Does Greg LeMond Have A Secret Recording Implicating Lance...?

((HT: LA Times/Pugmire))

One that would implicate Lance Armstrong in something... for a change...

The Feds have a recording that LeMond made some six years ago believed to be with a longtime Oakley sunglasses rep, Stephanie McIlvain, where LeMond apparently has a conversation with her where, according to Pugmire's piece:

LeMond says, "I know what I heard from a source outside of the group here of what, um, happened at the hospital.… I'm not asking you to do anything you would never want to do, but, you know, if I did get down where it was … a lawsuit … would you be willing to testify?"

McIlvain answered: "If I was subpoenaed, I would. … I'm not going to lie. … I was in that room. I heard it. … My whole concern is my loyalties to Oakley. … They say I was never in there. And I know I was in there. You know, I totally know I was in there."

McIlvain's attorney, when reached by Pugmire and the Times, is disappointed by the tape and is sloughing off the remarks as coerced at best...

This would contradict allegations made by former teammate Frankie Andreu and his wife Betsy ((among others)) claiming that Armstrong has admitted taking PED's- a claim he has long denied.

McIlvain was deposed in 2005 in a civil proceeding where she denied any knowledge of Armstrong's alleged use of PED's- despite the Andreu's claim of her being in the room with the rest of them when Armstrong "admitted" it.

The only other issue is that California, unlike one of the HQ bases-of-operations, is a two-person state for acknowledgements of recorded material...

The HQ will re-rack Neal Karlinsky's piece with Floyd Landis to ask if Armstrong did, in fact, cheat to win...
((HT: ABC News/"Nightline"))

Floyd Landis Calls Out Armstrong Again... Andreu Family Backs Claims...

The HQ is somewhat tired of all of the "He-Said, He-Said" between Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, and Armstrong's attorneys...

But here's the newest batch, anyway... "Nightline" on ABC...

"He saw him do it..." ((insert finger wag here))

Here's the part of the "Nightline" interview addressing Armstrong...
Brian Kenny talks to John Eustice as well for analysis...
((HT: ESPN/ABCNews))


Juliet Macur of the New York Times is on the Jeff Novitzky-Lance Armstrong trail these days, and has come up with an interesting contradiction with Livestrong's man-about-the-Alps.

And with all these doping-ownership questions arising these days, Armstrong went to the American Citizens Defense:

From Macur: “Do the American people feel like this is a good use of their tax dollars?” he said. “That’s for them to decide. Like I said, as long as we have a legitimate and credible and fair investigation, we’d be happy to cooperate. But I’m not going to participate in any kind of witch hunt. I’ve done too many good things for too many people.”

Two groups you don't want to piss off...? Novitzky and the New York Times...

SATURDAY UPDATE: Landis' claims are backed up in the "Nightline" piece by the subpoenad testimony of Frankie and Betsy Andreu. Betsy Andreu was interviewed by ABC for the Landis piece...

Here's the first two-thirds of the "exclusive"...
((HT: ABCNews))


The question is: Who is Landis...? Cycling's version of Jose Canseco or a pathological liar who just likes to hear his own voice...

The HQ thinks it's somewhere in between...

BREAKING NEWS: Armstrong Speaks On Landis Allegations

((HT: KGPE-TV/CBS47 Fresno))

Lance Armstrong has denied allegations made by Floyd Landis, who has admitted to consistent use of performance-enhancing drugs. He also accused Armstrong of doing the same thing while they competed together.

Armstrong said before today's fifth stage of the Tour of California that "it's our word against his word. I like our word."

Landis has sent a series of e-mails to any cycling official, sponsor, and/or cycling sponsor representative finally coming clean of what had been suspected all along...

Shocking no one...

The Wall Street Journal and espn.com reported the details of the e-mails Thursday.

Here's the media scrum in Visalia, California this afternoon ((eastern time)) where Armstrong went off on Landis...


The HQ likes how CBS 47 dumped out of their feed before Armstrong finished his last thought...

Floyd Landis admits it...throws everyone else under the bus

Well, disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis finally admitted to what he had been shown to be guilty of, which is blood doping.

Landis, who won the 2006 Tour DeFrance and subsequently was stripped of the title after failing a drug test admitted in a series of e-mails to cycling officials and sponsors that he did use performance enhancing drugs during his career.

More from the Wall Street Journal RIGHT HERE

((Floyd Landis//Courtesy: AFP/Getty Images))

He also admitted to Bonnie Ford of ESPN.com all of what was in the e-mails that the Journal got a hold of. While confessing his sins, Landis, who "Vehemently" denied the accusations when they first surfaced in 2006, also named names. He told cycling officials that Lance Armstrong and numerous other riders did and are still doing the exact same thing.

Ford's, interview with Landis is RIGHT HERE

For their part, the president of UCI, the sports governing body, doesn't buy Landis' claims saying that Landis has "An Agenda" and the allegations were "Nothing New".

How much this amounts to remains to be seen. Cycling's reputation already was a bit shaky outside the biking community. It just strikes us as interesting and the fact that the same issue keeps coming back with the same names mentioned over and over by different people just kind of makes us wonder.

Maybe Landis is crazy. Maybe he is spot on. More than likely we will never know. If it is proven, considering how strong the anti-doping sentiment is these days, cycling's chance at becoming anything more than a niche' sport is gone.

Here is some video of Landis in the 2006 Tour that he won...but didn't win. Thanks You Tube:

Arrest Warrant Issued For Landis

((HT: Reuters))

A French judge has issued an "international" arrest warrant ((sounds pretty serious))against Floyd Landis for suspected hacking into an anti-doping laboratory computer, French anti-doping agency head Pierre Bordry said Monday.

Bordy said that judge Thomas Cassuto believed Landis wanted to prove the laboratory where his samples were tested was wrong with their findings.

"French judge Cassuto from the Tribunal de Grande Instance of Nanterre informed us that he had issued an international arrest warrant on January 28 against Floyd Landis, who tested positive for banned testosterone during the 2006 Tour de France, after our laboratory computer system was hacked," Bordry said.

"He was summoned by the judge, he didn't come so he's now under an international arrest warrant."

The French anti-doping agency launched legal action against unnamed persons after they found their laboratory computer system had been hacked into in September 2006.

Landis, stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory, has always denied any wrongdoing but the Court of Arbitration for Sport has rejected his claim that his positive test was due to procedural mistakes by the laboratory.

Landis said last year, after his two-year ban ended, that he was trying to decide whether to follow fellow-American Lance Armstrong's example and ride again in the Tour de France.

"It seems that (Landis) made all he could to enter into our computer system to try to prove the laboratory was wrong. He showed many documents he got by hacking to numerous sporting instances," Bordry said. "The judge traced a network of hackers back to the ringleader."

Here's highlights, or lowlights depending on your perspective, of that 2006 race...
((HT: Versus/Tour de France))


And here's Phil Liggett addressing "anomalies" at the time...