Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories in October 2012 and confessed to doping in January of this year, events ϳԹ has covered extensively. But the cyclist early in his career have surfaced, .
Former pro-rider told and the Italian magazine Cycling Pro that in October of 1993, paid him $100,000 to allow him victory during the final leg of the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of Cycling later that year. The Triple Crown was the third in a series of races with a cash bounty of $1 million for the rider who could win all three.
“It was a young American colleague [at the door]. He gave me a cake wrapped as a present, wished me ‘Happy Christmas’ and then left,” former cyclist Roberto Gaggioli said. “There was $100,000 dollars in small bills in the box. That colleague was Lance Armstrong.”
Gaggioli was racing with the Coors Light team, one of two groups Armstrong allegedly bought off that year—the Mercatone Uno team was the other. Armstrong’s negotiations with the riders secured him the prize money, according to Gaggioli. Way to be, Lance, way to be.
And, in case you missed it, last night on his show regarding the cyclist’s recent interview with ESPN The Magazine.
“…here’s the only part of the whole sleazy mess that isn’t Lance Armstrong’s fault: We enable his delusion, you and I have to tell him what it really is…you’re an f-ing schmuck, you’re a fraud, you’re a cheat. Happy holidays.”