Cycle of Lies: The Fall of Lance Armstrong

by Macur, Juliet

  4 On an income of $12,000: John Thomas “J.T.” Neal, audiotapes recorded April 2000 to fall of 2002; photos of Lance Armstrong’s first apartment in Austin.

  5 “negative-edge pool:” Interview with Adam Wilk, one of Armstrong’s oldest friends, who said Armstrong scolded him for calling the pool an “infinity pool,” April 2013.

  5 “nobody’s going to mess with me”: Nancy Collins, “Lance Armstrong’s Home in Austin,” Architectural Digest, July 2008.

  5 Armstrong had sold the plane: Paul Tharp, “Third World Moguls Driving Jet Demand,” New York Post, February 7, 2013.

  6 In 2009, when he decorated: Mark Prigg, “In a Flap: Animal Rights Groups Erupt Over Bike Built for Armstrong,” Evening Standard (London), July 24, 2009.

  8 they would graduate: Nancy Collins, “Lance Armstrong’s Home in Austin,” Architectural Digest, July 2008.

  9 At 4:15 a.m.: Interview with Dave Bolch, Lance Armstrong’s personal assistant, 2013.

  10 carries a price tag of $70,000: Ibid.

  CHAPTER 1

  13 As she tells it, the two of them: Linda Armstrong Kelly, promotional videos for her motivational speaking. http://apbspeakers.com/speaker/linda-armstrong-kelly.

  13 The boy never met his father: Kevin Sherrington, “Mom’s Support, Cancer Fight Energized Armstrong,” Dallas Morning News, July 26, 1999.

  13 She said she taught him: Linda Armstrong Kelly with Joni Rodgers, No Mountain High Enough: Raising Lance, Raising Me (New York: Broadway Books, 2005).

  13 “How did a single teenage mom”: Ibid., 7.

  13 “totally biased, subjective”: Ibid., Acknowledgments.

  13 “Someone else might have”: Ibid.

  14 Both of Armstrong’s grandfathers: Ibid., 72; interviews with Willine Gunderson Harroff, Lance Armstrong’s paternal grandmother, and Micki Rawlings, Lance Armstrong’s paternal aunt, April 2013.

  14 His paternal grandfather was so mean: Betty Ann Gunderson Vowell Freeman Trednick, Gunderson Family Genealogy, January 1, 2006.

  14 Armstrong’s father was an alcoholic: Interviews with Willine Gunderson, Micki Rawlings and friends and other family members of Eddie Gunderson who did not want to be identified, April 2013.

  14 By the age of twenty, Armstrong had had three different fathers: Dallas County (Texas) court records; Collin County (Texas) court records.

  14 “stupid, self-undermining”: Armstrong Kelly, with Rodgers, No Mountain High Enough, 223.

  14 “from poverty with no money”: Linda Armstrong Kelly, Web site for Harry Walker Agency promoting her public speaking engagements. http://www.harrywalker.com/speaker-bureau/video/Linda-Armstrong-Kelly/Armstrong-Linda.cfm.

  14 The first step in that process: Armstrong Kelly, with Rodgers, No Mountain High Enough, 85; interviews with Willine Gunderson Harroff and Micki Rawlings, April 2013.

  15 Linda Armstrong has said she was alone: Brad Townsend, “Finishing a Hard Ride, Armstrong Reflects on Road from Cancer to Near-Certain Race Win,” Dallas Morning News, July 25, 1999; Sherrington, “Mom’s Support, Cancer Fight Energized Armstrong.”

  15 only without a husband for a year: Dallas County (Texas) court records; Collin County (Texas) court records.

  15 her first husband’s family said they helped: Interviews with Willine Gunderson Harroff and Micki Rawlings, 2013.

  15 The Gundersons had their own version: The story was compiled through interviews with Willine Gunderson Harroff, Micki Rawlings and several family and friends of Eddie Gunderson and the former Linda Mooneyham, 2013.

  15 willingness to help friends steal tape decks: Interview with Micki Rawlings, April 2013; Dallas County court records.

  15 nothing like: Documents from the city of Dallas show that the apartment complex that was home to the Gundersons and Mooneyhams was never government-owned housing.

  16 “Make love, not war”: Armstrong Kelly, with Rodgers, No Mountain High Enough, 51.

  16 He was named after Lance Rentzel: Ibid., 72; J. R. Eggert, “Lance Rentzel: The Laughter Hasn’t Died,” review of When All the Laughter Died in Sorrow, by Lance Rentzel, Harvard Crimson, February 8, 1973.

  16 9 pounds, 12 ounces: Lance Armstrong, with Sally Jenkins, It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (New York: Berkley Books, 2003).

  16 “What’s wrong with his head?”: Interview with Micki Rawlings, 2013.

  17 As a minor, he had made frequent appearances: Ibid.

  17 his first night in jail: Dallas County court records.

  17 Years later, the ex-husband: Article in Algemeen Dagblad, the Netherlands, 2005, quoted in Françoise Inizan, “Lance’s Two Fathers,” L’Equipe, 2005.

  18 “I’m the one that”: Interview with Willine Gunderson Harroff, 2013.

  CHAPTER 2

  21 as much as $20,000 a pop: Web site for Keynote resource, http://www.keynoteresources.com/LindaArmstrong-Kelly.html.

  21 Some newspapers have quoted her: David Tarrant, “Rookie Cyclist on the Fast Track to Becoming a Sports Icon,” Dallas Morning News, July 4, 1993.

  21 “Sales coached Lance’s”: Armstrong Kelly, with Rodgers, No Mountain High Enough, 108.

  23 He drove himself: Interview with Adam Wilk, 2013.

  23 He armed himself with: Interview with Terry Armstrong, 2013.

  24 Classmates from middle school: Interviews with several people who went to school with Armstrong. They did not want to be identified for fear of retribution.

  25 Although Lance did poorly: Interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013; interview with Terry Armstrong, 2013.

  25 Lance Armstrong was fourteen when he learned: Armstrong, with Jenkins, It’s Not About the Bike, 23; interview with Terry Armstrong, 2013.

  27 “Screw off”: Interview with Rick Crawford, 2013.

  28 Crawford later was fired: Interviews with officials at Colorado Mesa University and Scott Mercier, a consultant to the cycling team there, 2013.

  28 “No,” he said: Interview with Rick Crawford, 2013.

  28 “Can you watch over”: Interview with Scott Eder, Armstong’s manager, 2013.

  28 “a coach meets agent”: Interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013.

  28 He was only thirteen: Armstrong, with Jenkins, It’s Not About the Bike, 22.

  29 with Terry Armstrong changing: Interview with Jim Woodman, former triathlon race director, 2013.

  29 “Are you Mark Allen?”: Interview with Scott Eder, 2013.

  29 Armstrong finished sixth: Robert Vernon, “Triple Threat,” Dallas Morning News, July 29, 1989.

  29 The next year, Armstrong: Robert Vernon, “Triathlon Winners Keep on the Run,” Dallas Morning News, June 13, 1988.

  29 Triathlete magazine claimed: David Tarrant, “Rookie Cyclist on the Fast Track to Becoming a Sports Icon,” Dallas Morning News, July 4, 1993.

  29 making $20,000 a year: Ibid., 29.

  30 Kestrel dropped its sponsorship: Interview with Scott Eder, 2013.

  31 Linda Armstrong had tracked: Interview with Terry Armstrong, 2013.

  32 His senior year, he: Interview with Adam Wilk, 2013; interviews with Lance Armstrong’s classmates at Plano East High School, 2013. They didn’t want their names used because they didn’t want to be seen as kicking him when he is down.

  32 he amazed everyone: Interviews with Connie Carpenter-Phinney, Olympic gold medalist and coach at those junior worlds, and Davis Phinney, Tour de France stage winner, 2013; John Wilcockson, Lance: The Making of the World’s Greatest Champion (New York: Da Capo Press, 2009), 68–70.

  32 He and his mother didn’t: Interviews with school officials at Plano East High School, 2013. Those officials didn’t want their names used because they weren’t authorized to speak about the subject.

  32 His mother argued: Ibid.

  33 including CNN: Paula Zahn, Kyra Phillips, Sharon Collins, “Profiles of Lance Armstrong, Will Smith,” July 19, 2003.

  34 Linda said, well, you: Interview with Tami Armstrong, 2013.

  34 “Really?” Interview with Terry Armstr
ong, 2013; interview with Tami Armstrong, 2013.

  CHAPTER 3

  35 Part of the information used in this chapter was gleaned from audiotapes made by J.T. Neal from 2000 to 2002 about his life with Lance Armstrong. Much of that information was confirmed by more than twenty interviews of Neal family friends, people in the sport of cycling and Armstrong’s former friends, teammates and workers on his cycling teams. Other details in the chapter were compiled through news reports, or documents, photos and memorabilia in the possession of J.T. Neal’s family.

  35 he married into money: His wife, Frances, came from a family that earned its wealth in the east Texas timber industry. Her grandmother, Frankie Carter Randolph, was the first publisher of the Texas Observer, a left-leaning newspaper established in 1954.

  37 “killer . . . s-o-o-o nice”: David Tarrant, “Rookie Cyclist on the Fast Track to Becoming a Sports Icon,” Dallas Morning News, July 4, 1993.

  37 Linda Armstrong was pleased: Armstrong Kelly, with Rodgers, No Mountain High Enough, 171–72.

  39 Pulled over: Arrest report, San Marcos, Texas, August 1991.

  40 In Hincapie’s case: J.T. Neal audiotapes. In his 2012 affidavit in the United States Anti-Doping Agency case against Armstrong, George Hincapie recounts being stopped at customs while returning to the United States from Europe in 1996.

  40 A coed named Nancy Geisler: Interview with Nancy Geisler, June 2013.

  41 “Had I been part of something illegal?”: Ibid.

  41 fellow Olympian Timm Peddie: Interview with Timm Peddie, 2013, and another member of the national team who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution from Armstrong.

  41 He insisted that Steve Penny: Interview with Steve Penny, 2013.

  42 Rule #4: As it turned out, the four cyclists in the poster did use a back door. All four eventually admitted doping, or were suspended for doping or, in Evanshine’s case, for missing a mandatory doping test. Evanshine missed the Olympics because of it. Elliott Teaford, “He Refuses to Be Left Spinning His Wheels,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1992.

  43 several riders on the Motorola team: Interview with two Motorola riders who didn’t want to be identified because they didn’t want to “rat” on Ochowicz, who is still involved in pro cycling and wields power in the sport.

  43 Motorola rider Frankie Andreu: Interview with Stephen Swart, former Motorola rider and Armstrong teammate, 2006 and 2013. Stephen Swart affidavit, Lance Armstrong v. SCA Promotions, Inc., January 11, 2006.

  43 Later that night: Ibid.

  43 Armstrong would receive the prize money: J.T. Neal audiotapes, 2000–2002.

  43 $3,000 to $5,000: Interviews with Stephen Swart, former Motorola rider and Armstrong teammate, 2006 and 2013. Stephen Swart affidavit, Lance Armstrong v. SCA Promotions, Inc., January 11, 2006.

  44 selling victories was a common: Joe Parkin, A Dog in a Hat, VeloPress, 2008.

  44 Armstrong had told Neal: J.T. Neal audiotapes, 2000–2002.

  44 Gaggioli took him up on the offer: Marco Bonarrigo, “Armstrong, prima combine a 22 anni,” Corriere della Sera, December 13, 2013.

  45 “For God’s sake”: J.T. Neal audiotapes, 2000–2002.

  45 Armstrong, according to a person: Interview with a person with direct knowledge of the situation who didn’t want his or her name used, 2013.

  46 “boy wonder” and playing up: Armen Keteyian, ABC News, interview with Lance Armstrong and Linda Armstrong, June 13, 1993.

  46 “Well, being young”: Ibid.

  46 “We had to overcome”: Ibid.

  46 “Lance is just what our country needs”: John Rezell, “Pedaling Toward Greatness,” Orange County Register, June 6, 1993.

  CHAPTER 4

  51 many team doctors write: Interviews with cyclists and antidoping experts, 2013.

  52 Through the early 1900s: Christopher S. Thompson, The Tour de France: A Cultural History (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2006), 225–26; Roger Bastide, Doping: Les surhommes du velo (Paris: Raoul Solar, 1970), 37, 39, 63–64, 99; Patrick Laure, Le dopage (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1995), 26, 49, 59–60, 63–65, 69, 71, 75.

  52 The abuse of those drugs: Thompson, The Tour de France, 190–91; Albert Londres, “Les Forçats de la Route,” Le Petit Parisien, June 27, 1924.

  52 Amphetamines became popular: Thompson, The Tour de France, 229; Bastide, Doping, 86–87; Russell Mockridge, completed by John Burrowes, My World on Wheels: The Posthumous Autobiography of Russell Mockridge (London: Stanley Paul, 1960), 96, 131; Mondenard, Dopage (Paris: Editions Chiron, 2006), 23, 105–7, 169–70; Noret, Le dopage (Paris: Editions Vigot, 1990), 32–33.

  52 French rider Jean Malléjac collapsed: Bill and Carol McGann, The Story of the Tour de France, Volume 1: 1903–1964 (Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing, 2006), 211.

  53 amphetamine-fueled breakdown: Thompson, The Tour de France, 228.

  53 Roger Rivière, landed in a tangle: McGann, The Story of the Tour de France, 247–48.

  53 Five-time Tour winner: Sports Illustrated, “Something Extra on the Ball,” June 30, 1969.

  53 a group of cyclists, doctors, lawyers: Thompson, The Tour de France, 231–32; Guillet, Le doping de l’homme et du cheval (Paris: Masson & Cie., 1965) 3-4, 83-85; Rapp, Le doping des sportifs (Paris: Editions Médicales et Universitaires, 1977), 105, 167.

  53 Led by Anquetil: Thompson, The Tour de France, 233–34; L’Humanité, June 30, 1966; Le Monde, July 1, 1966; Le Parisien Libéré, June 30, 1966.

  54 “Get me up”: McGann, The Story of the Tour de France, Volume 1.

  54 An autopsy report: Thompson, The Tour de France, 237.

  54 one unpublished Swedish study: Randy Starkman, “New Wonder Drug May Speed Athletes to the Killing Fields,” Toronto Star, April 27, 1991; Lawrence M. Fisher, “Stamina-Building Drugs Linked to Athletes’ Deaths,” New York Times, May 19, 1991.

  55 “Mister 60 Percent”: Jeremy Whittle, “Bjarne Riis’s Year Without Lying,” New York Times, May 2, 2008.

  55 five Dutch riders: William Leith, Independent, July 1, 1991.

  55 at least eighteen professional European: Starkman, “New Wonder Drug May Speed Athletes to the Killing Fields.”

  55 “Stamina-Building Drug Linked”: Fisher, “Stamina-Building Drugs Linked to Athletes’ Deaths.”

  56 Riders said they’d never heard of it: Interview with Don Catlin, 2013.

  56 Seven years later: Interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013.

  57 Borysewicz and other team officials: Robert McG. Thomas Jr., “USOC Checking Use of Transfusions,” New York Times, January 10, 1985; Bjarne Rostaing and Robert Sullivan, “Triumphs Tainted with Blood,” Sports Illustrated, January 21, 1985.

  57 Four went on to win medals: Rostaing and Sullivan, “Triumphs Tainted with Blood.”

  57 Each of them would eventually: Charles Pelkey, “Wenzel Denies Charges,” VeloNews, April 3, 2001. Charles Pelkey, “Six Years Later, Strock Case Comes to Court,” VeloNews, April 18, 2006; interviews with two of the cyclists on the national team at the time the alleged doping occurred. They did not want their names published.

  59 “like a god to me”: J.T. Neal audiotapes, 2000–2002.

  59 There, he mixed, matched: Interview with John Hendershot, 2013.

  60 If Hendershot was his own lab rat: Ibid.

  60 Both soigneur and rider were willing: Ibid.

  63 the process was overseen: Ibid.; J.T. Neal audiotapes.

  63 it was at least quasi-official: Interviews with Stephen Swart and John Hendershot; J.T. Neal audiotapes.

  63 Hendershot trusted Testa: Interview with John Hendershot, 2013.

  63 All became patients: J.T. Neal audiotapes; interview with George Hincapie, 2013.

  63 Armstrong believed: Interviews with Lance Armstrong, 2013; Oprah Winfrey interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013.

  63 As Hendershot had done: Interview with John Hendershot, 2013.

  64 “I don’t prescribe”: Jean-Michel Rouet, interview with
Michele Ferrari, L’Equipe, April 1994.

  64 Armstrong, Andreu, Hincapie and: Interview with Max Testa, 2006.

  65 “People are trying to”: Ibid.

  65 “If you want to use a gun”: Ibid.

  65 “This is bullshit”: Interview with George Hincapie, 2013; Hincapie’s affidavit in USADA case.

  65 “I’m getting my ass kicked”: Interview with Frankie Andreu, 2013; affidavit of Frankie Andreu in USADA case.

  66 They agreed it was time for EPO: Interviews with Stephen Swart, 2006 and 2013; interview with Frankie Andreu, 2013; affidavit of Frankie Andreu in USADA case.

  66 Riders carried thermos jugs: Interviews with various riders, including Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and George Hincapie, 2013.

  67 an ultimatum: Interviews with Stephen Swart, 2006 and 2013.

  67 Armstrong himself claims: Interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013.

  67 Testa gave him: Ibid.

  68 The drug was available: Interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013; interview with Stephen Swart, 2013; interview with George Hincapie, 2013.

  68 Testa was constantly giving: J.T. Neal audiotapes.

  69 He would smile nervously: Interviews with Jim Ochowicz, 2005, 2009 and 2010.

  69 Armstrong said Motorola’s EPO use: Interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013.

  70 team employees showed up: Interviews with Stephen Swart, 2006 and 2013.

  70 Swart saw that most: Stephen Swart affidavit in USADA case; interview with Stephen Swart, 2013.

  70 Andreu’s was at about 50: Ibid.

  71 The telephone call came: Interview with Kathy and Greg LeMond, 2006.

  71 “He died for what?” Interview with Greg LeMond, 2013.

  CHAPTER 5

  72 In the fall of 1995: J.T. Neal audiotapes.

  72 “Lance, don’t get greedy”: Ibid.

  72 Armstrong had nearly $750,000: J.T. Neal audiotapes and documents.

  73 He had asked Eddy: Interview with Lance Armstrong, 2013.

  73 come from Texas: Interview with the former Monica Buck, 2013.

  73 “too opinionated”: J.T. Neal audiotapes.

  73 some of Ferrari’s clients: Ibid.

  73 Merckx’s son, Axel: E-mail from Axel Merckx, December 1, 2013.