Hincapie, who is still racing, would be the most credible witness thus far in the growing list of riders lining up against Armstrong, a much respected memeber of the peloton with no particular axe to grind. Indeed Armstrong recently said Hincape was “like a brother to me” and if the CBS sources are correct and Hincapie has indeed given such evidence it could prove very wounding.
They follow on after the evidence of Tyler Hamilton, another former collegue at US Postal, who claims in the CBS programme “60 Minutes” that he and Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs together for US Postal when riding on the Tour de France in 1999, 2000 and again in 2001.
Hincapie is among a number of former Armstrong teammates and employees who have appeared before a federal grand jury in Los Angeles in recent months and weeks investigating allegations of doping in cycling and in particular the US Postal team of a decade ago. Hamilton said he testified for six hours before the panel.
Armstrong never tested positive throughout his long career in which he wsas more tested than most and has always steadfastly denied doping.
According to “60 Minutes”, Hincapie has testified that he and Armstrong supplied each other with the endurance-boosting substance EPO and discussed having used another banned substance, testosterone, to prepare for races. Citing the ongoing investigation, Hincapie however declined to be interviewed by “60 Minutes”.
Interviewed at the Tour of California in Solvang yesterday evening, Hincapie said he didn’t want to talk about the “60 Minutes” report.
“It’s just unfortunate that that’s all people want to talk about now,” he said. “I’m not going to partake in any cycling-bashing. I have done everything to be the best I can be. I want the focus on the future of the sport, what it’s done to clean itself up. I believe in cycling and want to support it.”
Later, Hincapie released a statement through his attorney: “I can confirm to you that I never spoke with ‘60 Minutes.’ I have no idea where they got their information. As I’ve said in the past, I continue to be disappointed that people are talking about the past in cycling instead of the future. As for the substance of anything in the ‘60 Minutes’ story, I cannot comment on anything relating to the ongoing investigation.”
Armstrong’s spokesman Mark Fabiani, said: “We have no way of knowing what happened in the grand jury and so can’t comment on these anonymously sourced reports.”
The Hamilton evidence and the alleged testimony of Hincape comes exactly a year after Floyd Landis, who had his 2006 Tour title stripped for using steroids, claimed he and Armstrong had both used drugs while on the U.S. Postal team.
But while Hamilton, who is serving and eight year ban and has admitted suffering from depression and Landis, who spent a lot of supporters money strenuously denying he ever took drugs, have serious credibility problems in terms of being a witness, Hincapie is a rock steady individual and widely admired throughout the sport.
The 37-year-old New Yorker has no known positive tests. He was on the Postal team even before Armstrong and, once Armstrong joined it, the two were frequent roommates on the road.
When Landis alleged that drug use was common on the US Postal team last year, Hincapie responded by saying, “it bothers me, because I’ve been doing this for 17 years and never heard anything bad about me”.
After CBS aired a trailer for the Hamilton interview Thursday, the cyclist gave his 2004 Olympic gold medal back to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which said it is working with the International and US Olympic committees on an investigation “”60 Minutes” also released an excerpt from another Armstrong team-mate,
Frankie Andreu, who said he took banned substances because lesser riders he believed were doping were passing him during races.
“Things were just getting faster and faster and sprinters were getting over the big mountains and winning, you know, climbing stages,” Andreu said in the interview. “There’s 200 guys flying over these mountains and you can’t even stay in the group. And it’s just impossible to keep up. And it’s like, ‘What the hell’s going on here?”‘
After the Hamilton and Andreu interviews went public, Armstrong launched a website refuting the claims and calling into question the credibility of Andreu, Hamilton and Landis. He also posted a letter addressed to CBS News, calling the “60 Minutes” reporting “disgraceful journalism.”
They follow on after the evidence of Tyler Hamilton, another former collegue at US Postal, who claims in the CBS programme “60 Minutes” that he and Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs together for US Postal when riding on the Tour de France in 1999, 2000 and again in 2001.
Hincapie is among a number of former Armstrong teammates and employees who have appeared before a federal grand jury in Los Angeles in recent months and weeks investigating allegations of doping in cycling and in particular the US Postal team of a decade ago. Hamilton said he testified for six hours before the panel.
Armstrong never tested positive throughout his long career in which he wsas more tested than most and has always steadfastly denied doping.
According to “60 Minutes”, Hincapie has testified that he and Armstrong supplied each other with the endurance-boosting substance EPO and discussed having used another banned substance, testosterone, to prepare for races. Citing the ongoing investigation, Hincapie however declined to be interviewed by “60 Minutes”.
Interviewed at the Tour of California in Solvang yesterday evening, Hincapie said he didn’t want to talk about the “60 Minutes” report.
“It’s just unfortunate that that’s all people want to talk about now,” he said. “I’m not going to partake in any cycling-bashing. I have done everything to be the best I can be. I want the focus on the future of the sport, what it’s done to clean itself up. I believe in cycling and want to support it.”
Later, Hincapie released a statement through his attorney: “I can confirm to you that I never spoke with ‘60 Minutes.’ I have no idea where they got their information. As I’ve said in the past, I continue to be disappointed that people are talking about the past in cycling instead of the future. As for the substance of anything in the ‘60 Minutes’ story, I cannot comment on anything relating to the ongoing investigation.”
Armstrong’s spokesman Mark Fabiani, said: “We have no way of knowing what happened in the grand jury and so can’t comment on these anonymously sourced reports.”
The Hamilton evidence and the alleged testimony of Hincape comes exactly a year after Floyd Landis, who had his 2006 Tour title stripped for using steroids, claimed he and Armstrong had both used drugs while on the U.S. Postal team.
But while Hamilton, who is serving and eight year ban and has admitted suffering from depression and Landis, who spent a lot of supporters money strenuously denying he ever took drugs, have serious credibility problems in terms of being a witness, Hincapie is a rock steady individual and widely admired throughout the sport.
The 37-year-old New Yorker has no known positive tests. He was on the Postal team even before Armstrong and, once Armstrong joined it, the two were frequent roommates on the road.
When Landis alleged that drug use was common on the US Postal team last year, Hincapie responded by saying, “it bothers me, because I’ve been doing this for 17 years and never heard anything bad about me”.
After CBS aired a trailer for the Hamilton interview Thursday, the cyclist gave his 2004 Olympic gold medal back to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which said it is working with the International and US Olympic committees on an investigation “”60 Minutes” also released an excerpt from another Armstrong team-mate,
“Things were just getting faster and faster and sprinters were getting over the big mountains and winning, you know, climbing stages,” Andreu said in the interview. “There’s 200 guys flying over these mountains and you can’t even stay in the group. And it’s just impossible to keep up. And it’s like, ‘What the hell’s going on here?”‘
After the Hamilton and Andreu interviews went public, Armstrong launched a website refuting the claims and calling into question the credibility of Andreu, Hamilton and Landis. He also posted a letter addressed to CBS News, calling the “60 Minutes” reporting “disgraceful journalism.”
