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Sunday's EuroFile: LeMond says Armstrong menaced him; protest halts Spanish championships; Ullrich to seize the moment

By Agence France Presse
Published: Jun. 25, 2006

Former Tour de France champion Greg LeMond alleged Sunday that Lance Armstrong threatened him for having criticized the seven-time race winner's association with a doctor implicated in doping affairs.

LeMond, the first American to win the Tour — he won in 1986, 1989 and 1990 — said that he had come under pressure from Armstrong and his circle of friends after saying in 2001 that he was disappointed at the cyclist's association with Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari. LeMond said that the threats continued after 2001.

"Lance threatened me. He threatened my wife, my business, my life," LeMond told French sports daily L'Equipe. "His biggest threat consisted of saying that he (Armstrong) would find 10 people to testify that I took EPO."

LeMond also criticized the UCI for its failure to deal with the problem of doping, saying the Spanish blood-doping scandal dubbed "Operation Puerto" indicates that "the entire system is corrupt."

Referring to the Vrijman report, named after the expert commissioned by the UCI to probe the accusations of doping against Armstrong, LeMond added: "The report should have come from the World Anti-Doping Agency or the French Ministry of Health. But it doesn't change anything if you catch a rider because Lance is now retired and it continues."

The 34-year-old Armstrong won seven straight Tour de France titles between 1999 and 2005 before retiring last year. On Friday, he dismissed as untrue reports that he told a doctor treating him for cancer in 1996 that he had previously taken the banned blood booster EPO, testosterone, growth hormones and cortisone.

Spanish championship suspended as riders protest doping reports
Sunday’s Spanish cycling championship has been suspended after riders boycotted the road race in protest over recent press reports on doping.

"The championship has been suspended by the riders in protest against all the latest revelations," said Jose Rodriguez, president of the Spanish Riders' Association.

The peloton had started to race between Moraleja de Enmedio and Mostoles, in the suburbs of Madrid, on Sunday.

But the riders stopped pedaling about 3km into the race and returned to their hotels.

Spanish daily El Pais on Sunday published extracts from a judicial inquiry that found at least 58 cyclists had used a criminal network which supplies doping products and was uncovered on May 23 in Spain.

The Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) slammed the decision by riders not to race as well as the recent leaks on the judicial inquiry made to newspapers.

"The RFEC and the championships have become victims of the decision by riders to boycott the race which we do not agree with," the RFEC said in a statement.

Ullrich says he’ll seize the moment
Jan Ullrich wants to get off to a flying start in this year's Tour de France.

The 32-year-old Ullrich, who won the event in 1997 and finished runner-up five times, told the magazine Super Illu: "This time from the first day each second will count. I will seize every chance to wear the yellow jersey. I have the impression that this time I'm at 95 percent of my fitness."

The German has often been criticized for his lack of fitness but he is adamant there will be no questions about his shape this time and added: "I've made even more effort than usual to eat better."