Betsy Andreu on the Lance Documentary

Cycling is possibly the dirtiest sport in the world.  Any allegation of PEDs on anyone in that sport shouldn't be taken lightly.

I represented USPS in its negotiations with Lance for USPS media representation mid-to-late nineties. I met Lance in person. His appearance would vary considerably day-to-day. Now, I believe his hyper-aggressive demeanor at times was at least partly a function of the drugs, doping and/or paranoia about being detected. I experienced the same thing with a roided-out workout partner once when I jokingly failed to pick up his shirt he’d slung over his shoulder and dropped during an intensive workout and next thing I knew was being suspended three inches above ground by my neck and his ridiculously over-sized arm as he was threatening to kill me for my failure. Drugs are bad, m’kay? In Lance’s case it cost him his balls. Gentlemen, need I say more?

The part about Armstrong's people telling the producer that Andreu's issue with him is that he wants her is priceless.  The most Armstrong thing ever.  He certainly told them to say that. 

And it's a near certainty that it's the other way around - he's probably been crushing on her for decades, and that's probably the reason he'll admit most of it, but not the hospital room at IU. 

Really enjoyed the documentary.  There's a part where the producer asks Armstrong and his fiance how they met, and they both kind of hem and haw.  But only briefly, because a moment later Armstrong cuts his finger and there's such a commotion they don't answer.  Does anyone know any more of the story on that?  It just seemed like they didn't want to answer, and he either cut his finger because he was distracted, or - and I known this sounds nuts, but would not at all out it past him - he did it on purpose to deflect. I'd lay money that one of them was doing something they shouldn't have been when they hooked up. Armstrong is very smart, very deceitful, and really would have loved lying about himself for the rest of his life.  Just like Coach K at Duke.  

I find it strange that it is usually Betsy Andeu telling this story and not Frankie. Why don't we hear from him? Betsy wasn't his teammate. She wasn't there day to day. Of course Frankie was doping too.

I found the Armstrong 30-for-30 special very interesting. I really don't blame Lance for doping because every other rider was as well. Somebody on the show said that doping probably gives a rider a 10% advantage; the TDF is a 100 hour race where the last rider finishes within 2 hours of the yellow jersey so you can do the math. If you weren't doping you had no chance to be competitive and weren't really relevant in the sport. I think this is an aspect of the story that is somewhat ignored.

Armstrong's huge mistake was his scorched earth campaign against his accusers. His second biggest mistake was coming back in 2008 which put the spotlight back on him and all of the questions. He should have cut a deal with USADA and come clean but his massive ego wouldn't allow it. If he had come clean, he would have been slapped with a 2-year suspension, could have exposed the entire sport as being dirty hence justifying why he doped himself, would have saved himself Millions of dollars and maybe he would have salvaged at least a morsel of his tattered reputation.  

Lance > The Last Dance

I said what I said.

I found the 30 for 30 interesting for the insight on just how bad the doping in cycling really was/is and how the organizations responsible for keeping it clean were just as fallible.

I lived in Austin through the bulk of Armstrong’s career and came across people who worshiped him until they met him. Then the view was unanimous: self-centered asshole. I was at a couple of events he was at and when you are that self focused you can’t hide who you really are for very long.