Is the clock ticking on Armstrong? – the 60 Minutes interview

Lance Armstrong
2.4 million Followers and growing
The story that everyone is talking about is the 60 Minutes segment that will air Sunday night. We’ve been teased with clips of Tyler Hamilton claiming that he, and teammates from the Postal Service squad doped to win the Tour de France.

This news – while not exactly new as there have been claims from people for years stating that Armstrong doped – is interesting because another ex-teammate has stepped out and accused the seven-time Tour champion of doping. The list of accusers is growing and growing…

In response the website Facts4Lance.com popped up. At first glance it could easily be taken as a spoof. The layout is something akin to a middle schooler’s computer project. If the creator of that site spent more than 30 minutes designing Facts4Lance.com it was time wasted.

The site’s defense of Armstrong consists of attacking the credibility of Tyler Hamilton and Frankie Andreu. In an interesting strategy, the site also quotes the Twitter feed from GreyManrod, the fictional law firm that Landis created. From the @GreyManrod stream they post, “UCI_Overlord @ssbike no. 60 Min is doing a show about my moonshine smuggling business.” and “I think they should all go into a hotel and play doping control roulette, then go watch 60 Minutes.” and several others as evidence of collaboration between Landis and 60 Minutes. Thee defense of Armstrong is based on fictional Twitter accounts.

I spoke to Landis today and he gave me the public relations friendly quote I’ve seen on other sites, “I hope Tyler finds some peace and I hope Lance will tell the truth soon. It will be good for his soul.”

Had anything changed since yesterday?
“Nothing. I did gain 130 more followers on the Twitter account. I slept fine last night,” he replied matter of factly.

I asked about the Facts4Lance site and how GreyManrod was quoted as evidence of collaboration between himself and the news magazine show. Landis couldn’t stop laughing as he said, “Sixty Minutes has existed for 40 years and somehow GreyManrod duped them into writing a bullshit story!” Continuing Landis said, “If anyone wants any P.R. advice we’re happy to help.”

When asked if there was a legal action being taken against him by the UCI he said, “I had some lawyers look around in Switzerland and the UCI never filed anything. They just made that up.”

Rumors have been circulating that Landis might make an appearance at the Amgen Tour of California. However he put those to rest. “I’m not coming up. I don’t want to distract from the race and sponsors.”

Curiously readers of the Facts4Lance site cannot leave a comment.

With the 60 Minutes program to air on Sunday, you can bet the cycling world will be tuned in.

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