The Article: WSJ - reopened!

[BroDeal]

I think one of the most interesting things was the precautions taken during transfusions. No one talked in case the room wsa bugged, and potential places for a hidden camera were blocked off. This indicates severe paranoia. I don't think the feds will find any records or physical evidence. They will have to rely on witnesses.

 

[eleven]

I do love the way they refer to him as Mr Armstrong, clearly some pretty strict legal advice gone on there.

Someone has never read the Wall Street Journal

 

[Ferminal]

So is it just me, or did Paul Sherwen write the article?

All those "Mr. Armstrongs"...

 

[tofino]

Not just bikes sold

I know of another team supplier who was shocked to find out that less than half of the stuff shipped actually showed up for official team use.

The Feds should be calling all the team suppliers if they think thats an angle to follow. But than again thats pretty common practice for most teams (selling equipment).

 

[eleven]

What's the chances of "The Shack" riding Trek's next year?

100% <filler because I apparently need 10 characters )

 

[Polish]

Did not see any mention of EPO.

Sure, blood transfusions are naughty - but c'mon, Novitsky's home country legitimately won olympic GOLD using blood transfusions. They were even LEGAL during Greg's racing career lol.

So...as far as the FDA is concerned, is Lance Blood an illegal drug?
Magical maybe. But illegal?


And how about Bruyneel?
"Double Doctor" coverage during the Transfusions for rider safety...
Hiring Strippers for the Team Party...

As far as Bosses go, you could certainly do a LOT worse.

 

[eleven]

So is it just me, or did Paul Sherwen write the article?

All those "Mr. Armstrongs"...

That's SOP for the Wall Street Journal, along with hand-sketched pictures of characters in the stories.

 

[Cal_Joe]

So is it just me, or did Paul Sherwen write the article?

All those "Mr. Armstrongs"...

That has been the WSJ style forever. It is always Mr, Mrs, and lately, Ms.

Read some of the other articles.

Unless you were joking and it flew right over my head.

 

[MacRoadie]

Did not see any mention of EPO.

You're right:

During their training rides in St. Moritz, Mr. Landis said, Mr. Armstrong explained the complicated logistics of transfusions, which involved carrying coolers with hidden blood bags across international borders. He said Mr. Armstrong told him that cyclists used to use erythropoietin, or EPO, a drug that controls red-blood-cell production, to enrich their blood during the Tour. But that substance was now detectable in tests, so riders had turned to transfusions.

No mention whatsoever.

 

[scribe]

You're right:



No mention whatsoever.

he didn't build on what he earlier asserted was widespread microdosing.

 

[scribe]

More like:

Grand Prize: You never have to drink Michelob Ultra.

1st prize is 1 case of ultra
runner up gets 2 cases of ultra

 

[auscyclefan94]

WSJ gives a good overview of the story and revalations
http://www.steephill.tv/players/wsj/?title=tdf-2010-wsj-jul-3-landis-report&id=54CE629C-5A57-4BF2-B1FA-47BA2C9ED4E3

 

[MacRoadie]

he didn't build on what he earlier asserted was widespread microdosing.

Sorry, I could have sworn he said:

Did not see any mention of EPO

 

[Polish]

You're right:



No mention whatsoever.

You are right also.

No mention of Floyd or Lance using EPO.

 

[MacRoadie]

You are right also.

No mention of Floyd or Lance using EPO.

Good job. Keep modifying and qualifying it and you'll get it right eventually.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Was it Darach?

As healthcare in the US appears to be outrageously expensive I have decided to help the USPS defray costs of their 'medical programnme' by highlighting the USPS second hand bike for sale by Mr. Darach McQuaid (yes, Pats brother)on this thread- happy bidding.

A little about the bike:

Then he says he’s got a bike for sale that Armstrong owned, that he’s going to put it on eBay but he’s willing to part with it for a decent price despite you dancing on Armstrong’s career.

Darach later clarified via his twitter that the bike was not Mr. Armstrong's.

 

[Polish]

Good job. Keep modifying and qualifying it and you'll get it right eventually.

But you agree with the point I was making in my original post?
No mention of Floyd or Lance using EPO?
No handover of EPO from Lance to Floyd in front of witnesses?

Probably the next installment will discuss EPO.
I have assumed for a long time Lance was using EPO.
Maybe I assumed wrong

 

[theswordsman]

I came back just for this one - these Wall Street Journal articles make me too excited to sleep. It's actually turning into a big weekend for the casual fan to learn about Armstrong. Juliet Macur posted a New York Times article including corroboration from riders on other teams that Lance badmouthed Contador while at the team table with him at the hotel during the 2009 Tour, and other things.

Now in a week where Lance is saying that even if he doesn't win, he'll go home and have five kids jumping all over him, we get the named general manager of a specific strip club saying that Lance and the team came there for a decade. Walker Ferguson confirmed it as well. It's not Clinic material, but it casts Tiger like questions, and might get the ex thinking.

Three other former U.S. Postal riders sitting down for interviews with WSJ and confirming there was doping on the team is a big deal at this point, as is another personal confession. It's not like the paper can haul people in in handcuffs and beat it out of them - these guys were obviously willing to talk with no real benefit to themselves except a clearer conscience.

The details on the room in the hotel, and the blood deliveries via fake autograph-seeking fan will be helpful to the French police now, just as Landis explaining about injecting EPO into the veins to balance out numbers after transfusions was an eye opener for Ashenden and Caitlin. Knowing how they disposed of blood bags is another piece of the puzzle for police.

Selling sixty bikes a year is also a big deal, and Trek knew at least some of it was going on. If the bikes were being sold while team members rode on older ones, what was the money needed for if not for doping?

I guess those of us who had no expectations for the article will be more impressed with the news than those of you who discussed it in advance. But the doping article in Sports Illustrated, the article in the New York Times, and this one in WSJ combine to give mainstream America a much different picture of Armstrong than they've seen in Nike commercials.

We're still in early days on this thing. A couple of riders at the Tour right now have testified. Things are coming out, and it's coming from extremely reliable publications.

Everyone enjoy the Tour de France.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Where are you WonderLance?

 

[Polish]

Selling sixty bikes a year is also a big deal, and Trek knew at least some of it was going on. If the bikes were being sold while team members rode on older ones, what was the money needed for if not for doping?

Everyone enjoy the Tour de France.

Selling used bikes for drug money is better than using Government Money.
And c'mon, they were trek bikes. MISDEMEANOR.
Selling Colnago's would have been a FELONY.

 

[Cobblestones]

I thought it was a good and informative article.

One thing you have to remember is that while corroboration is not mentioned explicitly in the text, the authors might still have checked stuff out. For instance the stripper & blow party. It sounds all like 'Mr. Landis said', but likely, the authors checked things. Things like whether there is/was a strip club at the indicated location, maybe they talked to the owner, one of the employees etc. Good journalists do these things. There's actually a massive amount of details in this story which could (and might) have been checked and corroborated. That makes it so compelling actually.

I'm actually very much surprised that the 'three more riders' haven't gotten much more traction. In May, it was only 'Mr. Landis said' and everybody was saying: if just one more guy would step up. Guess what, three have stepped up and talked to a newspaper (and have talked or will likely talk to the investigators). This is excellent news. Of course, I would have liked it better for them to go public, but the omerta is still in full force, remember?

As for ASO, they have disinvited riders for much less. Puerto? No, it wasn't at all clear what precisely happened. Most of the blood bags had code names (some stupid ones) but some of them we still discuss today. The whole thing broke so close to the start of the tour, it was impossible to get a clear picture. Hell, the last conviction in that case was just a few weeks ago!

What about Rasmussen? Pretty murky affair. For instance, how much did his team know about his whereabouts? And there were some things going on with the Danish federation and those missed test. Were they reported further up or not? And I don't think it was standard practice to add missed national and international tests together. Anyway, at the time he was thrown out, I don't think anybody had a clear picture.

What about when Astana was not allowed to race? That wasn't even because of information on potential doping in 2008; it was just ASO being vindictive.

And so on and so on.

There would be more than enough precedence to expel Armstrong, Leipheimer, Hincapie etc. from this year's tour if they wanted. It is a very detailed account of a team-wide doping with one rider standing up by name and three others corroborating it. It includes what was used, who used it, when, how, how it was paid for etc. That's a pretty solid story.

 

[amp300]

First off, best quote of the article right here:

His lawyer, Tim Herman of Austin, said: "Mr. Armstrong had no contact with strippers or cocaine."

don't know why but this keeps making me laugh a little.

Second, just throwing out pure speculation with no proof to back up, but regarding the sales of bikes to fund doping programs. I feel a few times a year you always hear about team vans being broken into and bikes/wheels being stolen. What if (and a rather large what if) that this is the way that some teams deal their bikes to get some extra cash on the side? Just throwing it out there, I could be totally off base.

I liked the article, I was hoping for more, but it will take more than one man to tear down Rome (unless it is Caesar himself).

 

[scribe]

I thought it was a good and informative article.

One thing you have to remember is that while corroboration is not mentioned explicitly in the text, the authors might still have checked stuff out. For instance the stripper & blow party. It sounds all like 'Mr. Landis said', but likely, the authors checked things. Things like whether there is/was a strip club at the indicated location, maybe they talked to the owner, one of the employees etc. Good journalists do these things. There's actually a massive amount of details in this story which could (and might) have been checked and corroborated. That makes it so compelling actually.

I'm actually very much surprised that the 'three more riders' haven't gotten much more traction. In May, it was only 'Mr. Landis said' and everybody was saying: if just one more guy would step up. Guess what, three have stepped up and talked to a newspaper (and have talked or will likely talk to the investigators). This is excellent news. Of course, I would have liked it better for them to go public, but the omerta is still in full force, remember?

As for ASO, they have disinvited riders for much less. Puerto? No, it wasn't at all clear what precisely happened. Most of the blood bags had code names (some stupid ones) but some of them we still discuss today. The whole thing broke so close to the start of the tour, it was impossible to get a clear picture. Hell, the last conviction in that case was just a few weeks ago!

What about Rasmussen? Pretty murky affair. For instance, how much did his team know about his whereabouts? And there were some things going on with the Danish federation and those missed test. Were they reported further up or not? And I don't think it was standard practice to add missed national and international tests together. Anyway, at the time he was thrown out, I don't think anybody had a clear picture.

What about when Astana was not allowed to race? That wasn't even because of information on potential doping in 2008; it was just ASO being vindictive.

And so on and so on.

There would be more than enough precedence to expel Armstrong, Leipheimer, Hincapie etc. from this year's tour if they wanted. It is a very detailed account of a team-wide doping with one rider standing up by name and three others corroborating it. It includes what was used, who used it, when, how, how it was paid for etc. That's a pretty solid story.

Landis's claims don't exactly have the same traction with aso as other scandals have gone in the past. You gotta figure that has played heavily in the decision to allow RS to ride.

 

[BroDeal]

First off, best quote of the article right here:

His lawyer, Tim Herman of Austin, said: "Mr. Armstrong had no contact with strippers or cocaine."

I don't understand why he would deny the strippers. It is well known that Armstrong likes strip joints. A trivial amount of checking will expose the lie.

 

[MacRoadie]

One thing you have to remember is that while corroboration is not mentioned explicitly in the text, the authors might still have checked stuff out. For instance the stripper & blow party. It sounds all like 'Mr. Landis said', but likely, the authors checked things. Things like whether there is/was a strip club at the indicated location, maybe they talked to the owner, one of the employees etc. Good journalists do these things. There's actually a massive amount of details in this story which could (and might) have been checked and corroborated. That makes it so compelling actually.

You must have missed this:

The journey ended at the Yellow Rose, a strip club on the north side of town. Don King, the club's general manager, said Mr. Armstrong and other cyclists on his teams have been coming to the club for about a decade. The riders were ushered into a booth. They ordered drinks and mingled with the dancers.