Brian's letter, and pencil necked
commuters across northern California will read it and say, "Yeah, Lance
Armstrong is a liar. He's probably a doper too."
Clarence Thomas
checkin my Coke can for pubic hairs, but I ain't. I'm the first
African-American Justice on the United States Supreme Court. I just thought
you pencil necked citizens should learn all this. Have a nice day.
Clarence
"Jim Flom" <jim...@telusREMOVE.net> wrote in message
news:TJO7c.418$wg1.279@edtnps84...
Kyle Legate
> People may think that I'm just a dope who sez yes sir to Tony Scalia
> while checkin my Coke can for pubic hairs, but I ain't. I'm the first
> African-American Justice on the United States Supreme Court. I just
> thought you pencil necked citizens should learn all this. Have a
> nice day.
>
> Clarence
>