Wednesday’s Mailbag: Lance fans aren’t L’Equipe fans

By VeloNews.com
Published Aug. 24, 2005
Updated Nov. 4, 2009 at 1:25 AM UTC

The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

Dear Editor,
What are the French trying to do? (see “L’Equipealleges Armstrong samples show EPO use in 99 Tour“)Isn’t it bad enough that Lance and Postal/Discovery romped all overtheir sacred Tour and its records? They should just count their blessingsthat Lance is not coming back to kick some more ass nextyear.Wait! Could this be a ploy? Maybe, in a desperate attempt to keep theTour at the forefront of sports news (especially in the U.S.) they aretrying to tick him off bad enough to draw him out of retirement!Yeah, that has to be it otherwise why would they be making themselveslook like such anti-American, anti-Lance, sore losers. While they are atit, maybe they should go to the very back of the piss cellar and find Hinault’sand Fignon’s sacred samples and test those as well.Someone please tell the French that it is over: He came, he saw, hekicked ass.Let it go!
David Reynolds
Blue Springs, Missouri
It’s to have been expected
Editors,
It has been well known for some time that Armstrong’s blood and urinesamples would be stored “for eternity” and be subjected to any new testavailable in the future to test for substances banned prior to, duringand after the period in which the sample was taken, until there was nosample left to test.With that as a given, if Armstrong used EPO in 1999, and had samplestaken at least six times during that year’s Tour de France, would he justwait around until he was “caught?” He is a calculating and intelligentman. If he took EPO, how could he allow, without some sort of preemptivestrike, this kind of surprise? And, with his litigation against his insurancecompany pending on this very same issue, there seems a real possibilityof significant ($5 million??) monetary damages which is the stuff withwhich slander suits are made.It will interesting to see whether he sues the newspaper and whetherhe will seek access to the samples for independent testing, bothof which a very rich and intelligent and innocent man probably would tryto do. If he is denied the opportunity to defend himself then L’Equipehas undertaken the worse kind of tabloid journalism and character assassination.Shame on them.If Armstrong took performance enhancing drugs, shame on him and shameon me for believing, as I continue to do until the evidence convinces meotherwise, that his success was the result of hard work and determination,only.
Bill Hue
Jefferson, WisconsinFor shame. For shame
Dear Editor:
It seems awfully suspect that, seven years hence, L’Equipe andFrance’s Châtenay-Malabry anti-doping lab have come forth at thistime to announce that they have found “traces” or “indicators” of EPOin Lance Armstrong’s B sample urine. If these tests were carried out ayear ago why would they withhold the results until now? Has the lab beeninvestigated and audited on its security procedures? Is there an independentthird party who secures and supervises old samples to ensure that no tamperingoccurs during a retest? How is it that Mr. Armstrong has never tested positiveduring the all the years robust testing was in place, and somehow onlythis extremely old pre-EPO test sample is now found to be positive?To Dick Pound I would advise he cool his fervor towards uncovering dopersand ask that he question the motives of Châtenay-Malabry and supportan investigation into the handling of not only Lance Armstrong’s old samples,but the old samples of all professional riders. There is absolutelyno way any conclusions can be ascertained from these last round of testssince there is no A sample and no way to go back in time to produce a secondarysample to corroborate the findings.Plain and simple, this is an attack on Lance Armstrong’s character.It’s France’s parting shot. This is their way of saying “thank you” foradvancing the sport of cycling to a greater audience, while at the sametime ensuring what little respect non-cycling Americans had for the sportis destroyed.For shame L’Equipe, for shame France.
Disappointedly,
Matthew West
Stamford, ConnecticutWell, duhhh
Editor,
Well, there they go again. Those darned French. Imaginethe audacity of questioning the godlike status of Armstrong, whoops, Imean “Lance.” Clearly, this is just another case of sour grapes.The French are undoubtedly still smarting over their inability to get outof Germany’s doghouse in WW II without our help. C’mon, we know that’swhat this is all about.How could anyone possible question the spotless reputation ofArmstrong (whoops, there I go again, acting like I don’t know him personally),I mean “Lance.” We all know he’s innocent of these charges. How?Well, because we saw it on TV of course! All those news channelssay he’s a hero, and heroes don’t cheat! Plus, he’s an American!The nerve! Virenque? Of course he cheated!He’s French for goodness sakes!! Was there any doubtin our minds, even a second’s worth, that Virenque cheated? Of coursenot! They said so on TV, after all.How is it possible that they could even think Lance took EPO?I mean, he’s in all those commercials and he’s got that rock star girlfriend and, like my Aunt Mabel, he survived cancer, and Aunt Mabel wouldn’tcheat, not even at Monopoly!Those silly French people!!
Bob Tamburri
Chaplin, ConnecticutPoint those fingers over there
Editors,
I will begin to take the French seriously when they stop lionizng admitteddopers like Virenque while simultaneously pointing fingers at Armstrong.When Basso and/or Ullrich clean all their French clocks next year, arethey next on their hit list? I feel for you, dudes.If the French put half as much energy into getting their training methodsout of the Dark Ages as they do going after Lance, they might actuallybe able to win their own race. Someday.
Matt Mizenko
San Francisco, CaliforniaNot from a Francophile
Editors,
Lance guilty?Let’s see; a seven-year-old frozen sample held in a French locationwith unknown security; tested in a French lab by French researcherstrying to prove that a French test is accurate. Results then “revealed”by a French newspaper that is openly hostile to Lance Armstrongand supported by a French race sponsor that can’t stand it thata French rider can’t win (even with EPO) and also just happens toown this newspaper. Not to mention that the French just plain hateAmericans, this would certainly inspire me to believe this story.The French should just be glad that Lance Armstrong has retiredand decided not to come back and beat their race for an eighth time.France- give it a break and produce some winning French ridersthat can win seven times!
Dan Weitzel
Cleveland, OhioHey, the truth is out there, man
Editors,
Regarding the L’Equipe story about Lance Armstrong in 1999,I recall how in business I’ve observed unsavory conspiracies created overmuch, much less than $5 million. That, in turn, causes me to wonder ifanyone at SCA promotions has ever had a chat with anyone at Châtenay-Malabry.
Russ Wasden
Redondo Beach, CaliforniaQuestions, questions, questions
Editors,
Okay, okay, I’m not one of those “Armstrong is God, so it can’t beso” kinda guys, but there are some big unanswered questions in this “report.”Doesn’t Armstrong’s own book indicate he took EPO as part of his treatment regime for cancer?What’s the “half-life” of EPO? Could it still have been in his system as a result of that legitimate usage?What levels were found? Enough to enhance his performance in the 1999 Tour?Even if he was dirty in 1999, how do you explain the other six victories?Who else was dirty?Since he’s never really won by what you might call a “crushing” margin, wouldn’t we have to assume most of the top-five or -ten were “enhanced” to some degree or another?Yes, these are serious charges, but I think we need many more facts beforewe are as quick to convict as the French media. I hope -for a lotof reasons – these allegations prove to more in a continuing vine of sourgrapes. If they are not the UCI, et. al. need to throw the proverbial bookat him, whether this is (as Fignon maintains) “ancient history,”or not.
Neil Hickey
Lake Stevens, WashingtonArmstrong did, indeed, openly acknowledge that he – as one couldonly logically expect – was given a broad spectrum of drugs in the treatmentof a cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. The chances of tracesof EPO remaining in ones system are next to nil, in that one of the shortcomingsof the EPO test is that it is unable to detect the presence of recombinantErythropoietin more three or four days after injection. – EditorJust one question
Editors,
When is it going to stop?
Dan Davis
Bend, OregonMaybe when…
Dear editors,
As a frequent time traveler, I decided to head out for a few years,just to see how this current controversy will eventually play out.

Paris, August 22, 2070 The French newspaper L’Equipeannounced today that it had won its lawsuit against the estate of LanceArmstrong and will have his body exhumed to search for evidence of illegaldrug use. “This is a major step forward in cleaning up the sport of cycling,and establishing once and for all that Armstrong won seven consecutiveGeneral Classification titles in the world’s greatest cycling race by cheating,”gushed L’Equipe editor Liqui Lepew. Armstrong dominated theonce famous Tour de France in the late 20th and early 21st century (Editor’snote: The race was moved to the U.S. in 2049 after fifteen consecutiveyears of no Frenchman making their respective teams. It is now called theTour De USA, but is unofficially known as the Tour De Lance). Newspaperofficials plan to reveal their findings at the revered but controversialsite known as Virenque’s Tomb, where the former French champion climberfrom Armstrong’s time lies in perpetual repose. Most Frenchmen cite thelack of decomposition of Virenque’s body since his death in 2054 as a HolyMiracle and clamor for his ascension to Sainthood, but this remains unlikelyas evidence indicates that heavy drug use during his professional careerleft him, as one scientist from England’s Cadaver Institute for MedicalStudies bluntly said, “basically pickled while he was alive. It’s quiteremarkable really.”In unrelated news, the World Health Organization announced that no newcases of cancer have been reported in the last ten years. “We now considerthis once dreaded disease a footnote in history”, it exclaimed in a pressrelease.

Barry Allen
North Reading, MassachusettsThat other big story
Editors,
I just want to give a hardy “Way to go!” to Levi for wining the Tourof Germany (see “Leipheimerlocks up Tour of Germany”) over Jan Ullrich. Poor Jan just can’twin, but the guy’s got class.Nice job Levi! Very impressive!

Sadly, this terrific piece of racing news has been overshadowed byyet another piece of oddly timed muckracking journalism by the French.
Al Krueger
Milwaukee, WisconsinHip, hip…
Editors,
Now that we’ve got all the hang-wringing and teeth-gnashing andL’Equipe-bashing over the latest tired Armstrong doping accusationsout of the way,how about a big ol’, American-style hip-hip-hooray for Leipheimer’svictory in Germany?
Katie Sanborn
El Granada, CaliforniaBy gum, you’re right Katie. Here goes:Hip Hip Hooray!- EditorAnd, oh yeah, that other topic
Top o’ the morning to all of you out in GodZone (whether you knowit or not),
I just wanted to say “thanks” for stirring the pot with last week’spiece. (see “Friday’sFoaming Rant: Cyclist of the year“)The ensuing flurry of mail usually includes the question “What doespolitics have to do with cycling?” If you have to ask that question,then you’re probably one of the zillions of fair-weather fans who thinkwearing a yellow bracelet makes you a cyclist, who has never sat in ona city/ county/state council meeting to talk about bike lanes or bike pathsor rider education programs, and who has never wondered why so many Hummerdrivers are such fat slobs.And I guess I could listen to the argument that it’s appropriatefor VN to cover bike-related politics but not big stuff like socialsecurity reform and the war in Iraq, but I think you put it right in theclown’s mouth by highlighting the public relations grab that last weekend’sphoto op’ truly was. Not that you can fault either party involved, as that’show things get done in D.C. For sure, Dudya’s handlers had to be thinkingthat, maybe if the viewing audience sees him riding with the $28 MillionDollar Man, the 48.5% who haven’t yet drunk the KoolAde yet might thinkthat he can’t be that bad a guy.But the real reason I’m writing is just to let you know that not everyonein uniform is a brain-washed drone with Toby Keith on his eight track.Tact and the Uniform Code of Military Justice prevent many of us from voicingdisapproval of the man currently hanging out in the Oval Office, but youdon’t have to be a knee-jerk, tax-and-spent liberal to realize that federalgovernment is any more – or less – of a fountain of truth and honesty thanit was when it was handing out free blankets to the injuns, sending troopsover to Hawaii because Sanford Dole asked for them, bugging D.C. area hotelrooms or slipping a little LSD into the Cream of Wheat of the patientsat Bethesda.There are some of us out here on active duty who think that the truthmight be somewhere in the narrow, narrow band in between the versionsspouted by Sean Hannity and Michael Moore. Here’s a radical thought: Maybethe truth isn’t owned by one side or the other. Maybe eachside might be right on some things and wrong on others. It’s a radicalthought only that it ensures that everyone will disagree with you.By the way, I passed along the link to Friday’s piece to a buddy ofmine, who’s there in the fight in the middle of Baghdad right now. He lovedit and said everyone on his staff was rolling on the floor laughing whenhe passed it around. It doesn’t necessarily mean they all 100 percent agree – or disagree – but just that we’re talking about it.Anyway, take care and good luck keeping it between the ditches,
Steve O’Dell
U.S. Army
Just back from Southwest Asia

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