The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour De France: Doping, Cover-Ups, and Winning at All Costs: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour De France: Doping, Cover-Ups, and Winning at All Costs (42 page)

KEVIN LIVINGSTON:
Owns and runs the Pedal Hard Training Center, located on the lower level of Mellow Johnny’s, the Austin, Texas, bike shop owned by Armstrong. He lives with his wife, Becky, in Austin.

PEPE MARTÍ:
Denied USADA’s doping charges, and has chosen to have his case arbitrated before USADA’s panel; his case will likely be
heard, along with Bruyneel’s and Celaya’s, in October/November 2012.

SCOTT MERCIER:
Works as an investment advisor in Grand Junction, Colorado.

HAVEN PARCHINSKI:
Lives in Park City, Utah, where she works in property management.

BJARNE RIIS:
After years of denying that he’d doped, Riis chose to confess after a former Telekom soigneur named Jef D’Hont authored a book,
Memories of a Soigneur
. According to the book, Riis won the 1996 Tour de France while taking 4,000 units of EPO every other day, plus two units of human growth hormone, and his hematocrit during the 1996 Tour registered as high as 64.

Riis held a press conference in May 2007, and admitted to taking EPO, cortisone, and growth hormones between 1992 and 1998. “I apologize,” he said. “Still, I hope it led to some great experiences for you. I did my best.” Riis went on to discuss his doping past in his autobiography,
Riis: Stages of Light and Dark
(Vision Sports Publishing, 2012). He is currently the director and a part-owner of cycling’s Team SaxoBank-Tinkoff Bank.

JAN ULLRICH:
After his 2006 bust for doping, Ullrich proclaimed his innocence and entered a long legal fight. In 2008 Ullrich agreed to an out-of-court settlement with German prosecutors in which they dropped fraud charges in exchange for an undisclosed six-figure fine. In 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Ullrich from cycling for two years and stripped his results from May 2005 onward.

In a June 2012 statement, Ullrich admitted he’d worked with Fuentes, expressed his regret, and said he wished he had been more honest when his case began. He now makes his living running a cycling camp and promoting Alpecin, an anti-hair-loss shampoo with the tagline “Doping for Hair.”

CHRISTIAN VANDE VELDE:
Rides for the Garmin-Sharp team and lives in Girona, Spain, and Chicago, Illinois, with his wife, Leah, and their two children.

JONATHAN VAUGHTERS:
Works as director of the Garmin-Sharp cycling team, and serves as president of the AIGCP (Association International des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels, professional cycling’s teams organization).

HEIN VERBRUGGEN:
Served as president of the UCI until 2005, when he became chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Beijing Olympics. In 2008, a BBC investigation found that the UCI had accepted $3 million in unethical payments from Japanese race organizers; Verbruggen denied any wrongdoing.

THOMAS WEISEL:
Lives in San Francisco with his fourth wife, and is no longer involved in professional cycling. In 2010, Weisel’s company, Thomas Weisel Partners, was charged with securities fraud for illegally manipulating clients’ accounts in order to secure large bonuses for its executives. In 2011, a regulatory panel ruled largely in TWP’s favor, fining the company $200,000 and reprimanding it for its “egregious” failure to oversee its fixed-income desk.

To my mom. —TH

To Jen. —DC

Acknowledgments

TYLER HAMILTON:

This book would not exist without Daniel Coyle. What started with a simple email has grown into a deep friendship. It is such a huge relief to have this book completed, but I will miss our sometimes painful, sometimes fun, always interesting ten-hour-long Skype sessions. (Can we still do that, by the way?) In all seriousness, thank you, Dan.

I want to thank Andy Ward and the crew at Random House for believing in this project early on, and for the hard work and dedication they showed under unique circumstances.

To David Black (aka Bull Dog): you are my first, best, and last literary agent. Thank you so much and GO RED SOX!!!

A special thanks to Melinda Travis for always having my back through thick and thin.

A gigantic, heartfelt thanks to my extraordinary parents, Lorna and Bill, who have shown me the true meaning of grace and humility. You taught me that the truth will set me free and you were
right. My eyes are open and the weight has been lifted. I could not have asked for a better support system. An equally heartfelt thanks to my brother and sister, Geoff and Jenn: thanks for your immense support and encouragement during the process of writing the book. The many ups and downs of my career have been a challenge for our family, but we would not have gotten through it without your unconditional love and support. You guys are the best.

Thanks to Haven Parchinski for your lasting friendship, to Steve Pucci for believing, to Phil Peck for your wisdom, to Chris Manderson for your warmth and generosity, to Dr. Charles Welch for your understanding and guidance, and especially to Robert Frost, Erich Kaiter, Patrick Brown, Jill Alfond, Matty O’Keefe, and Guy Cherp for your special friendships.

Thanks to each and every one of my old teammates on Montgomery, U.S. Postal Service, CSC, Phonak, and Rock Racing for all the good times we shared that none of us will ever forget.

A special shout-out to Jim “Capo” Capra for being a solid rock. You took the handlebars of my business when I could no longer steer it. Without you there would be no Tyler Hamilton Training LLC.

Jimmy Huega, may you rest in peace. My life is better because you were a part of it.

To Cecco, Anna, Anzano, and Stefano, my European family,
grazie mille
.

Thanks to Tanker for always being underfoot.

And finally, to my wonderful wife, Lindsay: thank you for your willingness, bravery, and enthusiasm for taking this journey into my past—and also for the love and companionship you bring to the life we’re building together. You make all good things possible.

DANIEL COYLE:

I would like to thank Lindsay Hamilton, Mike Paterniti, Tom Kizzia, Mary Turner, Mark Bryant, John Giuggio, Paul Cox, Trent
MacNamara, Kaela Myers, Allison Hemphill, Jim Capra, Robert Frost, Jim Aikman, Ken Wohlrob, Kim Hovey, Cindy Murray, Benjamin Dreyer, Steve Messina, Bill Adams, Jennifer Hershey, and Libby McGuire. I’d also like to express my gratitude for the work of David Walsh, Pierre Ballester, and Paul Kimmage. I’d especially like to thank my terrific agent, David Black, my brilliant editor, Andy Ward, and my brother, Maurice Coyle, whose impact on this book (and every other one I write) is immeasurable. I’d like to thank my parents, Maurice and Agnes; my brother, Jon; my children, Aidan, Katie, Lia, and Zoe; and my wife, Jen, who makes everything go. Above all, I’d like to thank Tyler Hamilton for his honesty, his courage, and his friendship.

Further Reading

The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty
, by Dan Ariely

Rough Ride
, by Paul Kimmage

Racing Through the Dark
, by David Millar

The Death of Marco Pantani
, by Matt Rendell

Riis: Stages of Light and Dark
, by Bjarne Riis

Breaking the Chain
, by Willy Voet

From Lance to Landis
, by David Walsh

Bad Blood
, by Jeremy Whittle

The Crooked Path to Victory
, by Les Woodland

“The Effect of EPO on Performance: Who Wouldn’t Want to Use It?” by Dr. Ross Tucker:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2007/11/effect-of-epo-on-performance-who.html

Interview with Dr. Michael Ashenden on Armstrong’s likely EPO use during the 1999 Tour de France:
http://nyvelocity.com/content/interviews/2009/michael-ashenden

Court transcript from Armstrong’s 2005 lawsuit against former
assistant Mike Anderson:
http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/sports/040105_lance.pdf

Transcript of Lance Armstrong’s sworn testimony in the 2005 SCA Promotions arbitration case:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/31833754/Lance-Armstrong-Testimony

In addition, videos of Armstrong’s SCA testimony can be found at
http://nyvelocity.com/content/features/2011/armstrong-sca-deposition-videos

About the Authors

TYLER HAMILTON is a former professional bike racer, Olympic gold medalist, and NCAA champion. He raced professionally from 1995 to 2008 and now runs Tyler Hamilton Training LLC, in Boulder, Colorado. He lives in Missoula, Montana, with his wife, Lindsay, and his dog, Tanker.

DANIEL COYLE is the author of the
New York Times
bestseller
Lance Armstrong’s War
,
The Talent Code
,
The Little Book of Talent
, and
Hardball
, and is contributing editor at
Outside
magazine. He divides his time between Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Homer, Alaska, with his wife, Jen, and their four children.