text:
Search Results for query 'TOUR DE FRANCE' >
Floyd Landis×
People: 100 results
Floyd Landis (63)
Lance Armstrong (33)
Christian Prudhomme (14)
Oscar Pereiro (12)
Oprah Winfrey (11)
Alberto Contador (9)
Jan Ullrich (8)
Michael Rasmussen (7)
Levi Leipheimer (7)
Ivan Basso (7)
Pat McQuaid (6)
George Hincapie (5)
Bradley Wiggins (5)
Andy Schleck (4)
Alexandre Vinokourov (4)
Cadel Evans (3)
Alex Gibney (3)
David Zabriskie (3)
Michele Ferrari (2)
Tom Watson (2)
Mark Cavendish (2)
John Daly (2)
Francesca Schiavone (2)
John Terry (1)
Joseph Kabila (1)
Kristin Armstrong (1)
Alison Krauss (1)
Lionel Messi (1)
Kwame Kilpatrick (1)
Alejandro Valverde (1)
Ike Turner (1)
Jerry Herman (1)
John Landis (1)
Michael Barry (1)
Andrea Yates (1)
Metta World Peace (1)
Michael Rogers (1)
Nomar Garciaparra (1)
Omar Epps (1)
Andres Iniesta (1)
Neil Tennant (1)
Mario Gomez (1)
Luol Deng (1)
Manuel Pellegrini (1)
Mark Calcavecchia (1)
Martin Gore (1)
Mavis Staples (1)
Amiri Baraka (1)
Marlon Wayans (1)
Greg Norman (1)
Daniele Bennati (1)
Danny Murphy (1)
Cris Judd (1)
Dave Bing (1)
David Millar (1)
David Villa (1)
Adrian Grenier (1)
Bobby Robson (1)
Bela Fleck (1)
Bertrand Delanoe (1)
Carlo Ancelotti (1)
Corey Williams (1)
Costantino Rocca (1)
Christian Vande Velde (1)
Gary Cooper (1)
Frank Lampard (1)
Frank Schleck (1)
Geraint Thomas (1)
Graeme McDowell (1)
Gianni Versace (1)
Gloria DeHaven (1)
Didier Drogba (1)
Diego Forlan (1)
Eunice Kennedy Shriver (1)
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (1)
Fabian Cancellara (1)
Felipe Calderon (1)
Men's sports (62)
Doping (52)
Sports governance (12)
Sports media (3)
Athlete retirement (1)
British Open Golf (1)
Davis Cup (1)
Law and order (13)
Accidents and disasters (1)
Arts and entertainment (13)
Government and politics (8)
Local governments (2)
Corporate news (1)
News media (3)
Environment and nature (2)
SNTV (15)
AP (14)
VNR (2)
CNN+ (2)
AP Entertainment (2)
THE ASPEN INSTITUTE (1)
AP File (1)
ABC VIDEOSOURCE (1)
TVE Spain (1)
sntv (1)
AP Television (1)
Tour de France handout (1)
CYCLEFILM (1)
Courtroom pool (ABC) (1)
APTN (1)
APTN file (1)
EUROPE 1 (1)
ABC Sports (1)
ABC News Videosource (1)
FRANCE 2 (1)
< Prev |1|2|3|...4|Next >
c225139f9a1b758c58893ad3c7b1af54
DV Floyd Landis
Cyclist Floyd Landis' doping ban has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It was the American cyclist's last chance to retain his 2006 Tour de France title.
Tour de France handout , Courtroom pool (ABC) , AP Photos
Floyd Landis , Oscar Pereiro
HEADLINE: Landis loses doping appeal over 2006 Tour de France
CAPTION: Cyclist Floyd Landis' doping ban has been upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It was the American cyclist's last chance to retain his 2006 Tour de France title. (June 30)
[Notes:ANCHOR VOICE]
[Notes:ap photos]
Floyd Landis has lost his final chance to be the winner of the 2006 Tour De France --
[Notes:file pool courtroom video]
After hours of testimony -- the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or C-A-S, upheld a previous ruling that Landis used performance enhancing drugs.
Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour title last year after testing positive for a banned type of testosterone.
SOT: landis "it's consumed my entire life ... "
Oscar Pereiro was declared (pehr-EHR'-oh) the 2006 Tour winner.
[Notes:handout tour de france video]
Landis is now the first cyclist in the history of the tour to loose his title due to doping.
[Notes:screen grab of CAS website]
In its 58-page decision, the CAS said the lab that analyzed Landis' test results used some quote 'less than ideal practices' -- but not lies, fraud and cover-ups and Landis had claimed.
Even if Landis had won his appeal, there was no guarantee Tour de France organizers would recognize today's decision.
Part of the fallout from the ruling -- Landis now has to pay 100-thousand dollars toward the legal fees of the U.S. Anti-doping agency.
The decision comes just days before the start of the 2008 tour.
Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Tour de France , Doping , Cycling , Road cycling , Court decisions , Sports governance , Events , Sports , Legal proceedings , Law and order , General news
Court of Arbitration for Sport
Beni , Nord Kivu , Congo
5c7b2bdbfd2284eb4f1bb251fc923cf8
France Landis 2
WRAP Team says Tour de France winner Floyd Landis tested positive
Floyd Landis , Christian Prudhomme , Jan Ullrich , Ivan Basso
*** Last 30 secs of story plays black***
Paris - 27 July 2006
1. Exterior of the ASO building near Paris (Tour de France Organisers - Amaury Sports Organisation)
2. Various of map with Tour de France route
3. Set-up Christian Prudhomme talking in the ASO office
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Christian Prudhomme, Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) Director:
"The statement now that there has been an abnormal result - before the second test we can't take it for granted even if it seems like that for some. It isn't. We need a second test. The first reaction is that it's of course disappointing that it involves the yellow jersey of the Tour and that I would see in this a positive aspect if I can say so and that is that the decisions we were aspiring to before the start of the Tour de France, this testing right now is that those who carry on cheating have really bad bad days ahead of them."
" We never said it was over, we never said it was over, we said and repeated that it was a it was a struggle, we said we had won a battle, the Friday that precede the start of the Tour de France wasn't a black Friday but a Friday full of hope on the contrary because there was and I am convinced a global awareness that was starting to appear. That is all I can say if the results of the second testing confirm what is being said today."
6. Cutaway of a Sport Newspaper with an article titled " A positive case on the Tour"
"The majority said that the tests were useless, that the world of cycling wasn't doing anything, anything, it's not true or it is no longer true. That is clear. Our determination is flawless and it's not the positive or negative second results that will change anything in our determination."
8. Cutaway of Landis on the cover of "Velo Magazine" - saying "The human face of the Tour: Floyd Landis"
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Voxpop:
"In the last twenty years every year we hear things about drugs in the cycling world that's not new and not really surprising. A bit disappointing but nothing really surprising."
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Voxpop:
"To climb the Alpes d'Huez mountain at 30km per hour you really must have something in your blood."
11. Wide of Paris street
FILE - Paris - 23 July 2006
12. Tour de France winner Floyd Landis walking onto podium
13. Various of Landis on podium
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Floyd Landis, Tour de France winner:
"To be honest I'm very tired right now but it feels quite good...I think I'll be happy about this for a long time."
15. Mid shot of podium
Tour de France champion Floyd Landis tested positive for high levels of testosterone during the race, his Phonak team said on Thursday on its Web site.
The statement came after UCI, cycling's world governing body, said an unidentified rider had failed a drug test during the Tour.
It also came just four days after Landis stood on the victory podium on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The Swiss-based Phonak team said it was notified by the UCI on Wednesday that Landis' sample showed "an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone" when he was tested after stage 17 of the race last Thursday.
Christian Prudhomme, Director of Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO), the Tour de France organisers, said that a second test (a "B" sample) would be needed to be confirm the abnormal result.
But he added "the first reaction is that it's of course disappointing that it involves the yellow jersey of the Tour."
"Those who carry on cheating have really bad bad days ahead of them," he said.
Landis rode the Tour with a degenerative hip condition that he has said will require surgery in the coming weeks or months.
Phonak said Landis would ask for an analysis of his backup "B" sample.
Prudhomme said sanctions will come from the UCI, pending on the outcome of the second testing.
Reacting to Thursday's developments Parisians interviewed by AP Television said the news was not surprising
"To climb the Alpes d'Huez mountain at 30km per hour you really must have something in your blood," one person said.
"A bit disappointing but nothing really surprising," said another.
Seven riders, including pre-race favourites Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, were removed from the Tour on the eve of the race after being implicated in a major Spanish doping investigation.
Tour de France , Cycling , Road cycling , Doping , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
Paris , Île-de-France , France
2666dbacadae9b04a36253247730e579
France Tour 3
Alberto Contador of Spain wins cycling race
Alberto Contador , Bertrand Delanoe , Cadel Evans , Levi Leipheimer , Jan Ullrich , Michael Rasmussen , Daniele Bennati , Lance Armstrong , Floyd Landis , Alexandre Vinokourov , Fabian Cancellara
1. Various of cyclists riding down the Champs Elysees
2. Crowds looking on and cheering
3. Tour director Christian Proudhomme, Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe and London Mayor Ken Livingston watching race
4. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Jaime Lisavetzky, Spanish Deputy Sports Minister:
"Do you think that if the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) and the Tour de France have some differences, which the media has made into big differences, but agree that Contador can participate and win, that there is a problem? Honestly, no."
5. Alberto Contador, this year's Tour de France winner, on podium receiving yellow jersey
6. Close of Contador being greeted by officials, lifting stuffed animal and bouquet of flowers
7. Australian cyclist Cadel Evans of Australia, Alberto Contador of Spain and U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer on podium
8. Wide of podium
9. Various of Contador kissing trophy
10. Wide Contador and second and third placed racers on podium
11. Contador with his mother Paquita Velasco and fianc�e Macarena Pescador
12. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Alberto Contador, Tour de France winner:
"Tomorrow we will see each other and let's see if we're all ok."
13. Pan right of Contador cycling
14. Cadel Evans on bike carrying Australian flag
15. SOUNDBITE: (English) Cadel Evans, winner in second place in Tour de France
(Q: did you like the race?)
"Absolutely. I think it was a good race, you tell me, I didn't get to see much of it, I was too concentrated on the race.
(Q: Are you satisfied with the result?)
"I think I have to be, I think I have to be, next year for me, try and go one place better."
16. SOUNDBITE: (English) Levi Leipheimer, winner in third place in Tour de France
"I think we had some unfortunate incidents during this Tour but it shows the Tour is changing and cycling is changing and I think if you look at it from the positive side it's a good thing."
17. Wide of Champs Elysees with cyclists after race
Alberto Contador won the Tour de France on Sunday, a surprise new young winner for the three-week race, which has been tainted by doping allegations.
The 24-year-old Spanish rider for the American Discovery Channel team was the youngest champion since Jan Ullrich of Germany in 1997.
He was also the first Spaniard to stand on the winner's podium since the last of Miguel Indurain's five titles in 1995.
His margin of victory, just 23 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans of Australia, was the second-narrowest in the Tour's 104-year history, after 3,500 kilometres (2,200 miles) of racing through Britain, Belgium, Spain and France.
Contador had seemed destined for second place until the Tour was hit by a bombshell just five days from the finish: the ejection of race leader Michael Rasmussen.
His Rabobank team accused the Dane of having lied about his whereabouts before the Tour to evade doping controls.
Rasmussen's departure catapulted Contador into the race lead, Evans to the runner-up spot, and US rider Levi Leipheimer into third.
Those places held through the closing four days, including a thrilling time trial on Saturday that Leipheimer won, and the 91-mile (146-kilometre) final ride on Sunday to Paris' fan-lined Champs-Elysees from Marcoussis, west of the capital. The stage was won by Daniele Bennati of Italy.
Contador high-fived and hugged his teammates after crossing the line.
His original goal was to take the white jersey for the best young rider.
In the end, he got both white and yellow jerseys.
Contador's personal history is a dramatic one - in 2004, he suffered a massive blood clot in his brain that needed surgery.
While in a hospital, he drew inspiration from reading a book about champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, a cancer survivor.
Contador was a new star for a race that has been searching for a successor to Armstrong, who retired in 2005, and which is struggling to repair its credibility after two successive years marred by doping allegations.
The 2006 winner, Floyd Landis, did not defend his crown because of doping charges hanging over him.
This Tour had its share of scandal.
It emerged that Rasmussen was competing despite missing doping controls in May and June, and Kazakh star Alexandre Vinokourov, a pre-race favourite to win, and Cristian Moreni of Italy both failed doping tests.
They and their teams left the race, and police raided their hotels, searching for doping products.
The feel-good factor generated by the race's July 7 start in London, England, watched by millions of fans, quickly faded.
A split emerged as Tour organisers blamed the sport's governing body, the UCI (Union Cycliste Internationel), for not telling them that Rasmussen had missed doping tests.
The organisers said they would have prevented him from taking the start had they known.
The Tour's 94th edition got off to a regular-enough start, with the fast and flatish first week again dominated by sprinters and marked by multiple crashes in the pack.
Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland took the lead on day 1 and wore the yellow jersey for the first week.
But the doping demon quickly returned.
First came news that Patrik Sinkewitz of Germany tested positive for the male hormone testosterone, in a sample taken in June while he was training for the Tour.
Then, over 48 high-drama hours in the last week, came the successive events of Vinokourov's test for a banned blood transfusion, Moreni's positive test for testosterone and Rasmussen's ejection.
On Rasmussen's last day of racing before he was sent home, riders from French and German teams refused to ride off with him at the start, protesting against the scandals in the race.
Tour officials have been looking to the younger generation, ostensibly less influenced by the rife doping in the late 1990s, as a harbinger that cycling is turning a corner.
Riders in their twenties, not in their thirties like Vinokourov and Rasmussen, swept the Tour's top honours.
"Do you think that if UCI and the France Tour that have some differences, but also the media has made them into big differences, agree that Contador can participate and win is there a problem? Honestly, no," said Jaime Lisavetzky, Spanish Deputy Sports Minister after the race.
Third placed Levi Leipheimer said the Tour needed to be looked at from the positive side.
Tour de France , Doping , Cycling , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Road cycling , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
fc3ecf5638301236255e8e141b811ae6
France Landis
Backup doping test begins in Floyd Landis case
Floyd Landis
1. Wide exterior shot of the laboratory
2. Landis' lawyers Jose Maria Buxeda and Luis Sanz arrive and walk through gates
3. Wide shot of laboratory
4. Close up of laboratory sign
5. Landis' lawyers Jose Maria Buxeda and Luis Sanz walk into laboratory
7. Buxeda and Sanz leaving laboratory
8. Buxeda and Sanz talking
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jose Maria Buxeda, Landis's lawyer:
"The reason why Mr. Sanz and myself said that probably the result is going to be the same is because statistically it is true that the results of the "B" sample usually - not always - but usually confirm the results of the "A" sample. Taking into account that the lab is applying the same protocol as they did with the A sample - if the result is not the same this means that they made a mistake."
10. Buxeda, Sanz and reporters
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Jose Maria Buxeda, Landis's lawyer:
"Of course, he's certain that he hasn't ingested any prohibited substance. And on the other hand he knows that there is a natural explanation to the finding of these substances. He's confident, he's pretty sure that we will be able to prove, if this result is confirmed, we will be able to prove that it is due to natural causes, to a natural reaction of his body, either usually (normally), or in the circumstances he was in that stage in particular."
12. Reporters and Buxeda, Sanz
13. Buxeda and Sanz walk away
Testing began on Thursday on Tour de France winner Floyd Landis' backup doping sample, as his lawyer reiterated that he expects the result to confirm the original positive finding for elevated testosterone levels.
"He's certain that he hasn't ingested any prohibited substance. And on the other hand he knows that there is a natural explanation to the finding of these substances, one of Landis' lawyers, Jose Maria Buxeda said.
The result of the "B" sample test will not be available before Saturday, Buxeda told The Associated Press after visitng the French laboratory conducting the analysis with another of Landis's lawyers.
However, the entire process of determining whether the American cyclist is guilty of doping or whether his body naturally produced the higher than normal testosterone levels - as he contends - could take six months to a year, the Spanish lawyer said.
Buxeda and another lawyer, Luis Sanz, were present for the start of the testing.
Landis was in the United States.
Michael Henson, a spokesman for the cyclist, confirmed on Tuesday that a urine test on Landis after the tour's 17th stage turned up an 11 to 1 ratio - far above the 4 to 1 limit allowed. A 1 to 1 ratio is average.
Landis made a stunning comeback in the 17th stage after falling way behind a day earlier.
Landis has said he would undergo further tests to prove that his body's natural metabolism - not doping - caused the elevated result.
Landis showed a testosterone imbalance in an initial urine sample taken during the Tour de France.
Both "A" and "B" samples were provided on July 20 after he sped his way back into contention by winning a tough Alpine leg of the multistage race.
If the "B" sample is positive, the results will be sent to the US Anti-Doping Agency, which would handle the case.
If found guilty, Landis would be stripped of the Tour de France title and banned for two years.
Tour de France , Cycling , Road cycling , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
fe3d2a53c67823c60b6ff090c09fd953
Europe Landis 3
WRAP Backup test results, Landis' denial, team statement, TF president's presser
FRANCE 2 , AP , INTERNET
Floyd Landis , Christian Prudhomme , Oscar Pereiro
1. Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) web site, scrolls down
2. Statement on web site reading:
"The adverse analytical finding from Floyd Landis is confirmed. The UCI communicates that the analysis of the sample B of Floyd Landis's urine has confirmed the result of an adverse analytical finding notified by the Anti-doping laboratory of Paris on 26th July, following the analysis of the sample A. In accordance to the Anti-doping rules, the Anti-doping Commission of the UCI will request that the USA Cycling Federation open a disciplinary procedure against the rider."
3. Statement on website, from Landis' spokesperson Michael Henson:
"The UCI (International Cycling Union) today announced that the results of the 'B' analysis conducted on Floyd Landis's urine sample of July 20, 2006 are consistent with the findings of the 'A' sample. Both samples were taken following Landis's victory in stage 17 of the Tour de France. The results of the 'A' sample were released on July 26. Landis will pursue the appeal procedures established by the UCI in order to overturn the laboratory results. It is expected that the matter will now be referred to USA Cycling. Landis, who has not used performance-enhancing substances, maintains his innocence in this case and believes that he will be vindicated of the doping charges. 'I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone. I was the strongest man in the Tour de France, and that is why I am the champion,' said Landis. 'I will fight these charges with the same determination and intensity that I bring to my training and racing. It is now my goal to clear my name and restore what I worked so hard to achieve.' Landis's attorney, Howard Jacobs, has begun preparing the case for arbitration. If the case follows the normal protocol, it is expected to be resolved within four to six months. 'At this point in time, I am waiting to receive the full laboratory documentation for the 'B' test. In consultation with some of the leading medical and scientific experts, we will prove that Floyd Landis's victory in the 2006 Tour de France was not aided in any respect by the use of any banned substances,' said Jacobs. Landis and Jacobs will also argue against the UCI's premature release of the 'A' sample findings as well as the anonymous leak of the carbon-isotope test results to the New York Times on July 31. 'I call on the UCI to start following its own rules and to allow this process to proceed without the further taint of public comment by UCI officials,' added Jacobs. 'The anti-doping process must be free from the perception that sports federations and anti-doping authorities, who hold great political and financial sway over sport, are attempting to influence the outcome of a pending case by issuing inappropriate public comments.'"
4. Phonak Cyling Team statement (Floyd Landis' team) on website reading:
"The Phonak Cycling Team has learned today from the International Cycling Union (UCI) that team captain Floyd Landis's B sample has also resulted in a positive finding of doping. As a result, Landis will be dismissed without notice for violating the team's internal Code of Ethics. Landis will continue to have legal options to contest the findings. However, this will be his personal affair and the Phonak team will no longer be involved in that. Team owner Andy Rihs deeply regrets this development. At present, he is clarifying with all parties involved what consequences this may have for his company ARcycling AG, the operator of the Phonak Cycling Team. Andy Rihs and Team Manager John Lelangue will make in-depth statements regarding this matter at a media conference to be held in the next couple of days."
France 2 - No Access France
Paris - 5 August 2006
5. SOUNDBITE (French): Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France director:
"Today we are not surprised by the result of the counter-expertise knowing that 9 out of 10 times the counter-expertise confirms the first analysis. It is a big mess and there is now a even stronger will to fight doping because the yellow jersey shouldn't be blemished. So we will fight as we proved it with the sponsors before the start of the Tour de France in Strasbourg. We said it when we excluded the favourites who where involved in the doping affair in Spain. There is a strong will and it will be more than ever implemented without any doubts."
FILE - July 23 2006
6. Cutaway of Landis on podium after winning Tour de France
"I cannot announce (the winner) because that is not up to the organisers - it depend on the UCI that has to ask the cycling federation - so in this case the US cycling federation to investigate the matter. But clearly for us Landis' name shouldn't be written on the scoreboard as the winner of the 2006 Tour. Formally this will take weeks, months. It will happen as it happened in at the Tour of Spain with (Roberto) Heras' positive test where the runner-up was declared as the winner. Logically that is how it will be. What I can say is that to us he can no longer be the winner of the Tour de France 2006."
FILE - July 23, 2006
8. Landis on podium after winning Tour de France
Chatneay-Malabry, Parisian suburb - 5 August 2006
9. Pan from traffic to exterior of laboratory where analysis was done
10. Various of laboratory building
11. Various of people walking in the street
12. SOUNDBITE (German): Vox pop: Gunter Storch, German visitor:
"I must say, I think it is a real shame. A real, real shame because the whole cycling sport is discredited and that is truly awful."
13. SOUNDBITE (French): Vox pop: Jean-Louis Cailhol, French visitor:
"It's awful, it's ugly. It harms the Tour de France and sport in general. It's really bad. In any event it's all just a circus and the circus will carry on. It's not a problem."
14. SOUNDBITE (English): Vox pop: Dena Warner, US visitor:
"I think it's ridiculous that he would go and take drugs and make a bad name for Americans, so it's pretty sad. I wish he would have just stayed clean. I am a little bit sad about that."
15. Wide of Champs-Elysees
Floyd Landis' doping samples contained synthetic testosterone, indicating the Tour de France champion's elevated levels were not produced naturally, the head of France's anti-doping commission said on Saturday.
Pierre Bordry, who heads the French anti-doping council, said the Chatenay-Malabry lab found that testosterone in Landis' urine samples came from an outside source.
Landis was immediately fired by his Swiss-based team, Phonak, and the Tour de France director said the 30-year-old rider was no longer considered the race champion.
If found guilty, Landis also faces a two-year ban from the sport.
He continued to deny any wrongdoing and vowed to clear his name.
"I have never taken any banned substance, including testosterone," Landis said in a statement.
"I was the strongest man at the Tour de France, and that is why I am the champion."
Landis' urine sample was analysed at the Chatenay-Malabry lab outside Paris, and the second positive result was announced nearly two weeks after he stood atop the winner's podium on the Champs-Elysees in the champion's yellow jersey.
"The analysis of the sample B of Floyd Landis's urine has confirmed the result of an adverse analytical finding notified by the anti-doping laboratory of Paris on 26th July, following the analysis of the sample A," the International Cycling Union said in a statement on its website.
The UCI said it was asking the US Cycling Federation to open disciplinary proceedings against Landis, and Phonak severed ties with him.
"Landis will be dismissed without notice for violating the teams internal Code of Ethics," the team said in a statement.
"Landis will continue to have legal options to contest the findings. However, this will be his personal affair and the Phonak team will no longer be involved in that," it added.
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Landis was no longer considered champion, but the decision to strip him of his title rests with the UCI.
"To us he can no longer be the winner of the Tour de France 2006," Prudhomme told The Associated Press.
"There is now a even stronger will to fight doping because the yellow jersey shouldn't be blemished," Prudhomme added.
Prudhomme said runner-up Oscar Pereiro of Spain would be the likely new winner.
Fans of the sport expressed their disappointment on Saturday calling the revelations "sad" and "awful".
"I think it's ridiculous that he would go and take drugs and make a bad name for Americans, so it's pretty sad," said one American visitor in Paris.
If found guilty, Landis would become the first winner in the 103-year history of cycling's premier race to lose his Tour crown over doping allegations.
Landis' lawyer is preparing to take the case to arbitration, said a statement issued by his spokesman, Michael Henson.
Tour de France , Cycling , Doping , Doping regulations , Road cycling , Sports governance , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
France , Paris , Spain , Western Europe , Europe
5acc9f656501056bbfc9d174d2b23566
SNTV Cycling Tour de France
Team presentations ahead of the Tour de France.
Cadel Evans , Alberto Contador , Floyd Landis , Michael Rasmussen , Frank Schleck
SNTV Features
The riders took centre stage in Brest, France, on Thursday (3rd July) for the 95th Tour de France "Grand Depart" gala presentation.
Organisers claim the 2008 Tour will be a fresh start for the event, but the starting field has already been stripped of some its biggest names - by the drug scandals that have plagued the sport in recent years.
SUGGESTED VOICEOVER:
A pair of airborne cycling postmen kicked off the the 95th Tour de France Grand Depart presentation in Brest on Thursday.
Hovered above the ground on wires, the flying 'posties' threw down letters to the crowd, as the field for this year's event was shown off to the public.
The teams literally wheeled themselves onto the stage, one-by-one, to be introduced to the thousands of cycling fans who had gathered outside Brest's Hotel de Ville in south west France.
Among the riders given a heroes welcome was last year's Yellow Jersey runner-up, Cadel Evans.
The Australian has become almost a default favourite for 2008 after last year's winner, Alberto Contador, was excluded from the race along with his team, Astana, as punishment for a fellow cyclist's positive test.
This year's race will be the third in succession where the winner of the previous race will be missing from the field.
The Tour's organisers will be hoping for a blessing from Brest, to cast out the demons of the past two years and perhaps crown a new legend.
Drug scandals saw 2006 winner Floyd Landis stripped of the yellow jersey and 2007 race leader Michael Rasmussen thrown out, within touching distance of the Paris finish line.
The International Cycling Union recently praised the tour's owner, Amaury Sports Organisation, for taking a tough line on who it has allowed to enter after doping scandals dominated the last two Tours.
Evans is hotly tipped after last year's performance with Italian Riccardo Ricco, making his Tour debut, also among the favourites.
Luxembourg's Frank Schleck is the man expected to win the polka-dot jersey for the 'King of the Mountains'.
The course has been revamped - another sign the Tour is trying to start afresh.
For the first time since 1967, there will be no prologue to begin the battle on July 5th.
The pack will dive right into the race from the outset of a hilly 195-kilometre (around 121 miles) first stage before fighting it out at the summit of the Cote de Cadoual.
Time bonuses have been abandoned so it could be a tighter, more dramatic race - especially in the mountains where decisive gaps between riders are often built early on.
A brutal climb up the Alpe D'Huez on stage 17 has the makings for a classic.
There is one more mountain-top finish and fewer time-trials which is not good news for Evans, who is a better time-triallist.
In all, the 2008 Tour de France will feature 10 flat stages, five mountain stages, four medium mountain stages and two individual time-trial stages.
Although it's considered doubtful that the Tour will pass without any drug scandals, after the events of the last two years, organisers and fans will simply be praying the winner wins clean.
SHOTLIST: Hotel de Ville, Brest, France.
1. 00:00 Wide shot of crowd and cycling postman riding on wire in the air.
2. 00:05 Spinning cycling postman throwing out letters to the crowd.
3. 00:13 Various of postmen throwing out letters to the crowd.
4. 00:27 Mid shot band and conductor.
6. 00:40 Various of band on stage.
7. 00:51 Wide of stage and audience.
8. 00:56 Tour de France promotional trailer.
9. 01:13 Various of first Tour de France team, Garmin, cycling onto stage.
10. 01:31 Pan of team Euskadi on stage.
11. 01:39 Team Rabobank cycling off stage.
12. 01:44 Wide of crowd.
13. 01:47 Team Cofidis posing for photo.
14. 01:53 Mid shot of team Silence-Lotto on stage.
15. 01:57 Close of Cadel Evans, last year's Yellow Jersey runner up, being introduced to crowd.
16. 02:05 Wide of team Silence-Lotto leaving stage.
17. 02:10 Wide of models in tour winner jerseys.
18: 02:17 Various of crowd waving flags.
Tour de France , Cycling , Road cycling , Men's cycling , Doping , Men's road cycling , Mountains , Events , Sports , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Men's road cycling , Environment and nature
Mont July , Rhône-Alpes , France
0a7220bc52634c2e5ec795c67e1350e1
France Doping
Tour de France rider Vinokourov tests positive for a banned blood transfusion
AP PHOTOS , RTBF
Alexandre Vinokourov , Michael Rasmussen , Floyd Landis , Jan Ullrich , Lance Armstrong
AP PHOTO - NO ACCESS CANADA/INTERNET
FILE: Madrid, Spain - September 16, 2006
1. STILL of Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan kissing the yellow jersey leader after the time trial in the 20th stage of the Spanish Vuelta
RTBF - No Access Belgium
Pau - 24 July 2007
2. SOUNDBITE: (French) Marc Biver, Astana team manager:
"Alexandre Vinokourov was tested after the climb of Albi, and the tests carried out by the laboratory found the presence - I read you the text - of 'a double population of counterpart blood transfusion.' Clearly, that's to say the laboratory found traces of new red blood cells and traces of old red blood cells and this would prove, at least until further opinion, that there was a blood transfusion. Evidently, on this basis and also on the basis of the team's ethical code, we decided to immediately suspend Alexandre Vinokourov and send him home. Before taking our ultimate position we are waiting, obviously, for the counter expertise which was asked for, and this will be carried out by the laboratory by the end of the week in the presence of a specialist, a hematologist. Alexandre has not manipulated his blood and thinks that following his accident he could have had a blood anomaly in his body. After having spoken to Patrice Clerc (head of Amaury Sport Organisation, which runs the Tour), my task was to inform him and that's what I did. And with a discussion with Patrice Clerc, who made me understand that it would be preferable for the image of the tour and for the image of cycling in general, if our team pulled out of the Tour de France - which I accepted."
3. STILL of Vinokourov in action during the time trial in the 20th stage of the Spanish Vuelta
The Tour de France was reeling on Tuesday after Alexandre Vinokourov, one of cycling's top stars, tested positive
for a banned blood transfusion, tarnishing further a sport which has been tainted by doping scandals in recent years.
Tour organisers insisted that cycling's showcase race will go on, but without the Astana team which withdrew from the Tour on Monday after their team leader Vinokourov failed a drugs test, and police raided the hotel where they were staying.
Marc Biver, General Manager of the Astana team, said that Vinokourov was tested after the climb of Albi, and those tests "found traces of new red blood cells and traces of old red blood cells and this would prove, at least until further opinion, that there was a blood transfusion."
Biver added that the team's "ethical code" meant they were forced to suspend their team leader and send him home.
The Kazakh rider's stage 13 triumph was completely overshadowed on Monday when his failed doping test was revealed.
Biver said that Vinokourov believes the failed drug test is linked to his crash in the fifth stage.
"Alexandre has not manipulated his blood and thinks that following his accident he could have had a blood anomaly in his body," he told the media.
Biver said that Patrice Clerc, the president of the ASO (Amaury Sport Organisation) advised his team to withdraw from cycling's premier event.
Clerc "made me understand that it would be preferable for the image of the tour and for the image of cycling in general, if our team pulled out of the Tour de France - which I accepted," Biver added.
The 33-year-old had dreamt of finishing the current Tour de France wearing the yellow jersey in Paris.
However, he now faces the nightmare prospect of a lengthy ban from cycling - one that could spell the end of his career.
Even before Tuesday's bombshell, Tour leader Michael Rasmussen was battling doping suspicions, because he skipped drug controls before the Tour start.
He still seems likely to claim victory in Paris on Sunday.
And last year's winner, Floyd Landis, was unable to defend his crown because he failed a drug test.
Beyond that, much of the pantheon of recent stars of cycling is tainted.
Jan Ullrich, the 1997 winner, retired after he was linked to a doping ring in Spain and cycling great Lance Armstrong's seven consecutive wins are widely viewed by many in France with suspicion.
Tour de France , Vuelta a Espana , Cycling , Doping , Doping regulations , Men's cycling , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Events , Sports , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Men's road cycling
Pau , Aquitaine , France
bd354f992c2908d6cfa18c2456d7a3ad
DV Floyd Landis Reax
2006 Tour de France champion Floyd Landis must forfeit his cycling title and is subject to a two-year ban from the sport. One Tour official says it took too long to find Landis guilty of doping.
APTN , TVE
N.B. This is a voiceover transcript, not a shotlist:
HEADLINE: Tour official: Landis not the winner
CAPTION: 2006 Tour de France champion Floyd Landis must forfeit his cycling title and is subject to a two-year ban from the sport. One Tour official says it took too long to find Landis guilty of doping. (Sept. 21)
NB. This is a voiceover transcript, not a full shotlist:
[Notes:ANCHOR MUST READ ALL SOTS (THEY ARE IN FRENCH)]
Over 14-months have passed since this moment ----[Notes:nats cheering] the climatic end of the 2006 Tour de France [Notes:Landis at podium--cheering audio]
...and now the Tour's winner---Floyd Landis is being stripped of his title.....after the American cyclist tested positive for testosterone following his dramatic victory.
But race director Christian Prudhomme---- [Notes:proo-DOHM] tells AP Television the decision comes too late. [Notes:ws of pruhomme at desk]
[Notes:SOT: Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France race director]
For us Floyd landis has not been the winner of the Tour since the second expert evaluation at the beginning of August last year.
When Tour officials remove Landis' title....this man---Oscar Pereiro will get the 'yellow jersey' [Notes:wide shot of Pereiro]
[Notes:SOT: Oscar Pereiro, 2006 Tour de France Winner]
"I still have not realized what has happened.
Landis who maintains his innocence----does have one possible option to regain his crown and avoid suspension from the sport -------that's to appeal the verdict to the Court of Arbitration for Sport ... [Notes:landis file]
With doping scandals also tarnishing the 2007 race ---some sports enthusiasts wonder if the Tour de France will ever regain its stature on the world scene. [Notes:race broll]
from APTN-
STORY NUMBER: 537290
DATELINE: Various, 21 Sept 2007/ File
AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY
FILE: Paris, France - 23 July 2006
1. Various of US cyclist Floyd Landis on podium after winning Tour de France
Issy-Les-Moulineaux, France - 21 September 2007
2. Wide of Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme at desk
3. SOUNDBITE: (French) Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France race director
"For us it is a decision without any surprises. For us, Floyd landis has not been the winner of the Tour since the second expert evaluation at the beginning of August last year. We said, and we repeated, that we trusted the quality of the analysis of the Chatenay-Malabry lab. So in a certain way, it is a non-event for us. It is the administrative confirmation of what we knew."
4. Cutaway
"We are a bit like Oscar Pereiro, who said himself that he would have preferred to have won under different circumstances. That's what we think as well. Now, it's logical, the number two will become the number one of the 2006 Tour."
"It's quite logical that Floyd Landis did everything he could to defend himself. It is quite logical that he used all the legal means to defend himself. But of course, it would be quite normal in the future that the cycling authorities could work on a system that takes less time to examine evidence .That's for sure. That's for sure."
"I don't have any doubt on the quality of the analysis. There might have been some administrative sloppiness. I am convinced that with the new head of the agency, Pierre Bordry, who's held the job for the past year, since the agency is independent, since October 2006, I am convinced that things have changed. It will add a necessary administrative rigor to the quality of the analysis, on a technical point and a biological point."
TVE - NO ACCESS SPAIN
11. Set up of Oscar Pereiro
12. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Oscar Pereiro, 2006 Tour de France Winner
"I still have not assimilated what has happened. I can not really say I am the winner: we must wait for the Tour de France and UCI to decide, especially the UCI, as that is the maximum authority, then I can consider myself the winner. We are very close, but nothing is decided yet."
Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Tour de France , Road cycling , Cycling , Doping , Events , Sports
d9dee529783cfd3bd2ad04c34721446b
France Spain Cycling
Pereiro reaction, intw with Tour de France race director, file of Landis
AP , TVE Spain
13. Various of US cyclist Floyd Landis on podium after winning Tour de France
Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme welcomed on Friday the news that arbitrators have upheld test results that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion Floyd Landis used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory.
For Prudhomme the announcement came as a huge relief.
It means Prudhomme can officially strip Landis of the 2006 Tour de France championship and his only regret is how long it has taken to be ratified.
"For us it is a decision without any surprises. For us Floyd landis has not been the winner of the Tour since the second expert evaluation at the beginning of August last year. We said and we repeated that we trusted the quality of the analysis of the Chatenay-Malabry lab. So in a certain way, it is a non-event for us. It is the administrative confirmation of what we knew," Prudhomme told AP television.
The decision comes a full 14 months after Landis' final sprint down the Champs-Elysees.
Spain's Oscar Pereiro will now be named as the 2006 champion.
"We are a bit like Oscar Pereiro who said himself that he would have preferred to have won under different circumstances. That's what we think as well. Now, it's logical, the number two will become the number one of the 2006 Tour," said Prudhomme.
When and where this will officially happen has yet to be decided.
After such a long wait Oscar Pereiro can hardly believe that he will at last get the title he deserves.
"I still have not realised what has happened. I can not really say I am the winner: we must wait for the Tour de France and UCI to decide, especially the UCI as the maximum authority, then I can consider myself the winner. We are very close, but nothing is decided yet," he said.
But Thursday's decision, which bans Landis from cycling through January 30, 2009, also spelled out the numerous problems with the system and the French lab that analysed Landis' urine.
These flaws were seized on by Landis in his claims to be the rightful winner of the race, and that he was nothing more than a pawn in a bigger game that led to the arbitration.
He strongly maintained his innocence during a three man arbitration panel over nine days in May and now has only one possible option to regain his crown and avoid suspension - to appeal the verdict to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Prudhomme defended the system, telling AP Television that he didn't have "any doubt on the quality of the analysis," but admitting that there "might have been some administrative sloppiness."
He also said that with Pierre Bordry as the new head of the anti doping agency, he was "convinced that things have changed," for the better.
Prudhomme said he hopes to show how the Tour intends to move forward at a meeting of all involved later this month at a summit in Paris.
But with doping scandals also tarnishing the 2007 race it remains to be seen whether the Tour de France will ever regain its stature on the world scene.
France , Spain , Paris , Western Europe , Europe
3bcb0cfeb7123db78eae23bcfc0c5ab6
SNTV Cycling 2006 Tour
2006 Tour de France itinerary is announced in Paris.
Christian Prudhomme , Lance Armstrong , Jan Ullrich , Ivan Basso , Alejandro Valverde , Floyd Landis
The 2006 Tour de France route itinerary was unveiled in Paris on Thursday (27th October).
The 2006 race looks to favour the climbers, with the abandonment of team trials and the return of the infamous Alpe D'Huez climb.
The current race director Jean-Marie Leblanc will hand over to the Christian Prudhomme after 2006 - and at Thursday's ceremony, Prudhomme said he hoped for an open race next year, while speaking out about the need to eradicate doping from the sport.
Some of the biggest names in cycling - past and present - were in Paris on Thursday as the itinerary for the 2006 Tour de France was revealed.
Before the unveiling of the route, the Tour's Race Director Jean-Marie Leblanc handed over to Christian Prudhomme, who is currently the A.S.O.'s director of cycling, and will take over from Leblanc as Tour director following the 2006 race.
Prudhomme said that the greatest task facing cycling was to eradicate drugs from the sport.
SOUNDBITE: (French).
"For cycling to remain a magnificent sport, one should be well aware of the situation. Doping is a disease in sports - but also in cycling. We need to fight, for the clean riders. The many clean riders, who are the real victims. I will fight for them. I can't stand the fact that some might consider that those who fight against doping are the enemies of the sport. It's the opposite. Cycling is the most beautiful sport, a sport for heroes, with fantastic values - courage, solidarity, humility. It's past is glorious, (and) I believe in its future."
SUPER CAPTION: Christian Prudhomme, A.S.O. Director of Cycling and Tour de France race director-elect.
Lance Armstrong will not be taking part in 2006, and the seven-time champion's name was conspicuous by its absence from the speeches of both Leblanc and Prudhomme.
When he did mention Armstrong, Leblanc said that the American has been discredited by allegations printed in the L'Equipe sports newspaper in August, which claimed that he used the banned performance enhancer E.P.O. during his first Tour win in 1999.
Leblanc added that there was relief in the sport that Armstrong will not be returning.
For his part, Armstrong vehemently denies any wrongdoing, and is reportedly considering whether to take L'Equipe, France's national anti-doping laboratory and the Tour director to court.
It starts on July 1st in Strasbourg, in the Alsace region of eastern France, then passes through Luxembourg, Germany and the Netherlands, before winding counterclockwise through the Pyrenees and then the Alps and ending on Paris's famed Champs-Elysees on July 23rd - a total distance of 3,639 kilometres (2,256 miles).
The team time trial has been axed and there will be three individual time trials, one on the eve of the final stage.
The tour will also visit Pla de Beret, on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees, for the first time, for a mountain-top finish.
There are five major mountain ascents - including the Col du Tourmalet, Col d'Izoard, Col du Galibier, and the return of the infamous Alpe D'Huez - and three uphill finishes.
With a total of 18 ascents, the route is likely to favour the climbers.
Prudhomme is hoping for an open race in 2006.
SOUNDBITE: (French)
"It's a Tour that gets gradually harder, with a fantastic final week. One will need to keep strength for the third week. It's a Tour with giant climbs in the mountains - the Tourmalet, the Izoard, the Galibier, and the return of the Alpe d'Huez. And on the other hand, new things, with a finish in the Val d'Aran in Spain, and La Toussuire, a Tour with around 115 kilometres of individual time trial - the longest distance since 1999. No team time trial, (so) there's everything necessary so that the 2006 Tour crowns a strong champion. If he could be known as late as possible (during the race), then that would be great. But only the race and riders can decide that. All the ingredients are there to make a great Tour de France."
SUPER CAPTION: Christian Prudhomme, A.S.O. Director of Cycling and Tour de France race director-elect
In Armstrong's absence, 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich of Germany, Ivan Basso and Gilberto Simoni of Italy, Spain's Alejandro Valverde and American rider Floyd Landis will be among the favourites.
SHOTLIST: Paris, France. 27th October 2005
1. 00:00 Wide shot auditorium.
2. 00:03 Various of cyclists sitting.
3. 00:15 Various of Tour de France race director Jean-Marie Leblanc (on left) with Christian Prudhomme, who will become Tour director after 2006 race. Leblanc has been in charge for 17 years.
4. 00:24 Wide shot of auditorium.
5. 00:28 SOUNDBITE: (French) Christian Prudhomme, A.S.O. Director of Cycling and Tour de France race director-elect.
6. 01:13 Graphic showing 2006 Tour de France route.
8. 03:03 Various of LeBlanc and Prudhomme next to board with 2006 Tour route.
Tour de France , Cycling , Men's cycling , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Doping , Mountains , Events , Sports , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Men's road cycling , Environment and nature
Madīnat Sittah Uktūbar , Al Jīzah , Egypt
4a81d44877f5dc191e697dce4b6bca2a
SNTV Cycling France
The race route for the 2007 Tour de France is unveiled
Ken Livingstone , Floyd Landis , Christian Prudhomme
++Non SNTV material++
Key figures in the sport of cycling gathered in Paris on Thursday (26th October) to witness the unveiling of the route for the 2007 Tour de France.
Next year's race will start on July 7th across the English channel in London and the city's mayor, Ken Livingstone, expressed his delight at the decision.
Many of cycling's key figures gathered in Paris on Thursday to see the unveiling of the route for the 2007 Tour de France.
Seven-time Tour de France King of the Mountains winner Richard Virenque was one of the guests of honour as the presentation began with a look back at this year's event.
Cycling's premier competition lived up to it's reputation in many ways, but the saga surrounding winner Floyd Landis continues to overshadow the race.
Landis tested positive for excess testosterone following his miraculous stage win the day after fading badly in the mountains, and the American is appealing against the charge and is still in possession of the yellow jersey.
The start of next year's race will take place across the English Channel, a project which was the brainchild of London mayor Ken Livingstone and former tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I am delighted to be here in Paris to celebrate the fact that London will host the start of the 2007 Tour de France."
SUPER CAPTION: Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London
The prologue time trial will take place on July 7th, exactly two years after terrorist bombings rocked the capital, starting in Whitehall near Trafalgar Square and taking in the Houses of Parliament and Hyde Park before finishing on The Mall near Buckingham Palace.
Despite pipping Paris for the prize of hosting the 2012 Olympics, the 'entente cordiale' remains strong and Livingstone hopes the Tour will inspire more Londoners to get on their bikes.
"I want London to become a true cycling city. Cycling is good for reducing the traffic congestion that plagues most cities. It offers tremendous health benefits to those who choose to take it up. And most importantly, it offers a zero carbon way of getting around and therefore, in that way, many individuals can play a part in tackling the greatest threat that we face collectively, the threat of climate change."
The first stage proper will also begin in London but Stage Two sees the riders cycle from Dunkerque across the Belgian border to Gand.
"On Sunday July 8th, during the first stage, we will go from London to Canterbury, a distance of 203 kilometres. After a parade on Tower Bridge that will allow cyclists to cross the Thames, we will start the stopwatches at the Greenwich meridian as London Mayor Ken Livingstone said earlier."
SUPER CAPTION: Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France director
Next year's race features six mountain stages, one more than this year, and for the first time in 20 years, the last mountain stage finishes at the summit.
The three-week long ordeal will see the riders that make it the whole way cycle a total of 3547 kilometres with just two rest days in that time.
The final stage, the traditional run in to the Champs Elysees, will start outside the French rugby team's training camp in Marcoussis in recognition of the 2007 World Cup being held in France.
SHOTLIST: Paris, France - October 26th 2006
1. 00:00 Wide of guests attending the 2007 Tour de France route presentation
2. 00:06 Mid shot of retired French cyclist Richard Virenque surrounded by journalists
3. 00:11 Presentation of highlights of 2006 Tour de France
4. 00:33 Arrival of Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London, shaking hands and hugging Jean-Marie Leblanc, former Tour de France director
5. 00:39 SOUNDBITE: (English) Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London
6. 00:51 Clip from 2007 Tour de France route presentation
8. 01:37 Wide of guests listening to Patrice Leclerc, president of ASO which organises the Tour de France
9. 01:43 SOUNDBITE (French) Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France director
10. 02:04 Wide of guests attending presentation
11. 02:08 Diagram showing the route from the Pyrenees to Paris and then the complete route
Tour de France , Cycling , Road cycling , Municipal governments , Events , Sports , Local governments , Government and politics , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
51d71716c75b1218057f7a753bd72aca
World Armstrong
Tour de France Director on Lance Armstrong, FILE of drug denials, Armstrong Hawaii home
AP TELEVISION , ABC , THE ASPEN INSTITUTE , CYCLEFILM
Lance Armstrong , Christian Prudhomme , Ivan Basso , Jan Ullrich , Oprah Winfrey , Floyd Landis
Paris, France - 17 January 2013
1. Wide of Tour de France conference at the British Embassy in Paris
2. General Director of the Tour de France, Christian Prudhomme on the stage
3. SOUNDBITE (French) Christian Prudhomme, General Director of the Tour de France:
"Who could have imagined even a couple of weeks ago that Lance Armstrong would have publicly confessed to doping and cheating? Nobody! Now, you will readily understand that I am waiting to hear exactly what he said before commenting any further."
(Reporter: "Are you happy about his confessions?")
"I will not say much more just now, but of course, anything that contributes to understanding and dismantling this system is good."
FILE: Washington, DC, US - 10 August 1999
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Armstrong, US cyclist:
"From the beginning people didn't want Lance Armstrong for a number of reasons. Either he was not going to race again at a high level or he was a risk of bad publicity."
"The cynics and the sceptics, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big, I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. This is one hell of a race, this is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe."
6. Mid of journalists
"There are no secrets: this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it."
THE ASPEN INSTITUTE - MANDATORY ONSCREEN CREDIT: THE ASPEN INSTITUTE
FILE: Aspen, US - 4 July 2007
"I came out of a life-threatening disease. I was on my death bed. You think I'm going to come back into a sport and say, 'OK, OK doctor, give me everything you've got, I just want to go fast?' No way! I would never do that."
FILE: Johannesburg, South Africa - 18 January 2006
9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Lance Armstrong, US cyclist:
"It's impossible to prove a negative. So you can say, 'I didn't, I didn't, I didn't,' and I was subjected to x amount of controls and they were all negative - that doesn't always work for people because I was dealt a situation where our sport was rocked by probably the biggest crisis in the history of world sport."
CYCLEFILM - MANDATORY ONSCREEN CREDIT: CYCLEFILM
FILE: California, US - 12 February 2009
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Armstrong, US cyclist: ++SOUNDBITE INCLUDES PAN OF OTHER CYCLISTS ATTENDING THE NEWS CONFERENCE++
"You are not worth the chair that you're sitting on with a statement like that." (Armstrong is addressing journalist and doping critic Paul Kimmage) "Do we make mistakes, all of us? Absolutely. As a society are we supposed to forgive and forget and let people get back to their job? Absolutely. I am not sure I will ever forgive you for that statement."
ABC - NO ACCESS BROADCAST OR DIGITAL IN NORTH AMERICA
FILE: Visalia, California, US - 20 May, 2010
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Armstrong, US cyclist:
"We have nothing to hide, we have nothing to run from, if anybody has any questions be more than happy to answer them."
FILE: Austin, Texas, US - 15 February 2011
"I know what I know, and I know what I do and I know what I did. And that's not going to change."
FILE: Paris, France - 3 July 2003
13. Various of Armstrong taking breathalyser test and undergoing medical test before his 5th Tour de France
14. Television screen showing 2005 Tour de France race
15. Armstrong with his children after he won Tour de France on the stage
16. Mid of applauding audience
17. Mid of Armstrong with his children and trophy
18. Mid of photographers
17. Mid of Armstrong standing next to second-placed Italian Ivan Basso and Germany's Jan Ullrich as US national anthem is played
Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, US - 16 January 2013
18. Various of beach and homes of the gated "Kukoo Beach and Golf Club" community
Years of speculation is about to end as the first part of US cyclist, Lance Armstrong's television interview with Oprah Winfrey is aired across the US on Thursday night.
Armstrong's confession to Oprah Winfrey about using drugs to win the Tour de France a record seven times in a row will be split into two special programmes over consecutive nights, on the talk show host's own network.
Viewers will be able to judge for themselves whether Armstrong told the truth this time.
Before his abrupt U-turn in a recent interview, Armstrong has many times and in many forums consistently denied that he used performance enhancing drugs.
Over the years he's faced questions about drug use in cycling with a range of approaches from straight talking or incredulity to anger and sadness.
Armstrong reacted strongly in response to former Sunday Times journalist Paul Kimmage calling Armstrong a "cancer" within cycling.
"You are not worth the chair that you're sitting on with a statement like that," Armstrong said to Kimmage in 2009, "I am not sure I will ever forgive you for that statement."
In Paris in 2005, Armstrong brushed away doping speculation with a heartfelt speech about human endeavour.
"I'm sorry you can't dream big, I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles," he said, "There are no secrets: this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it."
Since word of his confession during Monday's taping in Austin, Texas, was first reported by The Associated Press, there has been no shortage of opinions or advice on what Armstrong should say.
The International Olympic Committee didn't wait to listen.
The IOC on Wednesday stripped Armstrong of his 2000 bronze medal, sending him a letter asking him to return it, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.
For others who will tune in on Thursday, it's not just what Armstrong said that matters, how he said it, whether angry, tearful or matter-of-fact, will be judged as well.
Livestrong, the cancer charity Armstrong founded in 1997 and was forced to walk away from last year, said in a statement it expected him to be "completely truthful and forthcoming."
A day earlier, World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman said nothing short of a confession under oath could prompt a reconsideration of Armstrong's lifetime ban from sanctioned events.
And Frankie Andreu, a former team mate that Armstrong turned on, said the disgraced cyclist had an obligation to tell all he knew and help clean up the sport.
Armstrong has held conversations with officials from the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), including a reportedly contentious face-to-face meeting with its chief executive Travis Tygart near Denver airport.
It was USADA's 1,000-page report last year, including testimony from nearly a dozen former team mates, that portrayed Armstrong as the leader of a sophisticated doping ring that propelled the US Postal Service team to title after title at the Tour de France.
In addition to the lifetime ban, Armstrong was stripped of all seven wins, lost nearly all of his endorsements and was forced to cut ties with Livestrong.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Armstrong has information that might lead to his ban being reduced to eight years.
That would make him eligible to compete in elite triathlons, many of which are sanctioned under world anti-doping rules, in 2020, when Armstrong will be 49.
He was a professional athlete in the three-discipline sport as a teenager, and returned to competition after retiring from cycling in 2011.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a confidential matter.
Armstrong, who always prized loyalty on his racing teams, now faces some very tough choices himself: whether to cooperate and name those who may have aided, abetted or helped cover up the long-time use of performance enhancing drugs.
The AP has confirmed that Lance Armstrong has now left his home town of Austin, Texas where the interview was recorded, and is currently at his home in Hawaii on the island of Kailua-Kona, in the gated community called Kukoo Beach and Golf Club.
He is named as a defendant in at least two pending lawsuits, and possibly a third.
The Justice Department faces a Thursday deadline on whether to join a whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former team mate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping.
That suit alleges Armstrong defrauded the US government by repeatedly denying he used performance-enhancing drugs.
Armstrong could be required to return substantial sponsorship fees and pay a hefty fine.
Tour de France , Doping , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports media , Sports governance , Newspapers , Doping regulations , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling , News media , Media
Hawaii , France , Kailua-Kona , Austin , Texas , United States , North America , Western Europe , Europe
c2609830033b48a2fcf7f979bab0daa5
Spain Pereiro
Likely new winner of Tour de France gives presser
Oscar Pereiro , Floyd Landis , Christian Prudhomme
Pontevedra, northwestern Spain
1. Wide shot press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Oscar Pereiro of Spain, likely new Tour de France winner:
"After being told about the result of the counter-analysis, I think that today, 99 per cent, I feel the winner of the Tour de France. It's true there is still a bureaucratic step that needs to be taken and I think this is more complicated, the administrative side, as well as the steps Landis' lawyers are going to take, but yes, now I do feel like the winner, pending the official ratification that the ICU need to confirm. Up to now it's words and feelings but it's not official. So it's true that today, really, there is no winner of the Tour de France, we are waiting for them to name the runner up of the French race, that in all likelihood will be me. But I don't really want to use the word "winner", I am still officially the runner up, I think it will take a few weeks, or days, or months, I don't know. But most importantly, if this is the case, I want to share the victory of the Tour de France and all that that entails, with my whole team and the support staff the technical staff, everyone. If indeed they give us the Tour de France (victory) I want it to be a shared victory, for the whole team..."
"Obviously this is not the best way of winning the tour. I would have liked to have lived that day, it would have been the best day of my life, as a sportsman. But we are still talking about the Tour de France and if it looks as though what has happened to the winner is true then the runner up has to win. Of course I will feel proud and I will feel proud of being second, but it's as with all things in life, if the winner is disqualified, then the runner up gets it. I don't see this as having just been handed to me, I think I won the race, and when the moment comes, I think we will have earned and deserved it."
Oscar Pereiro, the rider likely to inherit the Tour de France title should Floyd Landis be stripped of his victory following a doping failure, said on Saturday that he now considered himself the true winner of the race.
"After hearing the result of the counter-analysis, I feel the winner of the Tour," race runner-up Pereiro told a press
conference.
Landis' backup doping sample tested positive for illegally high levels of testosterone.
Pereiro added that the final decision was up to the authorities that governed his sport and was subject to a legal challenge by Landis.
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said Landis was no longer considered champion, but the decision to strip him of his title rested with the International Cycling Union.
Pereiro said that he regretted not having been able to celebrate a win properly, in Paris, wearing the winner's yellow jersey, having his photograph taken on the podium.
"I would have liked to have lived that day, it would have been the best day of my life, as a sportsman," said Pereiro.
Pereiro said that riders at this year's Tour had undergone 400 doping tests.
Pereiro added that he felt badly for Landis, whom he thought must be living the worst days of his life.
Tour de France , Road cycling , Cycling , Doping , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
Pontevedra , Galicia , Spain
045c1e4bb2adfc5d69e42e8228fb7a10
US Armstrong
+4:3 AP EXCLUSIVE 7-time Tour winner confirms retirement
AP TELEVISION , AP PHOTOS
Bill Clinton , Floyd Landis , Lance Armstrong
Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong confirmed his retirement from international cycling on Tuesday.
The 39-year-old is calling this one "Retirement 2.0."
Almost a month after finishing 65th in his last competitive race in Australia, and nearly six years removed from the last of an unprecedented seven straight Tour de France titles, Armstrong said he's retiring for good.
"I've got five kids to raise," he said in an exclusive interview with Associated Press Television.
"I'd still like to stay fit. I have a lot to do with this foundation as you can see, we are in the middle of something that is very complicated and not easy to fix. So we will be at this for a while. I think we are uniquely positioned to effect change, but plenty to do, plenty to do. And still be on the bike for fun," Armstrong added.
His retirement ends a comeback effort that failed to produce an eighth title or diminish talk that performance-enhancing drugs helped his career.
He insists the timing had as much to do with his growing responsibilities and family as it did with the physical limitations time has imposed.
Armstrong will miss competing - let alone dominating a sport like none before him - but not the gruelling training regimen that made it possible.
"I believed I would win the tour again," Armstrong said about his comeback attempt in 2009, four years after his first retirement, "and I got beat."
Armstrong zoomed out of relative obscurity after a life-threatening bout with testicular cancer to win his first tour in 1999, then set about re-calibrating both the popularity of his sport and how much influence athletes could wield as advocates for a cause - in his case, on behalf of cancer survivors and researchers worldwide.
Along the way, Armstrong also became the most controversial figure in the evolving battle against doping in sports.
He claims to be the most-tested athlete on the planet during his career, came up clean every time, and vehemently denies ever using performance-enhancing drugs.
Despite that, he remains shadowed by a federal investigation into the sport launched last year following accusations by former team mate and disgraced 2006 tour champion Floyd Landis that Armstrong used drugs and taught other riders how to beat testing.
Though the probe is continuing, lawyers familiar with the case told the AP recently that any possible indictments were a long way off.
"I can't control what goes on in regards to the investigation. That's why I hire people to help me with that. I try not to let it bother me and just keep rolling right along ... I know what I do and I know what I did. That's not going to change," he said.
What won't change, either, is his tireless campaigning to raise funds and awareness in the fight against a disease his doctors once believed would prevent Armstrong from competing at anything more strenuous than gin rummy.
That was 1996. A year later, he set up the Livestrong Foundation with a skeleton staff and raised 10-thousand US dollars.
In the intervening years, Armstrong used his story, his celebrity and a tireless work ethic to sell (m) millions of those ubiquitous plastic yellow wrist bracelets and enlist lawmakers in Texas and global policymakers on the scale of Bill Clinton in the cause.
By the end of last year, despite tough economic times, the foundation had raised nearly 400 (m) million US dollars.
The real heavy lifting may just be beginning.
After lobbying successfully for a Texas state constitutional amendment to provide three (b) billion dollars for cancer research over a 10-year period, Armstrong now has his sights set on California.
This summer, he'll work with legislators there to draw up and put on the ballot a measure mandating a cigarette tax with the proceeds to fund further research.
Come September, Armstrong will also plead his case before a United Nations General Assembly special session on non-communicable diseases that he provided much of the impetus for.
Because of his visibility, both as a former champion and advocate for an important cause, he's often been mentioned as a candidate for political office.
"I don't think so," he said.
"I get asked that question a lot. It's a job. It's probably many times a thankless job. ... If I were to run for any kind of office, it's impossible or very difficult to run right down the middle."
"I would have to immediately alienate half of our constituents: 'Wait a minute, we thought this guy was a Republican. Wait a minute, we thought he was a Democrat.' I think the effect there would be a negative effect for the foundation. For now, absolutely not on my radar."
Beyond speaking appearances and staying in relatively good shape, Armstrong is planning to bring the oldest of his five kids, 11-year-old Luke, back to the Tour de France this summer. He may even climb into a team car to do reconnaissance work for the Radio Shack racers he employs.
One thing Armstrong vowed not to do was spend much time reliving his accomplishments on the bike.
"In ten years time if I sit there and say 'I was so strong on Alpe d'Huez in 2001,' then I've got a problem if I'm thinking about that," he said.
Austin, Texas, US - February 15, 2011
1. Various of US cyclist Lance Armstrong at his Livestrong Foundation
2. Livestrong sign
3. Armstrong walking through lobby
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France champion:
(Q) What's next?
"A lot, a lot. I've got five kids to raise, I'd still like to stay fit. I have a lot to do with this foundation as you can see. We are in the middle of something that is very complicated and not easy to fix. So we will be at this for a while. I think we are uniquely positioned to effect change, but plenty to do, plenty to do. And still be on the bike too for fun."
5. Various of Armstrong looking at map of Texas
"I have a lot to do in my life. This is something else that is going on. You could argue that raising five kids, helping to run a foundation and lead a foundation, and manage a business profile that you have built up over 20 years takes up a lot of time. I can't control what goes on outside of that with regards to the investigation, that's why you hire people to help you do that. I try not to let it bother me, and just keep rolling right along. I know what I know and I know what I do and I know what I did. And that's not going to change."
AP PHOTOS - NO CANADA/FOR BROADCAST USE ONLY - STRICTLY NO ACCESS ONLINE OR MOBILE
FILE: Paris, France - July 24, 2005
7. STILL - Armstrong riding bike and holding up seven fingers signalling his seventh Tour de France win (ID No. 00070601042)
8. Zoom-in to Armstrong walking onto podium
9. Spectators clapping
10. Armstrong with his children on podium
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Lance Armstrong, seven-time Tour de France champion:
"As I've said many times, it was more difficult than I thought. I did, I truly believed I would win an eighth or ninth tour or whatever, I believed I would win the tour again. It wasn't meant to be. I was beaten by guys that were better than me and I had a little bit of bad luck in the spring of '09 but come tour time, I was ready, and I got beat. That's what happens in sports and so it was a surprise to me, but that's okay."
FILE: Macon, Burgundy, France - July 27, 2002
12. STILL - Armstrong riding in the Tour de France (ID No. 02072701900)
"If I were to run for any kind of office, I would say it's impossible or very difficult to run right down the middle so you have to pick a side. That would immediately alienate half of our constituents. They would say 'wait a minute, we thought this guy was a Republican. Wait a minute, we thought he was a Democrat.' I think the effect there would be a negative effect for the foundation potentially, so for now absolutely not on my radar."
FILE: Bordeaux, France - July 25, 2003
14. STILL - Armstrong riding bike and holding up thumb during the Tour de France (ID No. 0307250423)
"In ten years time if I sit there and say 'I was so strong on Alpe d'Huez in 2001,' then I've got a problem if I'm thinking about that."
16. Still Photo Lance Armstrong holding up trophy after winning the Tour de France (ID No. 03072701865)
Men's cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Road cycling , Men's road cycling , Men's road cycling , Tour de France , Doping , Government and politics
Austin , United States
cab5afa3d18b221d973fa4442b59ae7c
Spain Landis 2
Tour de France winner says his case not about doping, denies wrongdoing
1. Wide exterior of hotel where news conference held in Madrid
2. Floyd Landis seated in hotel room talking on mobile phone
3. Close of Landis on phone
4. Photographic media scrambling to take shots of Landis
5. Cutaway TV camera
6. Landis standing for photo before sitting for news conference
7. Wide of news conference
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Floyd Landis
"I declare convincingly and categorically that my winning the 'Tour de France' has been exclusively due to many years of training and my complete devotion of cycling. To sacrifice of an entire life to carry out my dream of thousands of kilometres that I have completed through an absolute respect to the clean-ness of the sport."
9. Cutaway media
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Floyd Landis:
"As always, since I have cycled, my physiological parameters of testosterone and epi-testosterone are high. As of those of any other sportsman and in special cases, as in mine. For natural reasons, this level is higher still."
11. Cutaway media
12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Luis Sanz, Lawyer:
"The test's result (high testosterone level) of the cyclist is normal, I mean the result was produced in a normal way by his metabolism. Absolutely we doubt the tests made by this laboratory in Paris. And we think this may have happened to other sportsmen."
13. Cutaway cameras
"I will say that I'm quite proud of that day. I did the best ride I could do, I was the strongest guy on the stage and in the race and I deserve to win. I was determined to win. I set out that day to win the stage -I didn't know about gaining any time. My goal was to win the stage and I'm proud of it."
15. Media
16. Various of Landis and photographers
Floyd Landis is ready to prove he did not cheat to win the Tour de France.
The American cyclist said Friday that he will undergo tests to show the world his victory in cycling's biggest event was not tainted by doping.
He said the positive result had nothing to do with doping, and that the high level of testosterone in his blood was the result of his natural metabolism.
On Friday, the Lancaster County, Pennsylvania-native defended himself as an honest competitor who had devoted his life to the sport of cycling.
�I declare convincingly and categorically that my winning the Tour de France has been exclusively due to many years of training and my complete devotion to cycling,� he said, adding that he has �absolute respect for the cleanness of the sport.�
�I was the strongest guy. I deserved to win, and I'm proud of it,� he said, wearing a red-and-black baseball cap turned around backward and a white shirt with the name of his Phonak cycling team.
Landis said he was shocked when told of the initial positive result.
He said he had been tested six other times during the Tour, and many other times during the year.
�I would like to make absolutely clear that I am not in any doping process,� he said. �I ask not to be judged by anyone, much less sentenced by anyone.�
Others agreed that the test results seemed odd.
Dr. Gary Wadler, a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency and a spokesman for the American College of Sports Medicine, said Thursday that had Landis been a user of a banned substance to boost his testosterone it would likely have appeared in his earlier tests.
Landis' Phonak team suspended him after the International Cycling Union notified it Wednesday that he had an �unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone� in a test conducted after his stirring comeback in the Tour's 17th stage last week.
Landis and the rest of the cycling world must await a second test that will either confirm the results of the first one, or clear his name. The rider said he hoped that would be concluded as soon as possible, and John Lelangue, manager of his Switzerland-based Phonak team, said he would ask that the backup sample be tested in the next few days.
But Landis's lawyer, Luis Sanz, said he fully expected the backup test to come back with the same result, since the elevated testosterone was produced naturally by Landis's body. Sanz said further tests must be conducted to prove his client's innocence.
Landis's victory in the Tour was one of the feel-good stories of the year. The son of devout Mennonite parents had raced on a hip that is so painful he will need an operation to replace it later this year.
He appeared to lose any chance of victory during a disastrous 16th stage, only to break out with one of the great performances in the Tour's long history the very next day. Now, he could ultimately be stripped of victory if he fails to clear his name.
Tour de France , Cycling , Doping , Road cycling , Doping regulations , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
Madrid , Madrid , Spain
e79fba8377a109ec5efe355a3d990986
DV Armstrong Vertuno (SOT)
After more than a decade of denying that he doped to win the Tour de France seven times, Lance Armstrong was set to sit down Monday for what has been trumpeted as a "no-holds barred," 90-minute, question-and-answer session with Winfrey.
Lance Armstrong , Oprah Winfrey , Floyd Landis
HEADLINE: AP sports writer: Armstrong calm, relaxed
CAPTION: After more than a decade of denying that he doped to win the Tour de France seven times, Lance Armstrong was set to sit down Monday for what has been trumpeted as a "no-holds barred," 90-minute, question-and-answer session with Winfrey. (Jan. 14)
AP - NO RESTRICTION
Austin, Texas 1/14/13
1. File of Armstrong on a bike
2. SOUNDBITE: Jim Vertuno/AP Sports Writer
Well I was just driving through his neighborhood to kind of scout out what media would be parked outside of his house as early as yesterday and I saw him coming at me. He was just jogging on the side of the road. I recognized him immediately. I doubled back and turned around and pulled over to the side and flagged him down and got him to chat for a few minutes. He was quite relaxed. Told me he was calm, at ease and ready to speak candidly with Oprah Winfrey today.
3. File of Armstrong walking through office
4. File of Armstrong jerseys on wall
5. File of Armstrong talking
His mood was good. He was quite jovial. We were talking. We chatted a little bit. He would divulge what he was going to say to her today. It's anticipated, expected that he will make some sort of limited confession and apology related to the doping charges against him, allegations that he's denied for over a decade. So it's a big moment for him. The fact that he was quite calm and relaxed was very interesting.
7. Media vehicles outside Armstrong's hosue
8. Camera and lights outside Armstrong's house
There's international interest in this story. He's an international figure. Was an international sports hero and that image has been tarnished and people want to see how he's going to rebuild that.
10. TV cameras outside Armstrong's house
11. SOUNDBITE: Jim Vertuno/AP Sports Writer
It's going to be a long day. A lot of people are waiting to see what Lance is going to say. More than a decade of denials could come to an end today. That's the anticipation, so we'll see.
12. Pan from media vehicles to Armstrong's house
Days of preparation dwindled to hours for Lance Armstrong, whose scheduled interview with Oprah Winfrey transformed his quiet upscale neighborhood into a destination for media awaiting word of an apology and for onlookers snapping souvenir photos.
While all this was going on Monday morning, Armstrong managed to slip away for a jog. He returned home by cutting through a neighbor's yard and hopping a fence.
After more than a decade of denying that he doped to win the Tour de France seven times, Armstrong was set to sit down Monday for what has been trumpeted as a "no-holds barred," 90-minute, question-and-answer session with Winfrey.
The cyclist will make a limited confession about his role as the head of a long-running scheme to dominate the prestigious bike race with the aid of performance-enhancing drugs, a person with knowledge of the situation has told The Associated Press.
Winfrey and her crew said they would film the interview at Armstrong's home and broadcast it Thursday on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Local and international news crews were staking out positions in front of Armstrong's Spanish-style villa. News crews began arriving before dawn, hoping to catch a glimpse of Winfrey or Armstrong.
If he was feeling any pressure, Armstrong hardly showed it during a jog under bright skies Sunday, even as members of his legal team began arriving one-by-one at his home.
"I'm calm, I'm at ease and ready to speak candidly," he told the AP, but declined to reveal how he would answer questions about the scandal that has shadowed his career like an angry storm cloud.
Armstrong was stripped of all seven Tour titles last year following a voluminous U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report that portrayed him as a ruthless competitor, willing to go to any lengths to win the prestigious race. USADA chief executive Travis Tygart labeled the doping regimen allegedly carried out by the U.S. Postal Service team that Armstrong once led, "The most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."
Yet Armstrong looked like just another runner getting in his roadwork when he talked to the AP, wearing a red jersey and black shorts, sunglasses and a white baseball cap pulled down to his eyes. Leaning into a reporter's car on the shoulder of a busy Austin road, he seemed unfazed by the attention and the news crews that made stops at his home. He cracked a few jokes about all the reporters vying for his attention, then added, "but now I want to finish my run," and took off down the road.
The interview with Winfrey will be Armstrong's first public response to the USADA report. Armstrong is not expected to provide a detailed account about his involvement, nor address in depth many of the specific allegations in the more than 1,000-page USADA report.
In a text to the AP on Saturday, Armstrong said: "I told her (Winfrey) to go wherever she wants and I'll answer the questions directly, honestly and candidly. That's all I can say."
After a federal investigation of the cyclist was dropped without charges being brought last year, USADA stepped in with an investigation of its own. The agency deposed 11 former teammates and accused Armstrong of masterminding a complex and brazen drug program that included steroids, blood boosters and a range of other performance-enhancers.
After he was stripped of his Tour titles, Armstrong defiantly tweeted a picture of himself on a couch at home with all seven of the yellow leader's jerseys on display in frames behind him. But the preponderance of evidence in the USADA report and pending legal challenges on several fronts apparently forced him to change tactics, and he still faces legal challenges.
Former teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, has filed a federal whistle-blower lawsuit that accused Armstrong of defrauding the U.S. Postal Service. The Justice Department has yet to decide whether it will join the suit as a plaintiff.
The London-based Sunday Times also is suing Armstrong to recover about $500,000 it paid him to settle a libel lawsuit. On Sunday, the newspaper took out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune, offering Winfrey suggestions for what questions to ask Armstrong. Dallas-based SCA Promotions, which tried to deny Armstrong a promised bonus for a Tour de France win, has threatened to bring yet another lawsuit seeking to recover more than $7.5 million an arbitration panel awarded the cyclist in that dispute.
The lawsuit most likely to be influenced by a confession might be the Sunday Times case. Potential perjury charges stemming from Armstrong's sworn testimony in the 2005 arbitration fight would not apply because of the statute of limitations. Armstrong was not deposed during the federal investigation that was closed last year.
Many of his sponsors dropped Armstrong after the damning USADA report _ at the cost of tens of millions of dollars _ and soon after, he left the board of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997. Armstrong is still said to be worth about $100 million.
Livestrong might be one reason Armstrong has decided to come forward with an apology and limited confession. The charity supports cancer patients and still faces an image problem because of its association with Armstrong. He also may be hoping a confession would allow him to return to competition in the elite triathlon or running events he participated in after his cycling career.
World Anti-Doping Code rules state his lifetime ban cannot be reduced to less than eight years. WADA and U.S. Anti-Doping officials could agree to reduce the ban further depending on what information Armstrong provides and his level of cooperation.
Tour de France , Doping , Doping regulations , Cycling , Men's road cycling , Lawsuits , Men's cycling , Road cycling , Postal service , Jogging , Events , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Legal proceedings , Law and order , General news , Shipping , Transportation and shipping , Industrial products and services , Industries , Business , Exercise , Diet and exercise , Lifestyle , Government and politics
United States Postal Service, United States government
Austin , United States , Texas , North America
79707ff64865c50aa85bd7fd23c44f86
SNTV Feature Cycling Tour Reax
Reaction from Paris to announcement of 2011 Tour route
SNTV
Ivan Basso , Pat McQuaid , Thomas Voeckler , Thor Hushovd , Christian Prudhomme , Andy Schleck , Alberto Contador , Floyd Landis
Palais des Congres, Paris, France. Tuesday, October 19, 2010
1. 00:00 Wide shot exterior of the Palais des Congres
2. 00:04 Wide shot inside the hall of the Palais des Congres.
3. 00:09 Mid shot of Ivan Basso (Italian racer) talking in the hall
4. 00:13 Midshot of Pat McQuaid, Cycling's governing body president refusing to talk to journalists
5. 00:21 Mid shot of Thomas Voeckler (French racer)
6. 00:26 SOUNDBITE (French): Thomas Voeckler
7. 00:34 Thor Hushovd surrounded by journalists
8. 00:38 Mid shot of the stage with Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme, racers and individuals connected with the Tour
9. 00:42 Television crews on the stage
10. 00:47 SOUNDBITE (English): Andy Schleck
11. 00:57 Prudhomme on the stage with a French map
12. 01:03 SOUNDBITE (French): Christian Prudhomme
13. 01:30 Mid shot of Prudhomme with journalists
14. 01:36 Wide shot of the conference room
With six high mountain stages and four hilltop finishes, the 2011 Tour de France route is tailor-made for three-time champion Alberto Contador - if he is not banned for doping.
Arguably the best climber in the world, the 27-year-old Spaniard is unsure whether he will be allowed to race after being provisionally suspended for a positive doping test at the 2010 Tour, which he won.
If he is cleared, Contador will once again be the huge favourite when the race sets off next July.
Tour organisers unveiled the 2011 course on Tuesday, with Contador missing the presentation at the Palais des Congres.
Andy Schleck, the 2010 runner-up who would be likely to inherit the title if Contador is stripped of his win, was in the audience.
All eyes in the cycling world were on Paris on Tuesday (19 October) - and the announcement of the route of the 2011 Tour de France.
And many people wanted to speak to Pat McQuaid, with the regard to Alberto Contador's positive doping test at the 2010 Tour - and what action will be taken.
The president of cycling's governing body said the UCI will not be rushed into a decision, and is still discussing the Contador case with the World Anti-Doping Agency's scientific and legal experts.
Contador claims that the traces of the banned drug clenbuterol discovered in one of his samples by a laboratory in Cologne, Germany, came from contaminated steak. He denies that tests also found traces of plastic residues indicating he underwent banned blood transfusions.
As to the 2011 race, it will start on July the 2nd in the western region of Vendee with a 191-kilometre first stage from Passage du Gois to Mont Des Alouettes that will be followed by a 23-kilometre (14.3-mile) team time trial around Les Essarts.
A final stage on the Champs-Elysees on July the 24th will complete the 3,471-kilometre ordeal.
The third week promises to be crucial with the Col du Galibier climbed twice before a stage finish at the famous Alpe d'Huez ski resort and its 21 hairpin bends on July the 22nd.
SOUNDBITE (French):
"I think that there will be no time out in this Tour de France, no "banal" stage, with an escape and a final sprint."
SUPER CAPTION: Thomas Voeckler
Back to Contador - there was no escaping his shadow - and if he is found guilty of doping, the Spaniard faces a possible two-year suspension and could become just the second cyclist to be stripped of a Tour crown. American Floyd Landis lost his 2006 Tour title for doping.
That would make 2010 runner-up Andy Schleck the big winner.
SOUNDBITE (English):
"I hope he (Alberto Contador) is innocent, and I hope he can prove it. I think that people should give him the time to defend himself."
SUPER CAPTION: Andy Schleck
Tour director Christian Prudhomme said he is reserving judgement on Contador's case until the UCI, cycling's governing body, issues its final ruling. And that despite the rash of recent doping cases, interest in the Tour remains huge.
"It means that the law against doping should exist everywhere, it is necessary in cycling, off course, but it is not a cosmetic struggle. It is a fundamental, it should exist everywhere. The Tour is such a wonderful event, it brings people together. When you do the Tour de France, you can see 3,500 kilometres of smiles. It is amazing."
The course will include a total of 23 mountain passes in the Alps, Pyrenees and Massif Central, two less than 2010.
Riders will also visit Italy during the 17th and 18th stages in Pinerolo.
Prize money will total 3.2 million euros - with 450-thousand euros going to the winner.
Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Cycling , Doping , Tour de France , Doping regulations , Road cycling , Sports media , Sports governance , Sports , Events
France , Paris , Western Europe , Europe
9fe714e7e77610c0eb44cd5a3c651bf6
DV Landis Steroids
Disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and accused seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong of involvement in doping, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
AP File , AP Photos
Floyd Landis , Lance Armstrong , Levi Leipheimer
HEADLINE: Report: Landis admits doping, accuses Armstrong
CAPTION: Disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs and accused seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong of involvement in doping, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. (May 20)
DISGRACED AMERICAN CYCLIST FLOYD LANDIS HAS ADMITTED TO SYSTEMATIC USE OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS AND ACCUSED SEVEN-TIME TOUR DE FRANCE CHAMPION LANCE ARMSTRONG OF INVOLVEMENT IN DOPING.
THAT'S ALL ACCORDING TO A REPORT IN THURSDAY'S WALL STREET JOURNAL.
LANDIS, WHO WON THE 2006 TOUR DE FRANCE BUT WAS LATER STRIPPED OF THE TITLE FOR DOPING HAS ALWAYS DENIED CHEATING, UNTIL NOW.
ACCORDING TO THE JOURNAL LANDIS SENT A SERIES OF E-MAILS CYCLING OFFICIALS AND SPONSORS DETAILING HIS LONGTIME USE OF BANNED DRUGS.
THE E-MAILS SAY THAT LANDIS STARTED DOPING IN 2002, HIS FIRST YEAR RACING WITH THE U.S. POSTAL SERVICE TEAM LEAD BY ARMSTONG.
IN ONE OF THE EMAILS SEEN BY THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, DATED APRIL 30TH, LANDIS CLAIMS HE FLEW TO SPAIN IN 2003 AND HAD TWO HALF LITER UNITS OF BLOOD EXTRACTED FROM HIS BODY IN A THREE WEEK INTERVAL TO BE USED LATER DURING THE TOUR DE FRANCE.
HE ALSO CLAIMS THAT THE BLOOD EXTRACTIONS TOOK PLACE IN ARMSTRONG'S APARTMENT, KEEPING THE BLOOD BAGS BELONGING TO LANDIS, ARMSTRONG AND ANOTHER TEAMMATE IN A REFRIGERATOR.
IN ADDITION TO ARMSTRONG, LANDIS ACCUSES AMERICAN RIDERS LEVI LEIPHEIMER AND DAVE ZABRISKIE AS WELL AS ARMSTRONG'S LONGTIME COACH JOHAN BRUYNEEL OF INVOLVEMENT IN DOPING.
LANDIS SERVED A TWO-YEAR BAN AFTER TESTING POSITIVE FOR ELEVATED TESTOSTERONE LEVELS AT THE 2006 TOUR. HE WAS THE FIRST RIDE EVER TO BE STRIPPED OF A TOUR DE FRANCE TITLE.
Doping , Tour de France , Cycling , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Road cycling , Sports , Events , Men's road cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
2084b6dea4146d3ee7b425f46edc8515
SNTV Cycling McQuaid
UCI President Pat McQuaid rejects claims of Greg Lemond.
Pat McQuaid , Lance Armstrong , Alberto Contador , Floyd Landis , Bradley Wiggins
SOURCE: SNTV.
UCI president Pat McQuaid vehemently claimed on Thursday (December 13th) that three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond's assertion that he should take over cycling's governing body to lead the sport out of crisis - following the Lance Armstrong doping scandal - is nothing but a publicity stunt, as McQuaid spoke to SNTV at the UCI base in Aigle, Switzerland.
SCRIPTING INFORMATION TO FOLLOW:
The picturesque snow-capped Alpine hills surrounding the scenic UCI headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland were the venue for cycling's governing body's president to respond on Thursday to three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond's assertion that he should take over the UCI to lead the sport out of crisis - following the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
Pat McQuaid said it was merely a publicity stunt, as the former Irish national road champion spoke to SNTV at the UCI base in Aigle, Switzerland.
His embattled organisation is co-operating with an independent commissions investigation into its links to the Armstrong case - and is asking
stakeholders to improve cycling's future with a new consultative initiative: 'A Bright Future For Cycling'.
LeMond, a long-time Armstrong critic, has emerged as an unofficial spokesman in recent weeks for the UCI's critics.
They seized on the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's suggestions that the governing body protected Armstrong from scrutiny, and accepted money in exchange, while he helped his teams run massive doping programs.
LeMond said it would be like "the fox guarding the henhouse" to leave McQuaid and UCI honorary president Hein Verbruggen, who led cycling from 1991-2005, in office.
The UCI has reacted on three fronts since October, when it endorsed a USADA report calling for Armstrong to be banned for life and stripped of his race
results, including his record seven Tour de France titles.
McQuaid told SNTV during the Olympics last summer that he was going to try and bring the likes of Armstrong and fellow former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador to account - but former Armstrong team-mates have accused UCI of covering up suspicious samples from Armstrong in exchange for payments totalling $125,000, claims that the governing body has denied.
Lawyers for the commission have begun taking documents and evidence from UCI archives, and McQuaid acknowledged there would be "an open paper trail"
explaining Armstrong's payments, that went toward anti-doping projects.
The allegations surround the 2001 Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland) where an Armstrong sample was found to be 'suspicious' but not 'positive' - as McQuaid confirmed on Thursday, while also verifying that the disgraced American former seven-time Tour de France winner had indeed 'donated' 125,000 US dollars to the UCI between 2002 and 2006.
McQuaid has already been at loggerheads with former banned riders such as Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton.
Both pedallers, who testified against Armstrong at the USADA inquiry, have also - like LeMond - called for McQuaid and Verbruggen to resign and McQuaid's response in October was to label the former cycling cheats as 'scumbags'.
He was less scathing about LeMond - but ridiculed his suggestion at becoming an 'interim' UCI president and suggested it was just another bandwagon for LeMond to jump on to.
The panel, chaired by retired British judge Philip Otton, has a June 1st deadline to deliver its report and recommendations - and on Thursday, the UCI also announced that consultancy firm KPMG will advise the federation on modernising the way the Switzerland-based body is managed.
However, there is no doubt that McQuaid feels that Lemond is not the answer as cycling tries to get its beleaguered house in order.
With the triumph of Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky in the Tour de France - and a memorable atmosphere generated in the vociferous Olympic velodrome in London last summer - 2012 contained some magnificent moments in cycling.
However, after the very public downfall of Armstrong - a revered icon - 2013 will contain many more probing questions for McQuaid before that report is published at the start of June, but the UCI president is refusing to bow to pressure ahead of what he hopes will be a bright new dawn for a sport that needs to generate some more headlines of the the right variety.
SHOTLIST: December 13th, 2012. Aigle, Switzerland.
1. 00:00 Establisher - wide pan scenic of wide of UCI headquarters in Aigle.
2. 00:11 Cutaway - close-up of UCI flag.
3. 00:17 Mid shot and close-up of statue and plaque honouring UCI honorary president Hein Verbruggen.
4. 00:25 Various of UCI president Pat McQuaid cycling around velodrome with local club members.
5. 00:40 SOUNDBITE: Pat McQuaid (English) - on new UCI stakeholder consultation 'A bright future for cycling':
"I think what will come out of will be a consensus that everybody understands what each others responsibility is - and that each (cyclist/team official) is prepared to meet that responsibility and work for the sport . The sport which we all love. Everybody in the UCI, the stakeholders, the board of management and everyone that works within the UCI all love the sport and want to see it develop. Everybody is shocked and angry with what happened over the past six months....and three or four months in the revelations with the (Lance) Armstrong affair and we want to ensure that nothing like that ever happens again."
7. 01:25 Cutaway - mid shot of cameraman.
8. 01:30 SOUNDBITE: Pat McQuaid (English) - on the allegations that the UCI reportedly accepted between 25,000 and 125,000 US dollars from Lance Armstrong, between 2002 and 20056 after Armstrong's alleged 'suspicious' doping test result at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland:
"Yes, I do have a strong opinion. Yes, the UCI took...the exact figure is 125,000 (USD) dollars. 25,000 at one stage and 100,000 in another stage. Those donations were given and were accepted by the UCI, and were reported to the UCI management committee at the time; were reported to the anti-doping foundation....I think it was called the 'Anti-Doping Commission' at the time and was told what to do with those monies. The paperwork is all there to back that up and there were absolutely no favours given (to Lance Armstrong) or nothing else. In terms of the 2001 Tour de Suisse 'positive' (test result), there was never a positive on the Tour de Suisse - and I am sure that the independent commission will eventually see that as well."
9. 02:13 Wide of McQuaid coming off the track after a tough workout with local cyclists at the UCI velodrome.
10. 02:27 SOUNDBITE: Pat McQuaid (English) - was he surprised by the manner of the public attack on himself and his predecessor, Hein Verbruggen, by the three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond about allegations of UCI corruption?:
"I do indeed (feel surprised). I have known Greg a long time. He rode races that I organised. That was back 25 years ago.....but I have to ask the question, 'What has he done in the last 25 years for the sport of cycling?' Nothing but stand on the outside and criticise. Now he has the arrogance to our himself forward as an interim president of the UCI! Put forward by whom? A group of people who sit around a room for two days with no mandate, no constitution. You know, they have many agendas. Many individual agendas and they put him forward....and then I read where Paul Kimmage said yesterday (Wednesday) in an interview that, 'It was only a PR stunt to put Greg (LeMond) up an interim president'. You know, they really don't know where they are going or what they are doing. It's not the correct way to approach it. There is a proper structure in place at the UCI, as there is in every other international federation, and if Greg want to be president of the UCI, let him go through that structure. Let him get the support of his national federation and put himself forward next September."
11. 03:26 Wide of club members cycling around velodrome.
12. 03:40 SOUNDBITE: Pat McQuaid (English) - on whether LeMond's attacks on the UCI hierarchy at this particular point in time could be seen as opportunist?:
"I think it possibly is. I think his actions over the last 25 years are opportunist and he jumps on a bandwagon when he sees a bandwagon rolling against something....but that's Greg. He was a great cyclist. I admire him a lot as a cyclist. He's also a great campaigner for I think it's called AHDH, you know, a medical problem ... a medical ailment which he suffers from. He does lot of good work for them. But in terms of cycling and the UCI, I would say that Greg does not really know what goes on in cycling today, compared with 25 years ago. He does not really know what goes on with anti-doping today, compared with 25 years ago. So, he hasn't really got a strong position to come from."
13. 04:27 Cutaway - electronic UCI signs at the velodrome.
14. 04:40 SOUNDBITE: Pat McQuaid (English) -
Q: What do you hope for in 2013 for the UCI, the sport of cycling and yourself?
"I would hope first of all, that the independent commission does its work, in a completely independent way, as it will be seen to do. It has its hearings and comes out with a report that.....whilst it may find fault with some decisions that the UCI took and so forth.....will actually say that the UCI did what it could do in the fight against the doping that went on in the sport."
15. 05;10 Pull-focus on close-up of McQuaid.
16. 05:16 SOUNDBITE: Pat McQuaid (English) - on what the future holds for the UCI:
"We've...the UCI has concentrated on what it needs to do and what it should do for the future. I do believe, as I said, that the sport is in a very good position and we will soon move on. As 2013 comes around, and nobody will love the 1st of January in 2012 more than I will (laughs), I have no doubt that we have a very, very bright future."
17. 05:38 Close-up of McQuaid posing in front of UCI sign in reception before a cutaway to cameramen.
Cycling , Men's cycling , Doping , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Tour de France , International basketball , Sports governance , Sports , Men's sports , Men's cycling , Men's road cycling , Events , Basketball
Aigle , Vaud , Switzerland
74c6e6e8c56aad4afcce15cf50ae4c62
Europe/US Landis 2 FILE
Landis loses doping verdict appeal, loses Tour title
Floyd Landis , Oscar Pereiro , Michael Rasmussen
FILE: California, US - 20 May 2007
2. Wide of court, Landis walking to witness stand and taking oath
3. Mid of Landis' family sitting in courtroom
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Floyd Landis, cyclist:
"Obviously, it's fun to win, some win more than others, but nevertheless, it's a matter of who I am and it wouldn't serve any purpose for me to cheat and win the Tour because I wouldn't be proud of it and that's just not what the goal was from the beginning."
5. Mid of courtroom officials
FILE: Pontevedra, northwestern Spain - 5 August 2006
7. Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro, who finished second to Landis in the 2006 Tour, speaking to press
US cyclist Floyd Landis lost his doping case on Thursday when arbitrators upheld the results of a test that showed the 2006 Tour de France champion used synthetic testosterone to fuel his spectacular comeback victory, The Associated Press has learned.
The decision means Landis, who repeatedly has denied using performance-enhancing drugs, must forfeit his Tour de France title and is subject to a two-year ban, retroactive to January 30, 2007.
The ruling, handed down nearly four months after a bizarre and bitterly fought hearing, leaves the American with one final way to possibly salvage his title - an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
If Landis doesn't appeal, he'll be the first person in the 105-year history of the race to lose the title because of a doping offence.
According to documents obtained by AP, the vote was 2-1 to uphold the results, with lead arbitrator Patrice Brunet and Richard McLaren in the majority and Christopher Campbell dissenting.
It's a devastating loss for Landis, who has steadfastly insisted that cheating went against everything he was all about and said he was merely a pawn in the anti-doping system's all-consuming effort to find cheaters and keep money flowing to its labs and agencies.
Landis didn't hide from the scrutiny - invited it, in fact - and now has been found guilty by the closest thing to a fair trial any accused athlete will get.
Landis, who has a month to file his appeal, is still weighing his legal options, according to a statement released by his legal team.
The decision comes more than a year after Landis' stunning comeback in Stage 17 of the 2006 Tour, one that many people said couldn't be done without some kind of outside help.
Flying to the lead near the start of a gruelling Alpine stage, Landis regained nearly eight minutes against the leader, and went on to win the three-week race.
Spanish rider Oscar Pereiro, who finished second to Landis in the 2006 Tour, said he hadn't officially heard the news yet.
This year's Tour began without the official defending champion, and the traditional "No. 1" jersey wasn't handed out when the race began in London.
It only got worse as doping allegations and suspicions devastated the 2007 Tour.
Three riders, including former overall leader Michael Rasmussen, and two teams were expelled during the three-week race.
At 31, Landis has vowed he hadn't given up on cycling - he raced in small, nonsanctioned events in Colorado this summer - even hoping to some day wear the yellow jersey again.
Tour de France , Doping , Cycling , Road cycling , Court decisions , Events , Sports , Legal proceedings , Law and order , General news , Men's road cycling , Road cycling , Cycling , Sports , Men's road cycling , Men's cycling , Men's sports , Men's cycling
Additional Debug Information
APQL:
FastCommandText:
QueryTime: (hh:mm:ss:ms)
TotalTime: (hh:mm:ss:ms)
XML Document:
How many pages would you like to export to Excel?
of pages.(20 results per page)
You have successfully shared item(s).
AP ARCHIVE ASSOCIATED PRESS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CONTENT PARTNERS
About Us About AP AP Compilations ABC News
Our Content AP Leadership Instant Library CelebrityFootage
How We Work History Rights Clearance British MovieTone
News Industry Leadership Content Representation TV-am
Contact Us Intellectual Property Photos
Help Branding