Hi °C | Lo °C Oprah: Can you explain the culture to us? Was everybody doing it?
Armstrong: "I didn't know everybody. I didn't live and train with everybody. I didn't race with everybody. I can't say that."
What we need to know: The culture may already have been there but Armstrong refined it within his teams. Was it his idea to dope in the first place? Was it his idea for the entire team to dope? How did the system work? And above all, name names – who helped and how did they get around the authorities?
Armstrong said he did not have "access to anything else that nobody else did". That statement suggests a wider knowledge of what was going on within the sport. He insisted he did not want to name names, but without greater detail any confession is worthless.
Oprah: Were you afraid of getting caught?
Armstrong: "No. Testing has evolved. Back then they didn't come to your house and for most of my career there wasn't that much out-of-competition testing, so you're not going to get caught, because you clean up for the races."
What we need to know: Where did that confidence come from? The fact that Armstrong was tested so regularly and passed so regularly needs to be explained. How did he evade exposure? Was he tipped off about tests? There was out-of-competition testing during his career but that did nothing to stop him or his team – why not? There is evidence he did not clean up during races. In 1999 he tested positive for cortisone during the Tour de France and produced a doctor's note saying it was due to cream for treating a rash. The UCI accepted this.
Oprah: When you placed third in (the) 2009 (Tour de France) you did not dope?
Armstrong: "The last time I crossed that line was 2005."
What we need to know: Armstrong also said he did not dope in 2010, his last tour. There is evidence in the Usada report that he did blood dope in 2009 and 2010. Why did he decide not to dope on his comeback in 2009?
Oprah: You never offered (performance-enhancing drugs) to (teammates), (or) suggested they see Dr Michele Ferrari?
Armstrong: "There are people in this story, they are good people, we've all made mistakes, they are not toxic and evil. I viewed Dr Michele Ferrari as a good man and I still do."
What we need to know: Which riders does Armstrong know followed Ferrari's doping programmes? How did he start with Ferrari? What did Ferrari do for him?
Oprah: What about (failing a dope test at) the Tour de Suisse (in 2001)?
Armstrong: "That story isn't true. There was no positive test. No paying off of the lab. The UCI did not make that go away. I'm no fan of the UCI."
What we need to know: Armstrong said during the interview that he never failed a test – which means something went very wrong somewhere. Again details are required.
Oprah: You made a donation to the UCI and said that donation was about helping anti-doping efforts. Obviously it was not. Why did you make that donation?
Armstrong: "It was not in exchange for help. They called and said they didn't have a lot of money – I did. They asked if I would make a donation so I did."
What we need to know: Armstrong made two donations to the UCI, one in 2002 for $25,000, the other in 2005 for $100,000. In 2005 Armstrong retired unexpectedly. There have also been reports of meetings at the UCI around the time of the first donation.
Both parties deny this had anything to do with any cover-up. If Armstrong's version is true, then who rang to ask for this first donation?
Who rang to ask for the second donation? This requires scrutiny, although the UCI believe it is settled on the word of a confessed liar.
Oprah: Will you co-operate with Usada to help clear up the sport of cycling?
Armstrong: "I love cycling . . . If there was a truth and reconciliation commission and I'm invited I'll be the first man through the door."
What we need to know: He has already turned down several invitations to talk under oath to Usada. Will he finally face up to his pursuers and tell every detail under oath? (© Independent News Service)
Irish Independent
