Leipheimer: Lance je jemal iste stvari kot konkurenca (uradna izjava)

Leipheimer: Lance je jemal iste stvari kot konkurenca (uradna izjava)
11.10.2012 AVTOR: D. Z.
Kot priča Ameriške protidopinške agencije proti Lanceu Armstrongu je nastopil tudi Levi Leipheimer, ki je med drugim vpletel tudi Johana Bruyneela.
Levi Leipheimer je v moštvu US Postal Service nastopal dve sezoni. Leta 2000 in 2001, potem pa se je v moštvo, ki ga je vodil Johan Bruyneel vrnil leta 2007. Takrat je dosegel tudi najboljši rezultat, ko je zasedel tretje mesto na dirki po Franciji. Leipheimer se je med pričanjem spomnil prav dogodkov iz tistega leta.

"Na dirki po Georgiji aprila 2007 sem Johana Bruyneela vprašal, če bo v ekipi organiziran krvni doping za Tour de France. Johan je dejal, ti si profi, to moraš storiti na lastno pest. Povedal pa sem mu, da je to preveč stresno in da brez pomoči ekipe krvenga dopinga ne bom prakticiral. Johan se mi je zdel razoračan," je dejal Leipheimer in dodal: "Med Dauphinejem je Johan spet na dan privlekel to temo in dejal, mislim, da bomo to zmogli opraviti."

Leipheimer je med pričanjem še razkril, kako sta si s Floydom Landisom leta 2005 delila stanovanje v Franciji, kjer sta imela večje zaloge krvi, ki sta si jo med samim Tourom - takrat je še sedmič zmago slavil Lance Armstrong - vbrizgala v telo. Obenem je Leipheimer še dodal, da so po nasvetu zdravnika Micheleja Ferrarija jemali andriol, ki je oblika testosterona, ki so ga mešali z olivnim oljem.

O Armstrongu pa? "Spomnim se leta 2009 ali 2010, ko sem se z Lanceom pogovarjal o novi drogi, ki so jo omenjali mediji. Vprašal sem ga, če ve kaj o tem in njegov odgovor je bil, veš , da sem vedno za to. S tem sem razumel, da je vedno pripravljen preizkusiti nov dopinški produkt." A Leipheimer je priznal, da se je o Lanceu Armstronngu pogovarjal tudi z Johanom Bruyneelom.

Tudi takrat, ko se je leta 2007 vrnil v ekipo in je Belgijca vprašal, če je Armstrong v najboljših letih imel kakšen dopinški produkt, ki ga konkurenca ni imela: "Johan je rekel, da je Lance uporabljal iste stvari kot vsi preostali. To sem razumel, kot da je jemal epo, testosteron in krvne transfuzije. Johan je še dejal, da je bilo smešno gledati ostale, kako so panično poskušali ugotoviti, kaj počne Lance, čeprav je on jemal iste stvari kot konkurenca."

URADNA IZJAVA LEVIJA LEIPHEIMERJA
Today, I accept responsibility and USADA's sanctions for participating in the dirty past of cycling. I've been racing clean for more than 5 years in a changed and much cleaner sport. I hope that my admission will help to make these changes permanent. Until recently ?or maybe even until today ?when people thought about doping, they thought about a guy, by himself, using banned substances to get ahead. What people didn't realize ?what I didn't realize until after I was already committed to this career ?was that doping was organized and everywhere in the peloton. Doping wasn't the exception, it was the norm. When I was a 13-year-old kid, my dream was to ride the Tour de France. I fully devoted my life to that goal. I left home as a teenager, passed on a college degree, moved to Europe at 19 and lived in hostels with roommates who didn't speak my language. Having made sacrifices for my dream, several years after I turned pro, I came to see cycling for what it was: a sport where some team managers and doctors coordinated and facilitated the use of banned substances and methods by their riders. A sport where the athletes at the highest level ?perhaps without exception ?used banned substances. A sport where doping was so accepted that riders from different teams ?who were competitors on the road ?coordinated their doping to keep up with other riders doing the same thing. I regret that this was the state of affairs in the sport that we love and I chose as my career. I am sorry that I was forced to make the decisions I made. I admit that I didn't let doping deter me from my dream. I admit that I used banned substances. I know that learning this will disappoint many of my fans and friends and I am sorry that the sport and I have let you down. Right or wrong, in my mind the choice was "do it or go home." For me that was not a choice. People will be disappointed and say I was wrong, that I should have chosen differently, and am just making excuses. I made the decision I made. I don't offer this description of the sport as an excuse, simply as an explanation of the context and reason for my decision. I won't lie about it?I have to own it?I accept responsibility for my decision. I could have come forward sooner. But would that have accomplished anything ?other than to end my career? One rider coming forward and telling his story in the face of cycling's code of silence would not have fixed a problem that was institutional. When USADA came to me and described a solution ?where my admission could be part of a bigger plan that would make the positive changes we've seen in recent years permanent ?I said "I need to be involved." I don't want today's 13 year olds to be discouraged by their parents from dreaming about one day riding the Tour de France. Thanks to better testing and a shift in the culture of the sport, cycling has been much cleaner for a number of years. The new generation of riders is not faced with the decisions we were. By taking responsibility for what we have done, my generation will make sure it stays that way.
Značke: Cestno
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