Former American cyclist Tyler Hamilton claimed that he used anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs along with Lance Armstrong and other cyclists at the time. Hamilton makes the allegations in an interview broadcast on the American television news program “60 Minutes“. Last year, Hamilton was subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury investigating Lance Armstrong and the use of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport of cycling.
“[Armstrong] took what we all took…the majority of the peloton,” Hamilton says, referring to the tight group of bicycles and their riders in a race. “There was EPO…testosterone…a blood transfusion,” he tells Pelley.
Hamilton says Armstrong used EPO, a drug that boosted endurance by increasing the amount of red blood cells in his body, to win the 1999 Tour de France, the race he won an astonishing seven times. “I saw [EPO] in his refrigerator…I saw him inject it more than one time like we all did, like I did many, many times.”
Lance Armstrong’s attorney Mark Fabiani promptly issued a statement responding to Tyler Hamilton’s allegations calling Hamilton a “liar in search of a book deal”.
Tyler Hamilton is a confessed liar in search of a book deal – and he managed to dupe 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News, and new anchor Scott Pelley. Most people, though, will see this for exactly what it is: More washed-up cyclists talking trash for cash.
Lance Armstrong also responded to the 6o Minute interview on Twitter, reaffirming his innocence and pointing to his clean anti-doping record in over 20 years as a competitive cyclist:
May 20, 2011 12:37 am via ÜberSocialReplyRetweetFavorite
Passing 500 anti-doping tests over a 20 year period is certainly impressive. It either supports Lance Armstrong’s innocence or points to the incompetence and ineffectiveness of the anti-doping movement. What do you think?
Photo credit: richardmasoner
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