Armstrong’s silent men. The Omertà pros.

//Armstrong’s silent men. The Omertà pros.

Armstrong’s silent men. The Omertà pros.

 

Livingston. Omerta pro.

 

While most all of the US postal riders on Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France teams have testified they saw or had knowledge of his doping practices, a few stalwarts have kept their yaps shut to the bitter end.

Call them the Omerta All-Stars. Let’s hand out dirty chapeaux to long time Armstrong pal and climber Kevin Livingston, hard-man Viatcheslav Ekimov and Yaroslav Popovych with a special shout-out to Spaniards Roberto Heras and Chechu Rubiera.

After the confessions of Landis, Hamilton, Hincapie, Leipheimer, Vande Velde, Danielson, Vaughters and Zabriskie, the silence from Livingston has been deafening. Livingston was one of the Lance originals –he stood by Lance at the cancer ward bedside and give everything for Armstrong in the 1999 and 2000 Tours de France.

When he couldn’t get a raise at Postal, he signed with Lance’s top rival Jan Ullrich at Telekom. At the time, Armstrong said something like Kevin went to the dark side to ride for Darth Vader. Still, when the USADA investigators came calling, Livingston didn’t have anything to say. Worth noting that he works out of Armstrong’s Mellow Johnny store in Austin, Texas as a Pedal Hard coach. Kevin always has a barbecue invite at casa Armstrong.

Then there’s the rider who Armstrong always held up as the consummate professional, Ekimov. The Russian is an old school tough guy and you could torture him for weeks without getting a single word of testimony on Armstrong. Just name, rank and frame size. He rode for Armstrong from 2000 to 2006 and he aint’ changing his story. The Boss was clean and clear as Russian vodka.

Eki is taking over the Katusha squad this year as general manager so he has a huge extra incentive to keep his mouth shut. Critics have already noted his low profile and disinterest in commenting on the USADA reasoned decision.

Then there’s loyal domestique Yaroslav Popovych. Over a year ago it appeared that Federal investigators had worked him over pretty good. They confiscated his computer and files and hit him with a subpoena the second he showed up in Texas for an Armstrong charity ride. However it appears that Popo decided there was noting anybody in the United States could do to him. Popo isn’t going to pop off about dirty trade secrets.

When it comes to loyalty, who has been more supportive of Armstrong than the Spanish in general and Lance’s Spanish Postal boys in particular? Juan Pelota is still respected in Spain where champions such as Miguel Indurain and Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde continue to call him the winner of those seven Tours.

Postal climbers Roberto Heras and Chechu Rubiera are in for the long climb. They’re taking their secrets to the grave. No tales of Poe or Testosterone patches or blood bags on wire coat hangers in hotel rooms. Don’t’ expect Rubiera or Heras to write their Tell-All book about the Blue Train and what they used for fuel.

It certainly makes sense that the foreign siders on Armstrong’s Tour teams see no legal reason to admit anything so our Twisted Spoke Omertà Award goes to the man from Montana, Kevin Livingston.

 

 

By |2019-02-03T16:06:54-08:00November 19th, 2012|Uncategorized|8 Comments

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8 Comments

  1. prdx2222 November 19, 2012 at 12:47 pm - Reply

    Well said. The silence of others only confirms that the whole story has not been uncovered. Frankly, I expected Livingston’s name in the USADA report and was shocked to find he did not come clean. As for the rest, since they are not American, I guess they don’t feel USADA can take action against them.

    • walshworld November 19, 2012 at 12:55 pm - Reply

      Mark, I like a man who is so quick to comment after I post. I was surprised Livingston didn’t come clean. Matt

  2. COMO CYCO POOBAH November 19, 2012 at 12:59 pm - Reply

    Any thoughts on latter day Omerta All-Star, Chris Horner? He wasn’t with him in the beginning, but he was certainly there in the bitter end – and should have seen something, yet continues to profess that all was clean.

    • walshworld November 19, 2012 at 1:09 pm - Reply

      No sure what to say about Horner. I’m not sure he was in a position to know if Lance was doping at Astana. The evidence from 1999 to 2005 is 100% overwhelming but I’m not as confident on his comeback. Yes, there are doping experts that say his parameters were suspicious but it doesn’t seem as clear cut. But you may be right about Horner. Matt

    • jason December 4, 2012 at 9:33 pm - Reply

      I agree. His supposed ignorance of any wrongdoing is not believable. He’s an intelligent person who has ridden at the front of the peloton for over a decade. I have always been a fan but I don’t find him credible on this topic.

      • walshworld December 5, 2012 at 8:38 am

        Credibility is hard to come by in cycling these days. Matt

  3. bumpermeat November 20, 2012 at 11:26 am - Reply

    What do they have to gain by talking? What could they lose? At the end of the day, they have bills to pay. Not saying it’s moral, but it may be practical.

  4. Vashek November 20, 2012 at 10:28 pm - Reply

    You’re missing a big picture here: how is USADA any better than omerta?

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