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Thursday, July 5, 2012

Hincapie to sing at Armstrong trial

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George Hincapie photo © Pasquale Stalteri / Miroir du Cyclisme
Will teammates testify against Lance Armstrong?
4 former U.S. Postal riders miss London Olympics…

Miroir du Cyclisme

July 5, 2012 - Five former teammates of Lance Armstrong on the U.S. Postal Service team will testify against the seven-time Tour de France winner claims the Dutch newspaper, Telesport. This is allegedly part of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)’s investigation of doping allegations against Armstrong. Among the five named is of Jonathan Vaughters, the current team manager of Garmin Sharp. Vaughters, reached by various media at the TdF, denied such claims.

Also named are George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie. The four were notably excluded from USA Cycling’s 2012 Olympic team. This has led to widespread speculation that the four cut a deal with USADA to receive reduced sanctions for doping in exchange for testifying against Armstrong. Their impending sanctions would thus be the reason they cannot compete in London. On June 16, USA Cycling issued this perplexing statement:

“USA Cycling has received numerous inquiries regarding the men's Olympic road team announced yesterday. Prior to the commencement of the Olympic team nomination process, George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie individually requested that they not be considered for nomination.

“USA Cycling will not speculate on the reasoning behind their requests and will not have further comment on this topic; any questions related to their decision should be directed to the individual athletes.”

Last week a USADA panel has unanimously recommended that doping charges against Lance Armstrong, his former team manager Johan Bruyneel, and team doctors Pedro Celaya Lezama and Luis Garcia del Moral; team trainer Pepe Marti, and consulting doctor Michele Ferrari report AP and Belga. USADA considers the charges to be so similar that it has rolled the case against all these men into one. The six are accused of using, possessing and trafficking banned substances including EPO, blood transfusions and steroids. The charges relate to the period between 1998 and 2010. Armstrong, 40, if convicted, risks losing his seven TdF titles.

The former U.S. Postal Service Team had many notable riders on its roster according to Wikipedia. These are:

Former members of U.S. Postal (from Wikipedia)

Name                                 Nationality                             Years

Lance Armstrong                   United States                        1998–2004
Frankie Andreu                     United States                         1998–2000
José Azevedo                        Portugal                                2004
Dariusz Baranowski               Poland                                  1998
Michael Barry                        Canada                                 2002–2004
Tom Boonen                          Belgium                                2000–2002
Jamie Burrow                         United Kingdom                   2000
Dylan Casey                           United States                        1999–2002
David Clinger                         United States                         2002
Michael Creed                       United States                         2004
Antonio Cruz                         United States                         2001–2004
Julian Dean                            New Zealand                         1999–2000
Pascal Derame                       France                                   1998–1999
Viatcheslav Ekimov                Russia                                    1997–2004
David George                         South Africa                          1999–2000
Chad Gerlach                         United States                         1996
Eddy Gragus                          United States                         1995–1997
Tyler Hamilton                       United States                         1996–2000
Andrew Hampsten                 United States                        1996
Roberto Heras                       Spain                                    2001–2003
Ryder Hesjedal                      Canada                                 2004
George Hincapie                    United States                        1997–2004
Frank Høj                              Denmark                              1999
Marty Jemison                       United States                         1998–1999
Patrick Jonker                       Australia                                2000
Steffen Kjærgaard                 Norway                                 2000–2003
Damon Kluck                        United States                         2003
Kenny Labbé                         United States                         2000–2004
Floyd Landis                          United States                         2002–2004
Juan Llaneras Rosello            Spain                                     1998
Levi Leipheimer                     United States                        2000–2001
Kevin Livingston                    United States                        1999–2000
Glenn Magnusson                   Sweden                               1999
Chann McRae                        United States                        2002
Peter Meinert-Nielsen           Denmark                                1998–1999
Gianpaolo Mondini                Italy                                      2002
Kirk O'Bee                           United States                         2000
Víctor Hugo Peña                 Colombia                               2001–2004
Daniel Rincón                        Colombia                              2004
Jean-Cyril Robin                    France                                  1998
Sven Teutenberg                   Germany                               1998
Christian Vande Velde          United States                         1998–2003
Jonathan Vaughters               United States                        1998–1999
Cédric Vasseur                      France                                 2000
Stive Vermaut                        Belgium                                2000
Robbie Ventura                     United States                        2003–2004
Anton Villatoro                     Guatemala                             1996–1998
Matt White                           Australia                                2001–2003
Dave Zabriskie                      United States                        2003–2004


Telesport article (in Dutch):


AP article (in English)


Belga article (en français)

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