Professional Cycling For the Fans - Here we go again - LA doping inquiry

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6848552/

Well if you can't beat him on a bike.......

I copied this out of Business Day

"He is also involved in a legal battle with his US insurers over a 5 million dollar bonus they have withheld since LA Confidential was published. "

Anyone have any info on that?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6848552/

The french doth sucketh and probably always will.

I had the pleasure of going to France last summer to watch the Tour live for the first time. My biggest surprise, however, had nothing to do with the race itself, but with the people of France. I was expecting a cold reception after hearing all the stories about how the French hate Americans. Instead I found just the opposite. People were friendly and very helpful, often going out of their way to help me. Several people even invited me to have dinner or to stay at their homes. I remember when one person made a point of saying that while they don't always agree with the American government, they don't hold it against the people of America. I was pleasantly surprised by my experience there, and I can't wait to go back. Say what you want about their judicial system, but I wouldn't hold it against the entire country.

Well if you can't beat him on a bike.......

I copied this out of Business Day

"He is also involved in a legal battle with his US insurers over a 5 million dollar bonus they have withheld since LA Confidential was published. "

Anyone have any info on that?

This is pretty well-known fact since the end of the 2004 TdF... Don't have any addtl. info besides whatever is regurgitated in cycling press (I'm sure if you search cyclingnews.com, you'll find some references)...

This is what I remember:

It is another way for LA and Tailwinds Sports to make money, almost like a bet in Vegas: Tailwinds Sports paid something like $250,000-$300,000 (not sure 100% if the sum is correct) for an insurance policy that would pay out $5,000,000 if he'd won the 2004 TdF... He paid and completed his part of the bargain, now the insurance co. is trying to get out of the deal and use "L.A. Chronicles" book as a reason to withhold the payment pending all ongoing doping judicial inquiries... Basically, they're saying they won't pay money until it is proven that he din't dope... So much for "Innocent until proven guilty"... :eek: :eek: :eek: But as the insurance company is based in the U.S., I think Lance has pretty good chance to win this one in courts... ;) ;) ;)

SCA Promotions Issue:

The suit with SCAis going to arbitration. There will be 3 arbitrators. LA picks one. SCA picks one. They agree on a third.

Get this, SCA tried to appoint as an arbitrator a lawyer who represents the authors of the book accusing LA of doping. A judge rejected the appointment because arbitrators must be impartial.

Here's (http://www.bikebiz.co.uk/daily-news/article.php?id=5129) a story that includes this quote from LA's attorney:

Attorney Herman argued that SCA's appointment of Montbrial "clearly demonstrated its bad faith in refusing to pay what it owes and made a mockery of the arbitration process."
I wonder what this case is doing for SCA's reputation for paying up.

P.S. You can find news by searching for "'Lance Armstrong' 'SCA promotions'" in Google's news feature.

French Doping Investigation

Here's the key paragraph from the article linked above:


Philippe Trouyet, commissioner of the judicial police in Annecy, said Thursday that the investigation had been compromised by revelations in the media, and added that it would likely soon be dropped.
So it looks like there's no there there.

Lance's response yesterday from Austin:

"Let me make one thing emphatically clear: I believe in clean and fair competition. As I have said before, I do not use -- and have never used -- performance-enhancing drugs. I am disappointed in the judge's decision to open this investigation without having talked to me first. I will make myself available anytime and anywhere to meet with the investigators in this case. They are also welcome to review my long history of tests for performance-enhancing drugs, which I have never failed. Last year alone I was tested 22 times by ASO, the UCI, WADA and USADA. I will be competing in Paris-Nice in March. I am confident my name will be cleared, and I look forward to racing in France for years to come."


Regarding SCA's attempts to weasel out on their coverage...yeah, it absolutely is affecting their reputation. They market themselves as an "Our Risk Your Reward/when someone wins, we pay promptly" provider of prize coverage for promotions, contests, and games. Here are the details of the policy which was taken out by Lance's team owner, Tailwind Sports.

"Tailwind purchased the insurance contract with SCA for $420,000 before the 2001 Tour de France, after Armstrong had already won the Tour twice consecutively. To earn the $5 million award under the contract in question, Armstrong had to win another four consecutive Tours, a feat which had never been accomplished. Until now."

Philippe Trouyet, commissioner of the judicial police in Annecy, said Thursday that the investigation had been compromised by revelations in the media, and added that it would likely soon be dropped.


Thanks DC....I think you are right this is all smoke and no fire.

Is this part of that big investigation stemming from the evidence of +10 people?

Can we like find a way to ban all of these, There are so many no body cares.

Can we like find a way to ban all of these, There are so many no body cares.


If nobody cares, why are there any posts?.....like yours?.......& mine?.....

Not everyone is interested in every thread. Thankfully, we aren't required to read threads we don't care about. And if the mods banned threads that any one person didn't want to read, there wouldn't be anything here.

Edit, 1/23/05: Hi565, it looks like you're getting your wish. This thread appears to be dying a natural death, which is the way this forum usually deals with unwanted threads.

okokokokokok I give in, White Flag, White Flag. :D