http://www.procycling.com/news_main.asp?newsId=5379
Armstrong braced for release of shock exposé
If seeing Tour de France rivals Iban Mayo, Tyler Hamilton and Jan Ullrich
all register impressive performances this weekend wasn't enough to have
Lance Armstrong quaking, then the impending release of a sensational new
book - 'LA Confidential, The Secrets Of Lance Armstrong' - just might.
Yesterday an article in Britain's Sunday Times confirmed that journalist
David Walsh, himself of the Sunday Times, and former L'Equipe writer Pierre
Ballester, will level new, explosive doping allegations at Armstrong in the
book, whose release has been timed to coincide with the 32-year-old's tilt
at a sixth Tour de France crown.
Walsh is the Irish journalist whose investigation into Armstrong's relations
with performance guru Michele Ferrari led to a dramatic confrontation with
the Texan at a press conference in Pau during the 2001 Tour de France. Last
Wednesday the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf republished comments made by
Armstrong about Walsh, the Sunday Time's chief sports writer: "Walsh is the
worst journalist I know," said Armstrong. "There are journalists who are
willing to lie, to threaten people and to steal in order to catch me out.
All this for a sensational story. Ethics, standards, values, accuracy -
these are of no interest to people like Walsh."
On Monday anticipation ahead of the book's launch intensified as French
magazine "L'Express" published several extracts. Among them are lengthy
passages quoting Emma O'Reilly, an Irish soigneur employed by US Postal
between 1998 and 2000. O'Reilly's testimonies include claims that she
disposed of syringes and transported banned products on the team's behalf.
She also provides further, revealing information about Armstrong's close
relationship with Ferrari. O'Reilly then raises questions about the medical
prescription which 'cleared' Armstrong after traces of a corticoid were
detected in his urine during the 1999 Tour de France.
A former team-mate from Armstrong's Motorola days, New Zealander Stephen
Swart, is also quoted by Walsh and Ballester. Space is given, too, to [censored]
Voet, the soigneur whose arrest before the 1998 Tour de France was the
trigger for the infamous "Festina scandal". Kathy Lemond, wife of triple
Tour-winner Greg, alleges that Armstrong threatened her husband in a
telephone conversation after he cast doubt on Armstrong's 2001 Tour win in
an interview with Walsh.
Yesterday the Sunday Times reported that, unsurprisingly, Armstrong and US
Postal directeur sportif Johan Buyneel had declined an interview with Walsh
to respond to some of the allegations made in 'LA Confidential'. The article
also revealed that a letter from Armstrong's London-based solicitors had
arrived by courier at the Sunday Times' offices on Friday: "Its message was
unmistakable: Armstrong has never taken performance-enhancing drugs and the
slightest suggestion that he has would trigger a declaration of legal
warfare by Armstrong and his US Postal Service team," said the paper.
On Sunday afternoon Armstrong made a speedy and silent getaway from his
final Tour warm-up race, the Dauphiné Libéré, where he had just finished
fourth. Bruyneel, meanwhile, is said to have responded with a terse "Yes!"
when asked if he knew Emma O'Reilly. He then signed off with a resounding
"No comment" - a refrain which might become rather familiar over the next
few days and weeks.