Armstrong interview provokes little sympathy

Armstrong interview provokes little sympathy

Now that Lance Armstrong has confessed to what mostpeople already knew, sports officials want to know more.

Many believe Armstrong's televised interview with OprahWinfrey, in which he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs on his wayto seven Tour de France titles, did not go far enough.

"He didn't name names. He didn't say who supplied him,what officials were involved," WADA President John Fahey told TheAssociated Press on Friday.

"My feeling after watching the interview is that heindicated that he probably would not have gotten caught if he hadn't returnedto the sport," Fahey added. "If he was looking for redemption, hedidn't succeed in getting that."

After refuting doping allegations ever since he won hisfirst Tour de France in 1999, Armstrong admitted on Thursday that he used theblood-booster EPO, testosterone and blood doping at least since the mid-1990s.He has been stripped of all the titles and banned from competing for lifefollowing a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report that detailed his cheating.

"We're left wanting more. We have to know more aboutthe system," Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme told the AP."He couldn't have done it alone. We have to know who in his entouragehelped him to do this."

Amid a long interview in which he came clean on dopingthroughout his seven tour titles, he said he wasn't cheating when he returnedto ride in the 2009 and '10 Tours.

Pierre Bordry, the head of the French Anti-Doping Agencyfrom 2005-10, said there was nothing to guarantee that Armstrong isn't stilllying and protecting others.

"He's going in the right direction but with reallysmall steps," Bordry told the AP in a telephone interview. "He needsto bring his testimony about the environment and the people who helped him. Heshould do it before an independent commission or before USADA and that would nodoubt help the future of cycling."

IOC vice president Thomas Bach said Armstrong's admission —after years of vehement denials — was not nearly enough for the Texan to gethis credibility back or help the sport clean itself up.

"I think this is too little, too late," Bach, aGerman lawyer who leads the IOC's anti-doping investigations, told the AP."It's a first step in the right direction but no more.

"If he really loves his sport and wants to regain atleast some credibility, then he should tell the whole truth and cooperate withthe relevant sports bodies."

USADA chief executive Travis Tygart, who pursued the caseagainst Armstrong when others had stopped, also felt Armstrong must go further.

"If he is sincere in his desire to correct his pastmistakes, he will testify under oath about the full extent of his dopingactivities," Tygart said.

In his defense, Armstrong said he was doping because usingillegal substances was the only for him to compete on a level playing field.

Daniel Baal, the former president of the French CyclingFederation and the Tour deputy race director from 2001-04, was scathing in hisassessment of Armstrong.

"He says that it is about professionalism, that it ispart of the job to dope. This is unbelievable, unacceptable," Baal toldthe AP. "He knowingly broke these rules. And to say (what he said) is toonce again make a fool of the other cyclists."

Irish journalist David Walsh, whose articles for the LondonSunday Times and books detailed the American cyclist's use of bannedsubstances, agreed the interview fell short.

"He has to name names ... he is probably the biggestcheat sport has ever known," Walsh said on the BBC.

Even former athletes weren't swayed.

"(Armstrong) said that he had the sensation that hewasn't cheating, what a joke," said Spanish rider Pedro Delgado, the 1988Tour winner. "I believe he had it very clear that he was indeed cheating."

"Some people are saying this is the death blow for cycling.I doubt it," he added. "It is just one more scandal."

Former cyclist Christophe Bassons, who was hounded byArmstrong at the 1999 Tour for speaking out against doping, said the cancer survivorappeared "cold, hard," in the interview.

"He didn't let any sentiment show, even when he spokeof regrets. Well, that's Lance Armstrong," Bassons told the AP."There's always a portion of lies in what he says, in my opinion. He's nottotally honest even in his so-called confession. I think he admits some of itto avoid saying the rest."

Top-ranked tennis player Novak Djokovic said at theAustralian Open that Armstrong "should suffer for his lies all theseyears."

"It's a disgrace for the sport to have an athlete likethis," he said.

The International Cycling Union, the governing body of cycling,and its former president appear to be the most satisfied with what they heard.

The UCI has been accused of protecting Armstrong andcovering up positive tests, something Armstrong denied to Winfrey.

"I am pleased that after years of accusations beingmade against me the conspiracy theories have been shown to be nothing more thanthat," said Hein Verbruggen, the president of the UCI from 1991-2005."I have no doubt that the peddlers of such accusations and conspiracieswill be disappointed by this outcome."

The UCI, now led by Pat McQuaid, hailed Armstrong'sconfession as "an important step forward on the long road to repairing thedamage that has been caused to cycling and to restoring confidence in thesport."

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