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UCI, Ekimov come to Armstrong’s defense
LONDON — In the wake of fresh doping allegations against Lance Armstrong, cycling’s world governing body and one of his former teammates came to the defense of the seven-time Tour de France champion yesterday.
Tyler Hamilton, another ex-teammate of Armstrong, said during an interview on “60 Minutes’’ he witnessed Armstrong take performance-enhancing drugs before or during the 1999, 2000, and 2001 Tours while with the US Postal team.
However, team rider Viatcheslav Ekimov said he never saw Armstrong do any of the things Hamilton described.
The International Cycling Union also denied claims from Hamilton that it helped cover up a positive sample submitted by Armstrong at the Tour de Suisse in 2001.
“The UCI is deeply shocked by the seriousness of the allegations made on the ‘60 Minutes’ program aired by US television network
Ekimov, who rode with Armstrong as he won the Tour from 2000-05 and is now RadioShack’s team manager, referred to Hamilton as a “liar’’ and suggested he has ulterior motives in making his revelations now.
“Behind his story is something,’’ Ekimov said. “First of all, it’s untrue. And behind his story is some money or some stimulation. Because why did this guy just crack now? Why didn’t he do it in 2005? . . . I call these guys liars. First they lie about the innocence, now they lie about something else.
“I think it’s just money. It seems to me like somebody really wants to kill Lance and put him down. There’s all this interest to find people who will say something.’’
Hamilton twice has been banned for doping. Armstrong has denied doping and has never tested positive.
Hamilton, from Marblehead, Mass., said Armstrong told him of a positive sample he submitted in 2001, claiming the Texan made a deal with the UCI and they “figured out a way for it to go away.’’
But the UCI “categorically rejected’’ the accusation, insisting it had “never altered or hidden the results of a positive test.’’
“60 Minutes’’ also reported UCI officials helped arrange a meeting involving Armstrong and the World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory at Lausanne, which tested the Swiss race samples.
The UCI and its former president Hein Verbruggen, whose 14-year tenure ended in 2005, denied such a meeting took place.
