Wheelmen: Lance Armstrong, the Tour De France, and the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever
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Armstrong, Capital Sports & Entertainment, and Bruyneel ownership stakes in Tailwind Sports: A variety of news stories, including “Armstrong’s Discovery Channel Team Closing Down,” USA Today, 8/11/07, described Armstrong, Stapleton, and Bruyneel as part owners of Tailwind. According to Floyd Landis’s second amended complaint for violations of the federal False Claims Act, Tailwind raised $2 million in May 2004, by issuing 1.25 million shares of its convertible Series C preferred stock at a purchase price of $1.60 and a par value of $0.001 per share. This transaction resulted in Armstrong, CSE, and Bruyneel becoming shareholders, with approximately 12 percent shares each in the company, while Weisel still remained chairman of the board. In sworn testimony, 9/1/05, Stapleton said CSE, of which Stapleton was an owner, had an 11.5 percent ownership stake in Tailwind and that Armstrong had been an owner of Tailwind since 2004, with an 11.5 percent stake. In 2004, CSE entered into a management contract with Tailwind, Stapleton said under oath. In sworn testimony, 11/30/05, Armstrong said under oath that he owned a small stake in Tailwind of “perhaps 10 percent.” In an e-mail to the authors, Johan Bruyneel said that the characterization in Landis’s lawsuit of his alleged ownership stake in Tailwind is “not accurate at all.”
Ochowicz, a broker at Thomas Weisel Partners, managed personal assets for Verbruggen: Interview with Jim Ochowicz, 2013.
Lance Armstrong Foundation lobbied against USADA: Interview with spokesman for US Representative José Serrano (D., NY), who said the foundation lobbyist laid out his concerns about the fairness of USADA’s process; a foundation spokeswoman called this description of the lobbyist’s July 2012 visit “inaccurate,” and said the purpose of the visit may have been misconstrued because the topic of USADA may have come up in passing.
Weisel, Garvey donors to USA Cycling: They donated money to the nonprofit USA Cycling Development Foundation.
Consulting fees from USA Cycling to Tailwind: USA Cycling 990s 2001–2004; Tailwind Sports board meeting presentation.
Armstrong donated at least $125,000 to UCI: “McQuaid Reveals Armstrong Made Two Donations to the UCI,” CN, 7/10/10.
Foundation, CSE shareholdings in Demand Media: Shareholder status as of the 1/11 Demand Media IPO. “Armstrong Foundation Makes Millions from IPO,” AAS, 1/27/11.
Jeff Garvey shareholding in Mellow Johnny’s bike shop: less than 10 percent as of 2013.
“Tiger” Williams, investor in Tailwind, former friend of Armstrong: Tailwind Sports, minutes of board meeting, 2/1/02; “For Cycling’s Big Backers, Joy Ride Ends in Grief,” WSJ, 12/18/10.
FRS links: “Armstrong’s Business Brand, Bound Tight With His Charity,” NYT, 1/13/13. A spokeswoman for the foundation said in response to the New York Times story that it “has never been the foundation’s aim in any activity, including lobbying or marketing agreements, to shield, protect, or benefit” Armstrong in any way.
USA Cycling relationship with UCI and USOC (United States Olympic Committee): Per the Amateur Sports Act, the international sport hierarchy has the IOC on top; the UCI and the USOC on the next level; and USA Cycling one more level down with lines up to both the UCI and the USOC; interview with Steve Johnson, who said USA Cycling is “accountable” to both the UCI and the USOC.
Weisel donor to Landis’s defense fund: Weisel chipped in $50,000 to the Floyd Fairness Fund, according to Landis, and as reported in “For Cycling’s Big Backers,” WSJ, 12/18/10.
Armstrong’s stake in Trek: After his first Tour victory, Armstrong was given shares of Trek, in part to recognize his achievement coming off his battle with cancer and winning the race. His stock in Trek is less than one-third of 1 percent of Trek’s outstanding stock. Armstrong didn’t serve on Trek’s board.
INTRODUCTION
Greg LeMond’s salary: “LeMond Gets $5.7-Million Salary from French Team,” AP, 8/31/89.
Armstrong’s salary and bonuses: A $4.5 million base salary for 2004 was specified in a 10/10/00 letter agreement from Bill Stapleton to Mark Gorski, general manager of US Postal team; an addendum to that agreement specified that Armstrong would get a $10 million bonus if he won the Tour de France each year from 2001 to 2004.
Armstrong’s endorsements: Sports Illustrated published a survey in May 2004 ranking Armstrong’s $16.5 million in endorsements fourth among then-active US athletes, behind Tiger Woods at $70 million, LeBron James at $35 million, and Andre Agassi at $24.5 million.
Landis comes clean: “Cyclist Floyd Landis Admits Doping, Alleges Use by Armstrong and Others,” posted 1:27 A.M, 5/20/10, WSJ.com.
CHAPTER ONE
Details of the Tour de France stage 13: Cycling News details on Tour de France race format: Tour de France website.
USPS’s myopic focus on Armstrong: Interviews with teammates; We Might As Well Win, J. Bruyneel.
Landis’s physiological ability: Interviews with Landis, corroborated by an account in Lance Armstrong’s War, D. Coyle.
Landis’s meeting with Novitzky and Tygart: Interview with Landis and one person familiar with the meeting.
The blood transfusions on the US Postal team: Interview with Landis; affidavit of George Hincapie to USADA.
Delivered the blood: Bruyneel’s assistant Geert Duffeleer brought the blood to a hotel room where the team was staying, before a July 2004 transfusion, according to Landis’s second amended complaint for violations of the federal False Claims Act, February 2013. We made a big effort to get in touch with Geert “Duffy” Duffeleer while we were reporting for The Wall Street Journal. We sent the Journal reporter John Miller to Duffy’s house in Belgium. We also tried to contact him through the RadioShack squad, which declined to make him available for an interview. At the time, Duffy had a Twitter page, @chefduffy, but he has subsequently taken it down. We’re not aware of any public statements he has made on the subject of doping.
All the riders got transfusions, including Armstrong: Landis’s second amended complaint.
Bruyneel orchestrated transfusions: Landis’s second amended complaint reads, “Mr. Landis and defendant Armstrong then lay on opposite sides of the bed and received reinfusions of a half liter of blood each while defendant Bruyneel sat in a chair watching and commented on how well the two were going to race the following day in the time trial.” Bruyneel didn’t respond to requests for comment. In a May 2010 press conference, after Landis’s allegations became public, Bruyneel said, “I absolutely deny everything he said.”
Philippe Maire: The Secret Race, T. Hamilton and D. Coyle. In 2012, Maire called the allegations against him “bullshit.”
USPS Bike Sales for Cash: “The Case of the Missing Bikes,” WSJ, 7/3/10.
Idyllwild: Interview with Landis in his cabin.
Landis’s drinking: “Where is Floyd?” VN, 8/21/09.
CHAPTER TWO
Amateur Bicycle League of America registrations, 1973: Dzierak, The Evolution of American Bicycle Racing.
Borysewicz’s cycling career in Poland: Interviews with Borysewicz and Mike Fraysse.
Borysewicz’s training methods: Interviews with Borysewicz and Mike Fraysse.
LeMond and the Olympic boycott: Interviews with Greg LeMond.
The Russian doping effort: The belief that the Russians were doping before the 1980 Olympics and preparing with those methods for the 1984 Olympics was a widely held view among Americans involved in Olympic cycling. However, there are those who argue the Russian doping effort was overplayed.
Soviet cycling equipment: Interview with Fraysse and Borysewicz.
The early days of the 7-Eleven team: Interviews with Jim Ochowicz and Eric Heiden.
The Eddie B–Och rivalry: Though the 7-Eleven team was professional, amateur Olympic riders were allowed to join so long as their compensation stayed low enough that they did not have to declare themselves professionals.
Ed Burke’s blood-boosting memo: The note, dated 9/30/83, says, “RE: Blood boosting; Olympic Games.” Burke wrote: “Is it doping or illegal; my personal opinion and interpretation is no.”
Brent Emery allegation of East German doping: Interview with Emery.
Leonard Harvey Nitz 1984 Olympics: In “Cyclist Says Blood Doping Recommended,” 2/26/85, The Bulletin, Nitz said: “I did ride strong for five days. I usually ride strong for just three days.”
The Rolling Stone leak: In interviews, Borysewicz and Fraysse said they suspect Sheila Young Ochowicz was behind the leak to Rolling Stone. But according to articles in The Milwaukee Journal—“Politics Play Part in Cycling Story,” 2/20/85, and “Blood-Boosting Investigation Satisfies Nobody,” 2/22/85—many at the time blamed Rob Lea, then president of the US Cycling Federation’s executive board. Milwaukee Journal reporter Gary Van Sickle wrote, for instance, that “critics” of Jim and Sheila Ochowicz “say Lea was merely doing their bidding and that they are trying to take control of the federation and get top positions for themselves and Roger Young, Sheila’s brother and the trainer for 7-Eleven,” one of the stories noted. Jim told the newspaper that the allegation was “ridiculous,” and Lea denied he was working with Jim or Sheila. Sheila at the time served on the competition committee of the cycling federation board. Van Sickle mentioned the friction between Jim Ochowicz and Borysewicz, describing them as “enemies.”
Thom Weisel approaching Eddie B in 1985: Interviews with Fraysse, Borysewicz, and Weisel.
Thom Weisel’s childhood and speed skating career: Interviews with Weisel; Capital Instincts, R. Brandt and T. Weisel.
CHAPTER THREE
Lance Armstrong competing in IronKids National Championship: “Iron Kids Can Run, Swim, Bike to Prizes,” HC, 8/22/85.
Terry Armstrong bet with another father: Lance, J. Wilcockson.
Lance’s relationships with Terry and Linda: Interviews with Scott Eder, Rick Crawford, John Boggan, Adam Wilk; No Mountain High Enough, L. Armstrong Kelly.
Linda Mooneyham’s alcoholic father: No Mountain High Enough, L. Armstrong Kelly.
Terry hit Lance with a paddle: Lance, J.: Wilcockson; No Mountain High Enough, L. Armstrong Kelly; It’s Not About the Bike, L. Armstrong.
Terry love notes to another woman: It’s Not About the Bike, L. Armstrong.
Linda doctored birth certificate: Interview with Jim Woodman and one other triathlon promoter who also remembers the doctored document; No Mountain High Enough, L. Armstrong Kelly.
Rick Crawford meeting: Interview with Crawford and Scott Eder.
Lance lost his sponsorship deal with Kestrel: Interview with Eder, who recalls that the footage was shown on an ESPN program featuring highlights from the race.
Oakley sponsorship: Oakley provided him with a dozen pair of shades every quarter, and about $2,500 a year, according to our interview with former Oakley CEO Michael Parnell.
Crawford heard Lance callously teasing competitors: Interview with Crawford.
Lance’s angry response to Terry: Woodman, Eder, Crawford, Wilk, Boggan interviews.
Lance thought Terry was emotionally abusive: Interview with a person familiar with Lance.
Lance’s VO2 test: Interview with Eder.
Bending Oaks High School’s heroin and suicide problem: It’s Not About the Bike, L. Armstrong.
High speed chase in Camaro: Boggan, Wilk interviews; Lance, J. Wilcockson.
Eddie B discovers Lance: Interviews with Borysewicz and Fraysse.
Weisel’s explosive temper: Interview with Paul Willerton.
Lance refused to work on Reiss’s behalf: Lance, J. Wilcockson; It’s Not About the Bike, L. Armstrong.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ochowicz’s Motorola team signing: Interviews with Ochowicz and Sheila Griffin.
The South Club Inc. Ochowicz set up the South Club Inc. as a nonstock corporation, according to articles of incorporation and other documents obtained from the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions. The South Club Inc. filed its first annual report in 1986, the documents show, and the state agency also has annual reports from 1987 to 1989, from 1994 to 2001, and from 2003. The records show a notice of administrative dissolution.
Armstrong’s conversation with Weisel: Capital Instincts, R. Brandt and T. Weisel; interviews with Weisel.
Triple Crown payoff: Testimony of Stephen Swart during the SCA arbitration and his signed affidavit in the USADA report. An interview with Frankie Andreu. One other person directly involved in the transaction who did not want his name used confirmed that the payoff did, indeed, occur.
The pizza restaurant incident: Interview with Betsy Andreu.
Armstrong’s jealousy of Hampsten: Interview with Paul Sherwen, 2013.
Linda Armstrong’s visit to Minnesota with the LeMonds: Interview with Greg and Kathy LeMond.
Lance’s relationship with Sonni and Danielle: Interviews with Sonni Evans and Danielle Overgaag.
Lance’s offer to rent the LeMonds’ house in Belgium: Interview with Greg and Kathy LeMond.
Armstrong urging team to dope in 1995: Affidavits of George Hincapie and Frankie Andreu for the USADA report. Interview with Stephen Swart.
EPO as “Edgar Allan Poe”: Interviews with riders and the USADA report.
Massimo Testa’s hematocrit testing during the 1995 Tour: Interview with Swart.
Ferrari’s bank records: USADA report.
Ferrari’s training regimen: Explained by Ferrari on his website and on VeloNews diaries he wrote for the cycling website. These were backed up by testimony from riders in the USADA report and in interviews with The Wall Street Journal.
CHAPTER FIVE
Mark Gorski’s financial career: “He’s Back in Business: Careers: Cycling Gold Medalist Mark Gorski Switches Gears and Starts a New Career,” LAT, 6/24/90.
Gorski organizing meet with the Soviets: “A Chance This Time: For Berryman, the Races with the Soviets Are Critical,” LAT, 8/3/87.
Gorski hiring at USA Cycling: “Gorski Knows He Made the Right Move,” HC, 2/11/93; R. Brandt and T. Weisel; Capital Instincts, interview with Weisel.
Steve Disson’s cycling and sports marketing business: Interviews with Steve Disson.
Meeting between Loren Smith, Weisel, and Gorski: Interviews with Smith.
Gorski’s deal with LeMond: Based on extensive and detailed interviews with Greg LeMond. Gorski said the deal was never final and LeMond was paid appropriately.
Postal Service’s international marketing efforts: Interviews with Loren Smith.
The Tour de France had an “open slot” for an American team: “Postal Team Director Eyes ’97 Tour de France,” Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 7/7/96. “Hamilton’s Success Has Gone in Cycles. He’s Hoping to Ride High in Tour de France,” The Boston Globe, 6/5/97.
Weisel hearing from Ochowicz about Armstrong’s attitude on Motorola: Interview with Weisel, 2008.
Tension between Gorski and Eddie B: Interviews with Borysewicz, Weisel, and former Motorola riders.
Armstrong’s early cancer symptoms: It’s Not About the Bike, L. Armstrong.
Lance’s cancer treatments: It’s Not About the Bike, L. Armstrong; No Mountain High Enough, L. Armstrong Kelly.
Hospital room scene: Interviews with Betsy and Frankie Andreu, their sworn affidavits from the USADA report, and their testimony from the SCA arbitration.
Armstrong’s 1996 discussion of doping with Jim Woodman: Interview with Woodman in 2012.
Early days of the Lance Armstrong Foundation: Interviews with Chris Brewer, John Korioth, Greg LeMond, Steve Whisnant.
Eddie B’s ideas about Gorski, the USPS team, and capitalism: Interviews with Borysewicz.
Gorski’s hiring of Pedro Celaya: Interview with Scott Mercier. In an interview, Eddie B remembered Gorski hiring Celaya.
Steve Whisnant’s conversation with Jeff Garvey: Interview with Whisnant.
Eddie B’s comment about Armstrong’s health: In interviews, Eddie was vague about his knowledge of Armstrong’s performance-enhancing drugs. His son, Eddie Borysewicz Jr., told us that his father was concerned about performance-enhancing drugs causing Armstrong’s cancer to co
me back.
Armstrong’s hematocrit tests and levels after his comeback from cancer: We reviewed a spreadsheet that became part of the evidence in Michele Ferarri’s doping trial in 2001. Ferrari accidentally sent an un-redacted spreadsheet containing the names of riders and dates of their hematocrit tests to another doctor. The purpose of the spreadsheet was to show the effects of EPO on training and hematocrit.
CHAPTER SIX
Armstrong’s manager pulling him off women as a teenager: A former handler who wishes to remain anonymous.
Lance’s FedEx moniker: It’s Not About the Bike, L. Armstrong.
The 1998 Paris-Nice debacle: “Armstrong Leaves European Racing Circuit,” AP, 3/18/98; “Armstrong Weary of Life on the Road,” AP, 3/20/98; “Armstrong Dispels Retirement Fears—Cycling,” The Times of London, 3/24/98. According to the Times article, Armstrong denied a dispute with the team over tactics, but was quoted second-guessing the team’s tactics.
Heated e-mail exchange between Frankie Andreu and Lance Armstrong: USADA report.
Emma O’Reilly’s encounter with customs agents; USPS reaction to Festina affair: Affidavits of Emma O’Reilly and George Hincapie in the USADA Report.
Willy Voet saga and the Festina affair: “Tour Slowdown/Riders Protest Over Scandal,” Daily Telegraph, 7/25/98; “Drugs Scandal Whittles Down Tour de France,” Agence France-Presse, 7/30/98.
Pepe Martí and Garcia del Moral’s EPO deliveries: Affidavits of Hamilton, Vaughters, Vande Velde, in the USADA case. Garcia del Moral gave Frankie Andreu EPO injections, according to Andreu and Hincapie, and injections of Actovegin and cortisone to Vande Velde, according to Vande Velde. In a June 2012 interview with The Wall Street Journal, del Moral denied providing banned drugs or performing illegal procedures on athletes. Del Moral did not contest USADA’s changes. Pepe Martí is fighting USADA’s doping case.
John visibly drunk at Lance’s rehearsal dinner: In her book, No Mountain High Enough, Linda Armstrong Kelly describes the evening. John Walling was her husband at the time of Lance’s wedding. He didn’t return messages seeking comment.