London – Pressure is growing on Lance Armstrong and former world cycling chief Hein Verbruggen to reveal the full details behind Armstrong’s serial doping.
The dramatic development came after Armstrong’s allegation that Verbruggen, a former president of cycling’s UCI governing body, had encouraged the American to cover up his cheating.
Craig Reedie, the new president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said that in light of Armstrong’s interview with the Daily Mail it is essential he should take part in the drive to clean up the sport through a truth and reconciliation process.
At the same time, the UCI indicated that Verbruggen could be called before a separate independent commission being set up to investigate Armstrong.
In an interview with Armstrong and Emma O’Reilly – the former US Postal team soig-neur who blew the whistle on his cheating – the disgraced cyclist claimed he escaped punishment for a positive steroid test in 1999 with the support of Verbruggen.
Reedie responded on Monday, saying: “I read the interview with interest. It rather illustrated that the sport had a serious problem all those years ago and it has brought it to a serious head. In defence of the current UCI regime, they have been very active in trying to tackle the problems of the past.
“Lance Armstrong is certainly seen in the public eye as the biggest sinner of that generation but if he chose to take part in a properly organised independent commission it would give them the best chance of achieving a proper result.
“The question I am asking, though, is one of amnesty,” added the former chairman of the British Olympic Association. “I imagine Armstrong would want that protection before he could talk.”
A UCI statement read: “The UCI’s independent commission of inquiry is in the process of being set up ... to allow full investigation of any allegations relating to doping and wrongdoing at the UCI.
“The commission will invite individuals to provide evidence and we would urge all those involved to come forward and help the commission in its work in the best interests of cycling.
“This investigation is essential to the wellbeing of cycling in understanding the doping culture of the past, the role of the UCI at that time and helping us all move forward to a clean future.’
During his reunion with O’Reilly in Florida, Armstrong gave the clearest indication yet that he will tell all if he is given protection from legal action.
He claimed he and Verbruggen had a conversation during the 1999 Tour de France that led to US Postal backdating a prescription to get him off the hook.
“Hein just said, ‘This is a real problem for me, this is the knockout punch for our sport, so we’ve got to come up with something’.”
A plan was made to claim traces of a banned steroid in Armstrong’s sample were the result of him taking a cream for saddle sores.
Verbruggen, who has consistently denied the UCI protected Armstrong during his term in office, hit back at the Texan on Monday.
He told a Dutch TV station: “Since when does one believe Lance Armstrong?” He communicated with the station by text message, adding: “His story is illogical because it was not a positive/anti-doping offence, in the opinion of the competent authority.
“That authority was not the UCI, but the French ministry. After allegations a year back of a large-scale complicity at the UCI over doping by Lance Armstrong and his team, we are now back to a cortisone case from 1999 that wasn’t even from the UCI.”
The International Olympic Committee, of which Verbruggen remains an honorary member, responded in a similar manner, dismissing Armstrong as a liar.
The IOC said: “It is hard to give any credibility to the claims of a cyclist who appears to have misled the world for decades.
“The UCI is currently working on plans to investigate the matter more thoroughly and we await proper, considered outcomes from this investigation rather than on rumour and accusation.”
Those in favour of truth and reconciliation – including new UCI president Brian Cookson and Travis Tygart, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency – are likely to be alarmed by the IOC’s stance.
The IOC’s emotive language echoes that of another former UCI president, Pat McQuaid, who described two dopers, Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, as “scumbags” when their testimonies proved crucial in exposing Armstrong.
The IOC line seems to be at odds with the more conciliatory noises being made by Wada and the UCI as they set up a commission to investigate what went on in the Armstrong era, and the extent to which the authorities had knowledge of, or actively colluded in, the doping of Armstrong and others.
Cookson has confirmed that this commission will complete its investigation “in months rather than years”, and that its findings will be published.
Precisely when that will be is unclear, with Cookson admitting having the necessary facts before the start of next year’s Tour de France, in Leeds in early July, “might be a bit ambitious”. – Daily Mail