Lance Armstrong Accused of Lying by Hein Verbruggen Over Drugs Cover-Up

Former Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) president Hein Verbruggen has hit back at Lance Armstrong’s claims that he helped him cover up a positive drug test.

Speaking with Matt Lawton of the Daily Mail, Armstrong accused Verbruggen of saying “we’ve got to come up with something” after calling the Texan’s positive sample for cortisone at the 1999 Tour de France “the knockout punch for our sport.”

But now Verbruggen, who was in charge of world cycling during Armstrong’s decade of domination, has set out to clear his name after accusing the former cyclist of lying. 

According to Ben Rumsby in The Telegraph, the Dutchman said:

"

[Anti-doping in France was] handled by the French Ministry and the Ministry had decided that Lance Armstrong’s explanation of the presence of cortisone (ointment) was acceptable for them. It was NOT a UCI-decision; there was nothing to cover-up.

"

Verbruggen also wrote in a text message to Dutch channel NOS, “Since when does one believe Lance Armstrong?”

The sample in question was taken during the 1999 Tour de France, in which Armstrong went on to win the first of his seven yellow jerseys.

Cycling was on rocky ground at the time after “The Festina Affair” had brought the sport to its knees in 1998. 

The 42-year-old had vigorously denied that he and his team, U.S. Postal, dodged a suspension by backdating a prescription for saddle sores—per Martyn Ziegler of the Press Association via the Daily Mail. 

But he finally came clean about the positive test in his infamous tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey. 

Now, it appears, Armstrong is ready to lift the lid even further after claiming he had "no loyalty towards them," according to Lawton. 

"

To think I am protecting any of these guys after the way they treated me, that is ludicrous. I'm not protecting them at all. I have no loyalty towards them. [...] I hate them. They threw me under the bus. I'm done with them.

"

UCI president Brian Cookson, who recently took over for Pat McQuaid, is eager to delve further into cycling’s drug-stained past in order to prevent a future repeat of the Armstrong affair, according to ESPN. 

Verbruggen admitted he would be happy to cooperate with an independent commission, which could get underway as soon as January.

The former head of world cycling has also received the backing of the IOC, of which he is still a member. 

A statement from the organisation read—per ESPN:

"

It is hard to give any credibility to the claims of a cyclist who appears to have misled the world for decades. We await proper considered outcomes from this investigation rather than rumour and accusation.

"

With the constant verbal slinging between former cyclists and the UCI, it is clear that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is needed swiftly if the sport and its current competitors are to move forward from its sordid past.