Greg LeMond, left, with Lance Armstrong at the 1999 Tour, praised Frankie Andreu for going “against the grain” by admitting to EPO use. (Laurent Rebours/AP)
And now for the reaction.
And boy oh boy is Our Boy Lance angry!
"I think it's a pretty nasty attempt by the New York Times to link me to doping through somebody else's admission. You have to read way down in the article until Frankie says, 'I never saw Lance do anything', Armstrong told the Associated Press.
"To me, this is a story about Frankie Andreu. The fact he took drugs has nothing to do with me."
Now, is OBL saying that the article implied a connection or is he inferring a connection?
"Today’s article in the New York Times was a blatant attempt to associate me and implicate me with a former teammate’s admission that he took banned substances during his career," Armstrong said in the statement (we only SEE Lance in person, it seems, with Matthew McConaughey or Jake Gyllenhaal). "The recycled suggestion that former teammates took EPO with my knowledge or at my request is categorically false and distorted sensationalism. My cycling victories are untainted; I didn’t take performance enhancing drugs, I didn’t ask anyone else to take them and I didn’t condone or encourage anyone else to take them. I won clean."
OK, Lance. OK. Inferred isn't implied, and the more you protest, well, the gultier you're going to appear to people.
Here's The New York Times story and other coverage today:
-- NYTimes Julie Macur: Armstrong Not Among Those Praising Cyclist Who Admitted to Using EPO
-- AP: Armstrong Says Drug Admissions A 'Hatchet Job'
-- Reuters: Armstrong manager slams Andreu for doping comments
It's good thing that, per his own admission, LA never has to work again. Instead it seems he'll be spending the rest of his days defending his victories.
ReplyDeleteI will agree with Andreu on one thing. This recent debacle may have, in fact, scared away fans and sponsors for good.
And as we all know, I'm certainly one of them.