Federal investigation wants to hear from American cycling icon
Greg LeMond, the first American to win the Tour de France, has been served with a grand jury subpoena regarding the federal government’s investigation into allegations by Floyd Landis that implicate his former teammate Lance Armstrong and others on the US Postal Service and Phonak teams, of participating in or having knowledge of systematic doping practices, according to the New York Daily News.
The three-time Tour de France winner was issued the subpoena by the United States District Court of the Central District of California, and must now provide both documents and testimony in the case. Food and Drug Administration criminal investigator Jeff Novitzky, who previously headed up the BALCO case that saw Marion Jones imprisoned, has been collecting evidence to build a case.
Materials requested by the subpoena include anything pertaining to the US Postal, Discovery Channel, Astana, and RadioShack teams that were led by Armstrong. Novitzky has also asked LeMond to produce materials relating to the Trek Bicycle Corporation, the bicycle sponsor for Armstrong during his seven victories and two recent attempts at an eighth Tour crown.
“We are overjoyed,” said Kathy LeMond, Greg’s wife, told the New York Daily News. “I hope the truth will come out.”
Earlier this year LeMond reached an out-of-court settlement with the Trek Bicycle Corporation over a breach-of-contract dispute. The court battle lasted nearly two years, with allegations about Lance Armstrong and doping often taking center stage.
The settlement agreement ensured neither side could produce the same claims against one another in a future lawsuit, but LeMond’s attorney said it did not preclude a future suit against any of the other parties involved, including Armstrong. At the time, the Texan said he wasn’t concerned about LeMond, although his lawyer, Tim Herman, attended his ex-wife’s deposition in the case.
America’s two Tour de France champions have been at odds since LeMond criticized Armstrong for continuing to associate with infamous Italian doctor Michele Ferrari in 2001. LeMond apologized a month later, but three years after he made his apology revealed that it was made because Armstrong threatened to defame him.
Landis originally communicated his revelations the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), USA Cycling and the UCI. He admitted doping for much of his career after years of denial.
Public statements released by the accused categorically deny Landis’s statements, and paint their accuser as a man with no credibility based on his previous statements of riding clean. However, the Garmin-Transitions team, where former US Postal riders David Zabriskie and Matthew White are employed, have only said that they encourage that the truth be told, whatever the truth may be.