86TDFWinner said:
ChrisE said:
Now Hendershot is saying that LA was taking EPO in 1993, yet he never administered it to him. And we have affidavits from others on the team saying that EPO didn't start until 95.
The timeline is the first thing that jumped out at me as well (and obviously others, as this has been much of the thrust of the conversation thus far).
From that article, we have a couple of interesting items, in terms of date.
On the eve of the road race at the 1992 Olympics, fellow cyclist Timm Peddie walked into Armstrong’s hotel room and saw Neal and a gaggle of USA Cycling officials standing around Armstrong as he lay on a bed, hooked to an IV.
When Armstrong arrived at Motorola in 1992, a system that facilitated riders’ drug use was firmly in place on the team.
By 1993, Armstrong was using all of those substances, as did many riders on the team, Hendershot said.
So, how does this jibe with what we have from the USADA testimonies? Well, I took a good look. Fact is, there just isn't very much, one way or the other, in those affidavits in regards to Lance's early doping, or any doping at all pre-1995. I was hoping to find some contradictions, but more than anything, there is just empty space.
Let’s take a look at exactly what is said within the USADA affidavits. They are, at best, vague and heavily edited. The following tag line is common at the conclusion.
“This affidavit is not an exhaustive summary of my testimony, however, it accurately sets forth information within my personal knowledge.”
Notice the precise wording. These affidavits are only a (perhaps small) portion of their entire testimony. Not only are the affidavits an incomplete record of all that was said, they don’t even qualify as an exhaustive
summary. No doubt, there was a lot left on the cutting room floor.
That being said...
From what I’ve read, there really isn’t very much documented on the early timeline of PED use. As it applies to Juliet Macur’s excerpt, this is what I came up with.
Zabriskie’s pro career didn’t begin until 2001. So he’s out of this discussion (as far as the affidavits are concerned).
Same for
Floyd. His story (as a pro roadie) begins in 1999.
Christian’s story as a pro roadie doesn’t begin until 1997/98.
Levi’s story begins in 1997 when JV “discussed” EPO with him. Levi’s account immediately jumps to 1999 after that (so there’s nothing to work with, as far his USADA affidavit is concerned).
Tyler’s testimony begins a bit earlier. Turned pro in 1995. Claimed it was difficult to compete in Europe in 1996, with USPS, due to the prevalence of EPO within the peloton. Began using EPO in 1997. Lance arrived on the team in 1998.
Frankie’s pro career started in 1989. Rode for Motorola from 1991-1996. Lance joined in 1992; they lived together in 1993. EPO use within the peloton became prevalent, and they realized that in order to be competitive they would have to use EPO as well. The exactly wording used to describe the timeline is, “
While I was competing on Motorola” they became aware of widespread EPO use. “
Over time” the team arrived at a consensus about using EPO. Nothing exceptionally specific there, although it does offer us one of the earliest timeframes.
From Frankie's affadavit:
25. “At the time, I recall LA saying he was getting his a$$ kicked and wanting to do something about it.”
In 1996, Frankie and Kevin Livingston drove to Switzerland to purchase EPO.
Vaughters turned pro when he rode for Porcelena Santa Clara between 1994-1996. JV's first use of EPO was on that team (no specific date specified). He joined USPS in 1998.
Little
George turned pro in 1993. In 1995 it became “very difficult to keep up” due to the widespread use of EPO throughout the peloton. 1995 is the Milan-San Remo discussion with Lance, where Armstrong is quoted as saying, “
people are using stuff” and “
we are getting killed” (emphasis mine). George purchases EPO for the first time in 1996.
Stephen Swart turned pro in 1987. His affidavit is, by far, the briefest of all the riders.
6. The day after the Milan-San Remo race in 1995 I went on a training ride in Como when the subject of EPO was discussed.
7. Lance Armstrong was leading the conversation and stated strongly that the riders who were in line to ride the Tour de France that year needed to be on an EPO program.
And that’s it. That’s all I could find from the USADA affidavits regarding Lance’s early use, or not, of any PEDs. I couldn’t find anything regarding what Lance may or may not have been using prior to 1995, or anyone else, for that matter.
As much of the information from Juliet Macur is new to most of us, at this time, it doesn't appear to
directly contradict the info we have thus far. It seems to fill in
some of the gaps in what has always been a story full of holes.
But of course the sticking point is, Frankie's and George's testimony would certainly seem to point to a Lance Armstrong who had not
yet adopted EPO into his regimen as of 1995. They describe Armstrong as being frustrated by being beaten, and to any rational person, it reads as though Lance is feeling left out of the EPO revolution at that time. Was Lance concealing his own use of EPO to his most trusted friends? Maybe, but I'm not sure why or how that would serve him. If he was on it, and felt it was beneficial, what better way to convince your teammates to hop on board? Another possibility is that Lance
was using EPO, but felt he needed the support of an EPO team in order to go head-to-head with his rivals.
As usual, I suppose, we are far from the complete and true story.
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