By Tom Bettag, Mary Murphy, and Ronnie Polidoro
Rock Center
Updated at 3:56 a.m. ET on Friday: For some of those who knew Lance Armstrong the best, his fall from grace amid doping allegations is no surprise at all. Betsy Andreu, a former family friend to Armstrong told NBC’s Harry Smith that Lance Armstrong is the “Bernie Madoff” of the sporting world. Andreu says Armstrong played the world and the media for years while knowingly taking performance enhancing drugs.
In an interview broadcast Thursday on NBC’s Rock Center, Smith asked Andreu why she compares Armstrong to disgraced financier Bernie Madoff. Andreu said, “Because Bernie Madoff was one of the biggest frauds in the history of the world, in the history of finance maybe? Lance is the biggest fraud in the history of sport.”
Andreu was once part of Armstrong’s inner circle. Her husband Frankie was one of Armstrong’s teammates and one of his best friends.
However, Andreu says she and Armstrong had a falling out when she refused to lie about something she heard while visiting Armstrong in the hospital at the time he was diagnosed with testicular cancer.
“The doctors come in and I suggested we leave and to give Lance his privacy. And Lance said, ‘That's okay. You can stay.’ And I turned to Frankie, because Lance was in front of us, and I said, 'I think we should leave to give him his privacy.’ And he said we could stay, ‘Everybody's friends here,’” Andreu told Smith.
Andreu says doctors asked a few banal questions and then asked if Armstrong had used any performance enhancing drugs.
“Lance, holding his I.V., nonchalantly rattled off, ‘Yes, steroids, testosterone, growth hormone, E.P.O., cortisone,’” Andreu said. “My eyes popped out of my head. Frankie saw that I was upset and he excused ourselves and we left.”
Despite her disdain towards Armstrong, Andreu still maintains some sympathy for the fallen cyclist.
“On one hand, there is some compassion, because I don't think he ever healed the child within. And it made him this diabolical person that he is today,” Andreu said.
Armstrong has repeatedly denied the use of performance enhancing drugs or what has become more commonly known as doping. NBC News has reached out to Armstrong and is waiting for a comment.
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Amazing how much Betsy and Emma both look alike!
He has...he's the same guy who got Marion Jones stripped of her Olympic medals. She passed every test also and denied it to the end until there was no other way out. I'm sure he's successfully gotten other high profile players via the Balco fiasco.
Maybe that shouldn't be "ex-friend". Perhaps it should be fickle friend. Or not a friend at all.
Don't understand the the big deal with Lance. THEY ALL CHEAT. EVERY. LAST. ONE of THEM. I take nothing from all of this other than the fact that Lance was really good at cheating, and the other cheaters were jealous.
The last time I watched or was even interested in the Tour de France was the last time Lance was competing. I'm sure that's true for a lot of other people too.
JS in SD do you have any idea of what the term delusional means??? I ask this because you are so caught up in hero worship that you refuse to accept the fact that Lance Armstrong is in fact the cheater that he is. Get over it because it’s all over except the shouting because he got caught and he is guilty and nothing you say or do is going to change that. As for the validity of the testing, well the experts seem to think the results are correct so who are you to second guess them?? Just accept the fact that he crossed the line and got caught and that is that twinkle toes!!
Rush Limbaugh gullable listeners are more likely to believe in Armstrong the fraud.
Now that the truth has come out, isn't it about time Lance Armstrong apologized to all those he called liars, and hurt in one way or the other? Or perhaps they should now sue him for whatever they can - lord knows that he owes them big time. Talk about arrogant! He deserves what he gets...................
Wow so much ....over...NOTHING....he hurt himself...NOT YOU....seriously everyone get over this...move on.....This does NOT affect your life one bit.
Take your energy that you are putting into this WHO EVEN CARES STORY and take some time to go play cards or read to someone in a nursing home!
Seems like everyone loves a winner....until they lift the rock and see what it takes to excel at a high level. Lance & team were involved in a sport that has always been soaked in dope - a sport that by its very nature, begs for dope. Try to saddle up and just RIDE 100 mi/day for 3 weeks let alone RACE that much. Read the history. Tour riders have been seeking ways to survive or gain an edge FOREVER.
Let's face it. Everyone doped. And out of that peloton of dopers, Lance not only won but kicked ass. I didn't see many of the other convicted and admitted dopers riding at his level. In a fair fight, clean or doped, Lance would annihilate the competition.
If you allow racers to take the line - clean - win a race - clean - test after a race - clean - test outside of competition - clean - then come to me the fan 7 years later and say - dirty - I just don't give a crap. Find a way to keep em from lining up dirty. If you can't do that, give up and let the "free market" reign.
Whatever substances that they say they found DID NOT win any races, the person (LANCE) did, he will alwyas be cycling's greatest like phillips is to swimming, bottom line!
Cripes, John - you spelling is as bad as your logic. It's Phelps, not phillips. Bottom line.
The question still hasn't been answered. If doping is so widespread in cycling why didn't anyone else have the success of Armstrong? What made him so special that even though his teammates and competitors were also doping, they failed to win when he did? Two wrongs do not make a right but where is the answer to this question? These people I read who have turned so sanctimonious remind me of an animal, that animal is known as the Piranha.
Why does somebody else have to have the same success? There were others who were successful, if you bothered to research the subject. Marco Pantani comes to mind immediately - he died of an overdose, by the way.
You don't seem to know much about professional cycling; it is a team sport - one individual on the team is the focus and all the other support him.
Lance's teammates were doping - they have admitted to it. There is no rational circumstance where the team would dope but not the leader. But of course, this will not deter the rabid Lance worshippers.
He won because of his teammates and his doping regimen. Those other riders weren't rich like he was. He had the best doctors helping him and his team make sure they didn't fail doping tests. Stop being so naive. I can't wait for his inevitable sit down with DR Phil or Oprah. Then you will all say holy crap I defended this guy like an idiot lolol.
Shame on you Rock Center for running this fluff. The Andreu's have a long documented feud with Lance Armstrong. I do agree that there are probably people who have been harmed by the aggressive defense put on by the "Armstrong" team, but you fail to see the bigger story. Why did no one come to their defense until now. Not because one man could control the entire sport of cycling, but because the entire sport of cycling was behind that one man. Now that the ugly truth is coming out, through cheaters and people who took all they could and are now ready to retire, the sport has decided to hang Lance out to dry in the hopes no one will look deeper. Once again you have chosen to look at only the surface and then act indignant when you get called out.
Yes, it is ugly. But it's the truth nonetheless.
oh yeah and maddof ripped off people and Lance never ripped off anyone, just won races.
That is no friend, just someone that wants to be in the lime light!
He never ripped off anyone LMAO. Sure he didn't, that is why quite a few companies are now suing him to get their prize money back. The guy has made millions of dollars selling his image as a guy who came back from cancer and beat everyone clean in a dirty sport. Biggest fraud in sports history.
Enjoying the nasty comments from people who apparently do not know the back story. Mrs. Andrieu told this story several years ago and was publicly trashed and called a liar by Lance. She is likely quite willing to talk to the press now to remind people that she has been telling this story for several years now and to clear her name.
The real problem is that the godless in America (of whom there are many) made Lance their god. As tends to happen when you put your faith in a human being, they eventually fall.
We should not revel in this, we should not celebrate, but we should hope Lance takes this opportunity to repent, do his penance, and find himself in all of this.
I have never liked Armstrong. Virtually from the beginning I sensed something wrong with the guy. Just more confirmation to trust your gut in-stinks.....
I never understood why he never said that he didn't take drugs, the only thing he always came up with was that he was the most tested guy in racing. That comment alone, shows how deceptive this guy really is.
Its a real shame as he did raise a lot of money for his charities. I just wonder how much he personally gained from it all. Knowing what we know all know about his trickery, I wouldn't doubt it was all a ruse for his self gain. Very sad, especially for the kids that put this fraud on a pedestal.....
Believe me, Lance would laugh at you!
He laughs even harder at nuthuggers like you...
Whether he did or did not use PED's, where is the hard evidence? All of the testing and no positive tests? Just a bunch of lip service. Innocent until PROVEN guilty! Positive tests, DNA evidence, audio, video evidence - none of the above! I am not pro-Lance Armstrong but I am Anti-Witch Hunt.
And you are obviously anti-research. Didn't read the USADA report did you? Or George Hincapie's statement? Thought not.
And she rode in how many Tours??
Everyone is suddenly running their mouths, where were they when Lance was winning those Tours?? There wasn't ONE SINGLE accusation then, NOT ONE!
Pure BS, a lot of people were saying he was doping. He sued them all and since all the rest of his teammates were sworn to secrecy it could not be proved that he did dope. And since he had 10 times more money then anyone else he could threaten them into submission and make them go away or get involved in a long and costly court battle. Those days are now over now that his whole team testified against him lol. Or else he would NEVER have stopped his lying fight.
Bull. Another clueless one, spouting off his ignorance for all to see... Check out:
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2012/10/the-journalist-who-says-i-told-you-so-about-lance-armstrong/
Do you blame the individual, or the system and all of the people that allowed this to go on. If Lance was the only one doping in the sport maybe I would feel more shock. But when you have a sport where the MAJORITY of professional competitors are doping, you tend to not have sympathy for those competitors now accusing Armstrong. In fact, Armstrong probably realized like all the other doping cyclists that you would not make it in the sport without doping because so many others were doing it. So now we are mad at Armstrong for leveling the playing field?
Rock Center is stooping down to it's typical lower than low point to bore it's audience with trash!
It takes a lot of ball to snitch on Lance like that!
Love seeing all the nut-huggers and male worshipers in the crowd still doubting all the evidence. Want to know how Lance beat all those tests? Ask George Hincapie, his best friend in cycling. A guy who ALSO BEAT ALL THOSE TESTS. And a guy who is one of the main guys who testified against him in this case. HE NEVER FAILED A TEST EITHER yet admits he doped through out all 7 of those tours that his and Lance's team " won ". Or maybe you can ask Marion Jones, she never failed a test either. But she served time for lying about her doping and eventually confessed just like Lance will have to within the near future. Once he is certain his days of being sued relentlessly are behind him. That will probably be in the next year or 3.
So when is Lance going to jail? Marion Jones went to prison for doping! What's good for the gander is good for the goose?
I'm most disappointed in the interviewer not doing his job. Why wasn't she questioned about her relationship with her husband through all of this? Did he do drugs, did he take money from the team lead by Armstrong, did she feed her family with that money? The list goes on and on. The point being, it's easy to pile on now, but if you spent a red cent of that money, you are complicit and as big a "fraud" as Armstrong is. Harry Smith didn't do his job.