Wall Street Journal Planning Lance Armstrong Doping Bombshell

By Matt Smith Fri., Jul. 2 2010 at 8:50 AM

Categories: Crime, Media, Sports

Might this affect Lance's concentration?

The Wall Street Journal, which for a week has been rumored to be preparing a Game of Shadows-style story detailing doping allegations against seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, announced in Friday's paper that it plans to release just such an article as the tour kicks off Saturday.

Food and Drug Administration special investigator Jeff Novitzky, famed for his work on the Barry Bonds BALCO case, is investigating charges leveled by disgraced former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis claiming the the duo's U.S. Postal Service-sponsored cycling team doped during the years of Armstrong's Tour wins. Thursday the Associated Press quoted Armstrong saying the accusations don't faze him.

At the heart of the Novitzky investigation is the question of whether U.S. government sponsorship funds were somehow tied up in doping practices undertaken with the knowledge of team managers. From 1996 to 2004 The Postal Service sponsored a team owned by San Francisco financier Thomas Weisel, through a San Francisco firm called Tailwind Sports.

Dennis Budd

Is Lance Armstrong about to get the Barry Bonds treatment?

In 2005 SF Weekly published stories examining the legal peril Weisel faced in the event of credible doping allegations involving his teams:

Sponsorship and bonus-payment agreements entered into by Weisel-controlled companies created a situation in which performance-enhancing drug use could theoretically be construed as a form of financial fraud, defined here as a situation in which a party misrepresents the truth in order to obtain money. If such a definition were ever to hold up in court, it could open a floodgate of legal questions.

Because Tailwind Sports received tens of millions of dollars in U.S. Postal Service sponsorship money, doping allegations could theoretically be of particular interest to the government -- a point SF Weekly brought up back in 2005 as well. On June 26 The New York Times reported that federal prosecutors in the Bay Area are working closely with Novitzky, precisely because of the San Francisco Tailwind Sports connection:

Prosecutors from the United States attorney's office for the Northern District of California, which is based in the Bay Area, have worked closely with Novitzky, and would have jurisdiction to investigate the case because Tailwind Sports was based in San Francisco. The investor Thom Weisel, of the investment banking firm Thomas Weisel Partners Group, was the founder and chairman of Tailwind Sports. Armstrong eventually became a co-owner.

Saturday's Wall Street Journal story appears poised to ratchet up the heat even further, as it is scheduled to appear just as Armstrong begins an attempt to win an unprecedented eighth Tour de France. The article is based on extensive interviews with Landis, according to the teaser appearing on page A-9 of today's Journal:

BLOOD BROTHERS Pro cyclist Floyd Landis saw his career and personal life all but destroyed after a failed drug test cost him his 2006 Tour de France crown. Now, Mr. Landis gives The Wall Street Journal an exclusive tour through what he and others say was a culture of systematic doping in the sport.

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Tags:

doping, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Thomas Weisel, Tour de France

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I would equal to add your journal to my blogroll gratify bowman me what mainstay should I use?
So Dissappointed in the WSJ. After everything Floyd has lied about and all the money he has taken from the people who believed in him (to include myself)they print this crap and keep this loser in the lime light. What has Landis done to help anyone but himself. Landis GO AWAY and leave Lance and the TDF alone so it can move on... By the way think of what would happen to Livestrong and all the people it helps if something did come up. Just leave it alone WSJ and stop helping out that loser Landis.
Why will Lance ride tour de france this year if he know that he cant win witouth epo etc. He have evertything to loose. We loove Lance, the only negative is that he is an American.
This is the Wall Street Journal putting investigating the trail not Bazooka Bubble Gum. Lance does not have enough pull this time to put off the story or to switch the subject to the accuser. WSJ also, has the corroboration from riders present during the doping. Everyone knows the WSJ double, triple and quadruple checks all stories prior to printing. Lance probably knows this is becoming a snowball that will only get bigger. He hopes to win prior to the puzzle being totally put together to weaken the argument. Rupert Murdock is not one to back down from a fight or takeover.
I watched Armstrong from when he won his first Tour. His ability to wind the gears without variation for long periods was strange and at total variance to known clean riders like Chris Boardman . Olympic level drug testing is the only answer.
@Myles PEDs ... Performance Enhancing Drugs
Very few can doubt that PID's are frenquently used in cycling. I don't understand why athletes are held to such a high standard yet we don't have tests accurate enough to hold them to these standards. The problem is not the athletes, its the system. I have no doubt lance and other used PID, but if the man is tested and tested and there is no proof by the very agencies testing him, shouldn't that be enough for his innocence to be proven. There is a lot of detailed info coming out now, but that still is not enough to call the guy a fraud. With all the money and power LA has behind him, I doubt he could ever be convicted of anything. We'll see? Until then, he is innocent until proven guilty in my book.
Just one simple question. Are Lance smarter than the hold bunch? Never tested positive. Remember that when you accuse him.
I understand that some people don't want to believe the truth. It's hard to doubt your champion, so you're biased. It's human. In ten years, when more people will dare opening their mouth, you'll finally realize that's how it is. Lance was still probably the best
I'm more interested in HOW this doping is done. I need a boost to get through my 10 mile mail route every day. Please see the video below for more details: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_biCfZxYzR4
Oh, and the owner of the Yellow Rose strip club confirmed Pharmstrong was a... uh... 'frequenter'. This is gonna be an akward start of the Tour for Team Radioshack. Say... isn't Tiger LA's friend?
Don't forget what Floyd said in the WSJ article! He ran some stop signs and... uh... took the Postal boys to a party with strippers and cocaine.
Lance was the most tested rider of tdf in 2009 when he did not win. Lance retired when EPO tests became accurate (2005) as opposed to experimental. -> The following year former teammate Landis tested positive for EPO. Lance has refused to have blood/urine samples from the past to be tested using (more) advance techniques than originally Lance has been coached and advised by Ferrari,a pioneer in performance-enhancing drugs & someone who knows about testing techniques. Lance relationship with Ferrari was not known to the public until ~2004 Lance has worked with a defense attorney (2005) to have Lance be cleared of doping because of "improper handling" 1999: Lance beat Zulle (has admitted to doping/(Festina Affair/previous year)) and Escartin (Kelme(Fuentes/team doping history)) 2000: Lance beat Ullrich (eventually Operacion Puerto(linked-DNA)) and Beloki (Festina(team doping history)) 2001: Lance beat Ullrich and Beloki 2002: Lance beat Beloki and Rumsas (tested positive after tour) 2003: Lance beat Ullrich (amphetamine) and Vino (delivered a positive test in the future) 2004: Lance beat Kloden and Basso (delivered a positive test in the future) 2005: Lance beat Basso How does a "clean" champion prevail against dopers? Once Lance had no comment on 1996 tdf "doper" champion but backslashed against UCIs decision to take Riis yellow jersey away(sympathy againt a doper?) There is too much to detail
Like Jan Ullrich said: "Whoever can't put one and one together about what happened in cycling is beyond my help."
Myles, Sorry, but you have to go back to school. Read Floyd's accusations. It's detailed stuff... they were blood doping, then microdosing with epo to keep their blood levels in check, then taking a saline drip to dilute their blood and cover up the microdosing with epo. Even anti-doping scientists Ashenden & Caitlin (remember him? Lance hired him last year to perform independent testing and prove he was clean) are impressed with Floyd's so-called "lies". Stay tuned for this one... 'cause Big Tex is going' to jail!
Over 450 W at threshold with 83 ml/kg/min VO2 Max is also impossible.
Vargas 12 needs to go back to school and work on his spelling! WOW! I am a big fan of cycling and knowing Lance experimented with PID's back in the day is of no interest to me. We all have skeletons in our closet and so what if he tried them. He is the most tested man on the planet and nothing has allegedly surfaced. Now, if they find something, he will be labeled as a fraud and his entire career will be doubted. Not right or fair on any level. I used to like Floyd until he tested positive and denied it. Cyclist know he doped that day before the end of the stage. A comeback like that after the day he had in the previous stage is impossible. I can't imagine taking peoples money to help prove your innocence knowing your guilty the whole time. You want to talk about a fraud!
Hmmm... Landis has no crediblity? Than what about Lemond, Andreu, Swart, McIlvain, etc., etc., etc. that all say he's on it. Like Jan Ulrich said "Anyone who can't put 1 + 1 together about what happened in cycling is beyond my help."
Floyd has zero credibility and this would only matter if he was telling the truth. Landis has been caught in multiple lies already and any good journalist would avoid citing him.
I believe in the tooth fairy
I belive in Landis
The truth always comes out eventually.
Bull shit. Lance is king!
What else is new? Everyone nows that Lance juse somthing that he sholud not hav done.... http;//www.vargas12.com
Yes yes yes yes yes!