Lance Armstrong:
Podcasts can be a violation of Armstrong's lifetime expulsion
Texan's collaboration with rider organizer in the spotlight for anti-doping agency.
- AUGUST 2017 CL. 10
With microphone, and not a bike, Lance Armstrong is ready to do a little comeback in the bicycle sport during the Colorado Classic next week.
With its relatively newly established podcast 'Stages', Armstrong has planned in collaboration with the organizer to create daily episodes from the four-day stage trial.
The USADD Anti-Doping Agency, which presented a 1000-page report on Armstrong's career-long doping practice in 2012, is not positive for the sensational cooperation. The agency has advised the organizer that Armstrong's participation during the ride could be a violation of the textiles' debt lifetime expulsion.
Armstrong started the podium "Stages" last month, along with a local radio host in Austin, Texas, JB Hager. The episodes released in conjunction with the Tour de France were downloaded over five million times and reached the top ten iTunes list. The episodes were recorded in the United States, in Austin and Aspen, and neither Armstrong nor Hager acted as accredited media during the Tour de Franc
Armstrong's physical presence and official affiliation with the Colorado Classic organizer is another matter. Suspected that the cooperation with a UCI-sanctioned rite may violate the law of the International Anti-Doping Agency WADA, the USADA has contacted the organizer.
- According to the WADA Code, a banned person can not have an official role in an officially approved event like Colorado Classic. USADA has received complaints about this, and after considering the case, Colorado Classic advised on the current rules, a USADA spokesman said to Cyclingnews.
The rider organizer says to Denver Post that they are considering USADA's input but that a final decision about the Armstrong podcast is not taken. The local newspaper also reports that Armstrong does not want to comment on the case.
The organizer has facilitated what they call a "media collaboration" with the controversial expeditioner where certain costs of production are to be paid.

Will be required for compensation of more than half a billion
"We are informed about rules that can limit the broadcasting of the" Stages "box from the upcoming Colorado Classic. We want guidance and will make a decision after further consultation with USADA and podcast manufacturers, "said Curtis Hubbard, spokesman for Denver Post.
Five years have passed since Armstrong was deprived of his seven Tour de France titles and imposed a lifetime ban on cycling and all other Olympic sports. The Texan was also dropped by all its sponsors, removed from the charity organization LIVESTRONG and sued for fraud by the US authorities.
A year ago, he began to record the "Forward" podcast, where he interviewed everything from musicians, NFL players and writers. Armstrong's analyzes of the Tour de France in "Stages" were, however, a success story and with large download figures.