hoodooguru

I think Frankie likes seeing his name in the papers and the front page of ESPN's website a little too much. Really what is the usefullness of revealing this now, why didn't he come clean before he picked up his winnings? Is he gonna give the prize money back?

botto 

probably more like this:

UCI: Someone saw you take pills. Were they illegal?

LA: No comment.

UCI: Will any of your teammates, whose vitality depends on your success, say they're illegal?

LA: No comment, but off the record my beeyatches do what they're told. Now say goodbye Sir.

UCI: goodbye Sir.

botto 

yeah, i'm sure he just loves reading his name come up in an article on doping.

it's a brilliant career move

rapidcarbon

Lance is dirty as those guys

patentcad

The emerging picture isn't about individual guilt or innocence in pro cycling on the doping issue. It's a sport-wide embedded CULTURE of doping that seems to have encompassed virtually ALL the top competitors, and would then appear to involve everyone. So it's not so much 'did Lance cheat?' It's 'who didn't?' Um... essentially nobody.

So who's 'dirty' here? The competitors who are trying to stay in the sport and just compete? Or the UCI with its apparant utter failure to provide a dope-free environment where pros aren't AFRAID to compete without EPO?? This notion that if Lance doped in such an atmosphere makes him somehow 'evil' is preposterous.

Oh, yes, but all those other pro sports THEY'RE all clean.

Right.

hoodooguru

It sure is, who outside cycling circles has heard of him? Now he is the courageous athlete who came clean on doping. It's a very savvy career move.

merlinextraligh

I'm pretty certain Landis wasn't Armstrong's teammate in 1999

EventServices

If you've been black-listed in the sport, you lose your fears.

Frankie is not a vindictive person. He's just tired of living someone else's lie.

merlinextraligh

I think Frankie has figured out that after the testimony against Armstrong becoming public, his dismissal by Toyoto United, and presumably his non renewal by OLN that making a living in Cycling was over for him. I'm betting he's moving on outside the sport.

I'm sorry to see things end like this for him. I always admired his work ethic and attitude. One of very few guys with multiple TDF starts to finish every Tour he started. But heck his demise as a broadcast journalist puts those of us who wanted to see him succeed out of the pain of watching the train wreck.

patentcad

+1

HDWound

From Velonews

Following news reports that he admitted to the use of EPO early in his career, former U.S. Postal team, rider Frankie Andreu released the following statement explaining his reasons for his admission.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Turning the sport around.
As hard as it is, sometimes putting something on the line is the only way to help. My confession of taking EPO when I was younger is not meant to drag anyone down but to raise awareness of the problems that existed and still exist. I don't have to tell you this because in the last few years some big profile names have brought this to all of our attention.

I took EPO to help myself, not to help anyone else. The article mentions a specific date but I never mentioned the time frame of my mistakes. It doesn't matter the reason why or when, it's wrong! To say there isn't a problem in cycling would just kid yourself, there is a problem it seems in many sports now. At least cycling is taking the steps to try and correct itself and make it a better a sport. It took cycling a long time to take this stance.

When I took EPO, before it was banned, the peloton was flying. I was surviving. I didn't live in the doping world very long but that short time felt forever. The sport is trying to make things right and perhaps it's time the riders also try to make things right. They don't have to speak about anything, they just have to race clean as many in the peloton now do.

Are my remarks going to make the sport better? Are my remarks going to clean up the sport? Probably not. I've been out of the sport for 6 years and I'm sure things have changed a lot. If anything I hope that my words help other riders, especially young riders, to not get caught up in doping.

We need to make some steps to make things better. If DNA sampling and testing is required then that is the way we should move. I understand the invasion of privacy and no other sport requires this, but if you put the truth out on the table then perhaps something good will come from it.
Frankie Andreu

BikeInMN

No, not riding...
JV

botto 

/\ that's exactly who i was thinking of.

Hambone

Assuming they don't remake any Cheech and Chong movies, for what career would this be a savvy move?

Snicklefritz

JV?

Snicklefritz

What hapened with Toyota United and OLN?

CyLowe97

Didn't Frankie and his wife (Betsy?) already testify in court about doping with regards to Lance?

If so, I'd say they're already out of the Postal/Disco inner-circle.


Kudos to Frankie for having some courage to come forward. Any professional sports league in general will drive out anyone who breaks the 'code of silence.' Cycling's not exclusive in that regard.

ravenmore

All pro sports dope. Period. I'd say the majority of pro athletes at the elite level of any sport are either doping or have doped for competitve advantage. Except for maybe Curling. I think those guys are clean.

merlinextraligh

Toyoto United canned Andreu shortly after his testimony in the Armstrong Arbitration became public, allegedly for failing to attend a race. The OLN comment was just my surmise that he wouldn't be working for OLN (Versus) next year (assuming anyone is) given how he was shunned by Discovery at this year's TDF.


Andreu was not the most skillful interviewer. His connection with Discovery, and presumbably the access it brought, had to be the reason OLN kept using him. With that gone, I can't imagine he'd be covering the Tour on television again.

Smoothie104

This should make for an interesting end of the year banquet for sure, Frankie is our guest speaker this year, Oct 28th to be exact.

Jared88

And bowling. Those guys are clean too.

SilentShifter

Courage? It only took him 13 years to come out and say something! What a great guy! After he is completely washed up and out of cycling he finally has the 'courage' to speak up. To me, he is nothing more than a lemond wanna be for attention and publicity.

Just another silly article that tries to implicate Armstrong into something that he was not involved. There are words, but once again, no real solid evidence and proof.

botto 

you're probably right, which is why i was trying to point out to hoodooguru that his 'thinking' was FUBAR

botto 

since when is bowling a sport?

merlinextraligh

His comments in the article aren't even about Armstrong. If he wanted to throw Armstrong under the Bus, he could have done a hell of a lot better job.

As for attention seeking, his testimony regarding Armstrong that started this path, was under oath, and at the compulsion of a subpeona.

Andreu is pretty well f**k'd in professional cycling and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the forces behind that. If I was Andreu, my comments to the media at this point would be much less measured.

And Silent Shifter, would you propose that Andreu should never come foward? Do you need the conspiracy of silence intact to maintain your fantasy that your hero's are all clean?