Outside Magazine, December 2005
J'Accuse
A few days after the story broke, though, Armstrong spent an hour on CNN's Larry King Live dismissing the L'Equipe report, contending it was unfair because it came from a tabloid newspaper reporter's efforts, rather than through formal anti-drug protocols. A few days later, the chief operating officer of USA Cycling, the governing body responsible for punishing bike-racing drug cheaters in this country, was quoted in more than 100 newspapers dismissing the L'Equipe piece as the scandalmongering of a French tabloid newspaper, adding, in a remarkable echo of Armstrong's public position, that the positive drug results were unfair because they had been exposed by a news reporter, rather than through formal drug-policing protocols.
"To me, this is an issue for the French people. They seemed very concerned about it, and frankly I don't care what they think. And I don't think Lance does either," Reuters quoted USA Cycling COO Steve Johnson as saying last week. "This is just a publication in a French tabloid newspaper. That's our perspective."
And there the story seemed to peter out. And why not? There's no point bothering with drug allegations that the doping cops of American cycling say are bogus, right?
By week's end, the story had disappeared from the U.S. media, just in time for the Barclays Global Investors Grand Prix SF, the bike race local investment banker Thom Weisel brought to the city four years ago with the help of Armstrong, who lent his prestigious presence to the race during its first two years. The unsavory subject of doping faded. Lance Armstrong, and the massive publicity empire that surrounds him, remained relatively unscathed, able to enjoy his July 2005 retirement with the inspiring tale intact of his comeback from cancer to win the first of seven Tours de France in 1999.
There happens to be more to USA Cycling's pooh-poohing of the charges against Armstrong than the news headlines suggested, however. This isn't merely an instance of U.S. doping cops repelling spurious French charges against an American superhero.
Johnson, the widely quoted USA Cycling official, appears to suffer from a serious conflict of interest between his organization's role as a doping cop and his personal, institutional, and financial ties to the diversified business world surrounding Lance Armstrong. Financier Weisel is Armstrong's longtime patron, employer, investment manager, and friend. Weisel is also Johnson's longtime patron and friend and the founder of a nonprofit entity that employs him.
And then there's this little fact: Johnson essentially works for Armstrong. In addition to serving as chief operating officer of USA Cycling, Johnson is executive director of the USA Cycling Development Foundation, an affiliated nonprofit organization founded by Weisel, who serves as president of the board of directors, according to the foundation's most recently available IRS returns, filed in 2003. According to the foundation's current Web site, the board of directors now includes Lance Armstrong.