Lance Armstrong Doping Investigation On '60 Minutes' (VIDEO)

According to a “60 Minutes” report, Lance Armstrong’s former teammates have admitted to federal authorities that not only did they use banned substances, but Lance Armstrong did as well.

An investigation by Scott Pelley’s team on “60 Minutes” into Armstrong and the use of banned substances in pro-cycling aired this Sunday.

The Associated Press reports on former teammate Tyler Hamilton's observations to "60 Minutes" regarding the U.S. Postal team operation:

-Team leaders, including doctors and managers, encouraged and supervised doping;

-Doping was going on inside the U.S. Postal team even before Armstrong joined in 1998;

-Performance-enhancing drugs, including EPO and human growth hormone, were handed out to cyclists in white lunch bags;

-Team members were met at the airport, driven to hotels, told to lie down and give blood that could be transfused back into their bodies at a later date.

Armstrong continues to deny doping. Armstrong’s attorney, Mark Fabian, has released multiple statements against the CBS report, remarking that Lance Armstrong “has passed nearly 500 tests over twenty years of competition.”

Regarding Hamilton, Fabian writes, “Tyler Hamilton is a confessed liar in search of a book deal – and he managed to dupe 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News, and new anchor Scott Pelley. Most people, though, will see this for exactly what it is: More washed-up cyclists talking trash for cash.”

Tyler Hamilton has turned in his cycling gold medal to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

As for George Hincapie, a teammate and close friend who "60 Minutes" reports testified to the grand jury about Armstrong’s involvement with EPO, Fabian writes, “In its unpardonable zeal to smear Lance Armstrong, CBS has also attacked the reputation of George Hincapie. We are confident that the statements attributed to Hincapie are inaccurate and that the reports of his testimony are unreliable. George Hincapie and his counsel have publicly said that they did not reveal any aspects of his testimony.”

WATCH '60 Minutes' Part 1:

WATCH '60 Minutes' Part 2:

Comments

[PubicOption]

10:03 PM on 05/25/2011

Google "paging dr. ferrari", click on top result, cached version.

Google "ashenden interview", click on top result.

[Eugene Hill]

03:18 PM on 05/25/2011

Why did Armstrong give two large sums of money to the cycling governing body ?
What reason or reasons would he have for doing that ?

[AnnaZed]

03:23 AM on 05/25/2011

Wow, Tyler Hamilton sure looks twitchy in that interview. He's like the poster-boy for one of those ten ways to tell if someone is lying things http://losu.org/relations/22-obvious-ways-to-detect-and-tell-if-a-person-is-lying. He is fidgeting and his leg is jumping, his eyes are sliding to the side. I have seen him interviewed with his collar bone broken at the end of an exhausting day on the bike and he never looked like this, twitchy and hollow-eyed. It's sad as not credible.

[Myshkin57]

02:49 PM on 05/25/2011

What's the source for that article. My reading on psychology indicates that often the exact opposite is true. People who are extremely steadfast and don't ever avert their gaze are frequently liars, just very good ones who know the myths about how to tell someone is lying.

[AnnaZed]

03:25 PM on 05/25/2011

Good point, and lord knows the science (such as it is) regarding indications of mendacity is hugely self-contradictory.

However, you are ignoring the other half of my post. I work in cycling and I'm the kind of person who attends races, gets up at 6am to watch European races on cable and follows all of the competitors. I am not some die-hard crazed Lance Armstrong fan and I even think it possible that Armstrong did use performance enhancing drugs. However, I have seen Tyler Hamilton interviewed many times and I have never seen him look like that or act like that. The things that I observed in his 60 minutes interview (eyes sliding to the side, jumping legs, twitching arms and hands) are things that I have never before seen him do in years of observing him. For now, I would say that if all investigators have is Tyler Hamilton and the odious (and famously mendacious and vindictive) Floyd Landis then I am not impressed by their evidence.

[Tamalpais]

04:03 PM on 05/25/2011

His body language did bother me a little too. Having said that he knows that he would be accused of lying and must have been very uncomfortable implicating someone who at one time he was close to. I definately did not get the impression that he enjoyed telling his story about Lance. Given the risk of jail time if he is found to have testified untruthfully I really doubt that this was just a plan to sell books like Lance's PR machine would like us to believe.

Another thing that I find interesting is now that several of Lance's teammates have admitted to doping Lance apparently had no knowledge or suspicion about his teammates. I cannot believe that as team leader he had no clue as to what his domestiques were up to.

[rbrain]

10:58 PM on 05/24/2011

Armstrong has spent alot of time and energy attacking anyone in the sport that was against doping... Greg Lemond expressed disappointment about Armstrong's relationship with Ferrari, and Lance tries to destroy Greg's business with Trek. Filipo Simeoni testifies against Dr. Ferrari and Lance chases him down in an inconsequential break in the tour (a complete cheap shot for a supposed champion in my opinion). Here's a rider who hasn't done a thing to publicly attack doping, other than to donate a big wad of cash to the agency in charge of handling his tests (and that seems awfully suspicious to me).

The people defending Lance are paid to defend him. Everyone else keeps quiet, and those that speak up are attacked by Armstrong and his lawyers. That's not an inspirational story to me, its just sad and mean-spirited.

[Tamalpais]

12:40 PM on 05/25/2011

Great post!

It was sickening to see how Lance (and others) treated Simeoni. That was the day that I knew for sure that Lance was not only a doper but someone hell bent on revenge. It was definately not the action of someone who wanted to clean up the doping problems in cycling. How these guys can sit there silently while their friends and teammates lives come crashing down shows the types of characters that we are dealing with. Maybe Pantani would still be alive if they all had admitted how widespread the problem was.

I also find it interesting that Lance and his lawyers like to say that a book deal is motivation for lying. Well a quick search at Amazon under Lance Armstrong came up with 77 books. Now who has more motivation to lie?

[GEM-592]

09:26 PM on 05/24/2011

666 comments ... it's all going according to plan bwahahaha

[darrtown]

08:08 PM on 05/24/2011

If Lance *did* use PED, then why did his team mates wait so long to speak out? Tyler waited 12 years. Landis only accused Lance to bolster his own position. If there are positive tests I have not seen them yet. Now, I'm not saying there aren't...just that I haven't seen any. and I'm a scientist well acquainted in how the testing is done. and also, the French weren't friends of Lance.

[rbrain]

09:38 PM on 05/24/2011

They waited because they were still inside the sport, or trying to get back into it. They waited because they still had something to lose if they came out. It doesn't matter if the French weren't friends of Lance. Lance isn't being investigated by the French. Keep in mind, you can just as easily say the French weren't the friends of the entire Festina team, because they busted that whole team in the Tour in 1998... a French team, with Richard Virenque, Laurent Brochard, and Christophe Moreau. The whole "French hate Lance" thing is a smokescreen in my opinion.

[Myshkin57]

11:37 PM on 05/24/2011

There are plenty of non-teammates that came out about his PED use starting years back, including Oakley rep Stephanie McIlvain, Frankie and Betty (?) Andreu, Armstrong's ex-masseuse, and his ex-mechanic.

[Tamalpais]

04:37 PM on 05/24/2011

Whenever I ask someone who says that he never failed a test if they think that Barry Bonds took PEDs or if they think that Floyd only took PEDs once, all that I hear is crickets. Why is that? One of you Lance apologists must have an opinion on how often Floyd and Tyler took PEDs or if Barry juiced. Please answer that for me. Obviously everyone believes that it is possible to take PEDs without failing a drug test.

[Myshkin57]

11:38 PM on 05/24/2011

For further information, see Marion Jones, Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, and Bjarne Riis.

[PubicOption]

08:05 AM on 05/24/2011

To those who can't accept the truth:

Google "paging dr. ferrari". Top search result, click on "cached". Read the article.

Google "ashenden interview". Top search result, read the interview.

The truth is out there. It has been for a long time.

[Earl Davis]

09:23 PM on 05/23/2011

60 Minutes actually produced Armstrong'­s failed blood test and showed it on screen. It was a great piece of investigat­ive journalism and convinced me that Lance is most assuredly guilty. They made Marion Jones give back her medals and threw her in the can. I hope Lance gets the same treatment.

[ron ray]

01:32 PM on 05/24/2011

link, please? I can find no such document, just an allegation by hamilton.

[Earl Davis]

05:02 PM on 05/24/2011

Go to the 60 Minutes website and watch the segment. They showed it during the interview.

[jaslyn]

08:40 PM on 05/23/2011

Get your heads out of the sand, these athletes are all doping when they can, what do you expect them to do besides deny deny deny?

[Yolande Long]

06:12 PM on 05/23/2011

Why is it that those who wish to diminish Lance Armstrong's accomplishments will take the word or another cyclist, over the scientific tests that were given repeatedly. All who are accusing Armstrong have something to gain if Armstrong loses this fight.

The French would do just about anything to change the results in favor of a French cyclist or for a matter of face, even a European cyclist. American cyclists have always been deemed unworthy of even being in the competition, much less being among the elite.

[masha2009]

06:20 PM on 05/23/2011

because as seen from the report the labs and the union are in cahoots with the team and the riders. the testimonies of the riders are part of the body of evidence against lance. by no means are they the only evidence. keep up.

[Yolande Long]

06:34 PM on 05/23/2011

have you kept up? Sorry, but until there's physical evidence or Armstrong say otherwise my math say 500 tests with no positives equals not guilty. Maybe you've seen or read a published report of a positive test - do share.

[ron ray]

06:49 PM on 05/23/2011

the problem with that theory is that dozens of top cyclists were caught by the very same tests lance took. are you saying he owned every lab and every cycling organization behind them?

[Tamalpais]

08:04 PM on 05/23/2011

I think that you have people's motives wrong. It is not about diminishing his accomplishments it is about proving that he is no better than those that he has brutally attacked the character of in his defense. His arrogance about this whole issue is sickening. And yes all champions are arrogant but this in a league of it's own.

[Yolande Long]

05:54 PM on 05/23/2011

Lance and Sheryl broke up ( 2/2/2006) before Sheryl's cancer diagnosis (2/14/2006). There was even speculation that they broke up around Christmas of 2005.

[Tamalpais]

05:00 PM on 05/23/2011

Let's forget the doping for a second. Why did this champion for the fight against cancer drop Cheryl Crowe like a hot potato when she was diagnosed with cancer?

[rubberneck]

04:34 PM on 05/23/2011

Greg LeMond's old rival Laurent Fignon died from cancer at a young age of 50. He admitted to doping before his death. Who knows the cocktails Lance were on. Sounds like he tried everything in the book.

[Yolande Long]

04:38 PM on 05/23/2011

And the inference is that Lance contracted testicular cancer because of his alleged doping?

[PubicOption]

08:27 PM on 05/23/2011

Yes, actually that has been suggested by a # of ppl. There is no way to prove it obviously, and it seems incidental. The gov't. is going after him for:

-- trafficking in controlled substances
-- money-laundering
-- fraudulent use of gov't. funds / taxpayer money

He'll look good in an orange jumpsuit :)

[Yolande Long]

04:24 PM on 05/23/2011

I don't believe Tyler Hamilton nor Floyd Landis and CBS does not know what George Hincapie had to say. Pure speculation and lies. Lance Armstrong is one of the greatest athletes in the history of the sport of cycling and it's sad how folks are willing to take him down.

read the link below : at least not all of his teammates are traitors:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hB3SqhU701rDDoYkif68RxHQOOBg?docId=762a4559f03d4a3ba28f1fa035c4770b.

[Tamalpais]

04:56 PM on 05/23/2011

Since Hincapie has not denied what CBS reported but instead made no comment due to the ongoing trial it is pretty obvious that they are reporting correctly. People are not taking him down because of his doping it is because the arrogance and unwarranted attacks on anyone who has had the courage to tell the truth. The way that he blackballed Simeoni for testifying against his buddy Dr. Ferrari was sickening to anyone with a love of this sport. Even as a Lance supporter his relationship with Dr. Ferrari must be a little troubling for you, isn't it?

[Yolande Long]

05:30 PM on 05/23/2011

Right so CBS is not aware of What Hincapie testified to and should not leap to conclusions. As far as Simeoni is concerned - he was hated by not only Armstrong, but by other riders as well as his own countrymen. Armstrong did flex his muscles during the 2004 Tour; however no proof exists that Lance blackballed Simeoni.

Ferrari was cleared of all charges, so no Lance's and his relationship does not trouble me in the least.

[KirkDiggler]

06:58 PM on 05/23/2011

Are you his paid publicist or something?

[Yolande Long]

09:37 PM on 05/23/2011

Nah - just someone who's been following cycling and is a fan of Lance Armstrong. And i will tell you, if I see proof, I'll be the first to denounce Lance. I despise cheaters.