Lance Armstrong, the celebrity cyclist, has for the first time, named the people who gave him, and helped him get illegal performance enhancing drugs for all seven of his Tour de France titles.
In his public statement, he named the US Postal ex-team manager Johan Bruyneel, trainer Pepi Marti, Dr. Michele Ferrari, Dr. Pedro Celaya, and Dr. Luis Garcia del Moral.
He went on to say that he paid for the substances, but that “other people” contributed financially. According to him, the drugs were delivered by Philippe Mair, mechanic Julien de Vriese, and masseuse Emma O’Reilly.
The testimony also claimed that Armstrong did not pay anyone to keep his use of drugs a secret. He did, however, give benefits or contributions to people who may have suspected his drug use. The testimony maintained it was not a pay-off.
He also claimed that he used the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) as early as 1995. He said that he was in control the entire time, but the administration was sometimes supervised by Dr. Ferrari, Dr. Celaya, or Dr. del Moral.
The statement comes from a testimony the cyclist made in November last year, when Acceptance Insurance sued him to recover bonuses made from 1999 to 2001 worth $3 million for winning the Tour de France.
The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, but the testimony was kept as an exhibit for another lawsuit against Armstrong by former teammate Floyd Landis.
The US Anti-Doping Agency, or USADA, has called Armstrong’s doping, “sport’s most sophisticated and successful” program.
In 2013, Armstrong admitted in an interview with Oprah Winfrey that he used performance-enhancing drugs in all seven of his Tour de France victories. However, he did not name the people who supplied them to him.
Lance Armstrong Confesses On Oprah Show
Bruyneel, Marti, and Celaya denied the accusation and brought USADA’s case to an arbitration hearing. It was held last December in London. The other people named by Armstrong did not contest.
According to Bruyneel, USADA’s accusation that he is the mastermind of the doping program is not true, also saying he is not a devil.
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