Drama at Landis Hearing: Greg Lemond Blackmailed with Revelation of Sexual Abuse

hotballa · May 18, 2007

wow, who knew cycling was this exciting.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1622888,00.html?cnn=yes

Drama at Landis Doping Hearing
Friday, May. 18, 2007 By AP/EDDIE PELLS

(MALIBU, Calif.) — Floyd Landis' sleepy, scientific arbitration hearing morphed into a pulp-fiction blockbuster Thursday, replete with revelations of sexual abuse, allegations of threatening phone calls and even a Donald Trump-style firing.

It came courtesy of Landis' fellow American Tour de France champion Greg LeMond, who disclosed he had been sexually abused as a child and received a call Wednesday from Landis' manager who threatened to reveal the secret if LeMond showed up to testify.

Shortly after LeMond dropped those bombshells, the manager, Will Geoghegan, walked up to LeMond, apologized and admitted he made the call, LeMond said. Which led to "You're fired" — the message Landis attorney Maurice Suh gave to Geoghegan while they were still standing in the hearing room.

"It was a real threat, it was real creepy, and I think it shows the extent of who it is," LeMond said before leaving the Pepperdine law school after his spellbinding day. "I think there's another side of Floyd that the public hasn't seen."

Landis, ditching his yellow tie for a black one he wore to symbolize his feelings of animosity toward LeMond, sat stoically as he watched the three-time champion wreck his day. Landis is not allowed to comment during the hearing.

Making it worse for last year's Tour de France champion was that the cross-examination of LeMond, designed to expose his motives and impeach his credibility, was called off because LeMond refused to answer questions about Lance Armstrong.

"I just have to say, again, this is completely unfair," Landis attorney Howard Jacobs said.

He wanted to ask LeMond about suggestions he has made in the past that Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, might have doped.

But LeMond didn't think that was the main point.

"I think they didn't want me coming here today," LeMond said. "I don't know why. If you didn't do anything wrong, why would you mind me coming here today?"

Before LeMond received the threatening call from Geoghegan, his testimony was supposed to be about conversations he had with Landis shortly after news of his positive "A" urine sample had been leaked to the media.

LeMond said he urged Landis to come clean if, in fact, his backup "B" sample also came back tainted.

He said he encouraged Landis to help his sport and "more importantly, help himself."

"At this point, he said, 'I don't see anything that ... what good would it do? If I did, it would destroy a lot of my friends and hurt a lot of people,'" LeMond testified.

He said he used the story of his being sexually abused when he was 6 as an example of how it's good to get things out in the open.

"It nearly destroyed me by keeping the secret," LeMond said.

He said he told Landis that very few people knew that about him, then revealed that someone in the Landis camp tried to use that information to intimidate him.

LeMond described receiving a call Wednesday evening from someone who claimed to be his uncle. He said he later traced the call to Geoghegan's cell phone.

"He said, 'I'll be there tomorrow and we can talk about how we used to' perform a sexual act, LeMond said of the phone call. "I thought this was intimidation to keep me from coming here."

He said he was so distraught by the call, he filed a police report, which was presented as evidence by attorneys. Malibu sheriff's officials, however, declined to release the report or details about it, saying the case was under investigation.

A message left on Geoghegan's cell phone by The Associated Press was not immediately returned.

Outside the hearing room, LeMond insisted he appeared only to help cycling, a sport he thinks has been ruined by an unabated culture of doping.

His appearance at Pepperdine, however, made the sport look every bit the unseemly circus he's been trying to fix all these years. Still, he had no remorse.

"What I felt was right was to come here and tell the truth," he said as he walked to his car. "People say it's the message that hurts this sport, but it's not that. It's cheating that hurts this sport, and that's all I have to say."
Click to expand...

AroundTheWorld · May 18, 2007

Landis, Ullrich, Armstrong, Basso: All dopers.

Hat's off to LeMond for standing up to this cartel of liars.

The_Yoyo · May 18, 2007

so who are all these people?

rrj_gamz · May 18, 2007

Wow, kind of crazy...In a Hillbillie white trashy kind of way...

RocketMan Tex · May 18, 2007

Sir Jackie Chiles said:

Landis, Ullrich, Armstrong, Basso: All dopers.

Hat's off to LeMond for standing up to this cartel of liars.
Click to expand...

Yet LeMond refuses to finger Armstrong. Why?

BigSherv · May 18, 2007

heard about it in the morning, **** is bananas

Invisible Fan · May 18, 2007

There's something odd about taking in other people's blood to enhance performance.

rockbox · May 18, 2007

RocketMan Tex said:

Yet LeMond refuses to finger Armstrong. Why?
Click to expand...

Lemond has implied many times that Armstrong doped. He just doesn't want to officially say it without proof (positive test) because his business and personal life would be effected.

I for one believe Lance doped. Everyone wants to believe a cancer survivor comes back and wins 7 tours against a bunch of cheaters is clean but I don't. It like believing Bonds didn't dope even when you find out that every other player in the league doped. Its not reasonable to me.

AroundTheWorld · May 18, 2007

RocketMan Tex said:

Yet LeMond refuses to finger Armstrong. Why?
Click to expand...

What do you mean? LeMond has frequently alluded to Armstrong being a doper. Armstrong called him and made thinly veiled threats against him and his family.

Kam · May 18, 2007

USA!
USA!

USA!

KingCheetah · May 18, 2007

Sir Jackie Chiles said:

What do you mean? LeMond has frequently alluded to Armstrong being a doper. Armstrong called him and made thinly veiled threats against him and his family.
Click to expand...

...but he won't say it under oath.

hmmm...

francis 4 prez · May 18, 2007

between all the circumstantial evidence and the fact he was in the sport of cycling, i find it hard to believe lance didn't dope. but hey, it ain't cheatin' if you don't get caught and he didn't, so vive le lance.

Cohen · May 19, 2007

rockbox said:

...

I for one believe Lance doped. Everyone wants to believe a cancer survivor comes back and wins 7 tours against a bunch of cheaters is clean but I don't. It like believing Bonds didn't dope even when you find out that every other player in the league doped. Its not reasonable to me.
Click to expand...

I don't know if Lance doped, but I assume since your making such an assessment that you're familiar with the physical, uncommon attributes of Lance? I just find it interesting when such assessments can be made when Lance has world class cardiac and cardiopulmonary attributes, yet also has a very unique charactreristic even among racers (lactic acid levels at about half of the other racers' best levels) that could explain all his success.

RocketMan Tex · May 19, 2007

If it's ever proven that Lance doped....what's going to happen to all those yellow wrist-band wearing Lanceworshippers?

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Drama at Landis Hearing: Greg Lemond Blackmailed with Revelation of Sexual Abuse

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