Landis friend admits making threatening call to LeMond

The fur keeps flying in the Floyd Landis doping case.  According to the The Olympian Online, Landis associate Will Geoghegan apologized to Greg LeMond for the threatening/obscene calls (reported here and here).

Shortly after LeMond dropped those bombshells, the manager, Will Geoghegan, walked up to LeMond, apologized and admitted he made the call, LeMond said. Which led to "You're fired" - the message Landis attorney Maurice Suh gave to Geoghegan while they were still standing in the hearing room.

LeMond, lowered his bow, and aimed directly at Landis, following the scene.                  

"It was a real threat, it was real creepy, and I think it shows the extent of who it is," LeMond said before leaving the Pepperdine law school after his spellbinding day. "I think there's another side of Floyd that the public hasn't seen."

In this emotion-charged case, even the Landis apparel demands close examination.  During the first two days, Landis wore a yellow tie to represent his wearing of the victorious yellow of the Tour de France.  Today, Landis wore a black tie, to protest against LeMond.  Landis might as well have worn black to represent the dastardly events that unfolded.  Taken in total with the implied threats through a bulletin board (?verified), the threatening phone call apparently means Landis once used threat if LeMond opened his mouth again about the alleged doping. 

Landis, ditching his yellow tie for a black one he wore to symbolize his feelings about LeMond, sat stoically as he watched the three-time champion wreck his day. Landis is not allowed to comment during the hearing.

Although the hearing may continue on about the 'facts' of the case, ie. reliability and reproducibility of the lab results, there is no doubt that the Tour de Public Opinion will derail against Landis.

Michael Hiltzick of the LA Times, declared "LeMond: Landis admitted drug use".

Former Tour de France Champion Greg LeMond testified that reigning champion Floyd Landis admitted using drugs last summer during their heart-to-heart telephone conversation after Landis won the 2006 race.

He further claimed that Landis' manager tried to warn him against testifying by threatening to reveal a personal secret that LeMond had shared with Landis during that call.

Interesting headline from a Pulitzer prize winner, as LeMond didn't quite testify Landis admitted to steroid use.

During his brief time on the witness stand, LeMond said Landis called him in 2006 to express dismay over LeMond's public statements at the time.

LeMond said he had not come to a conclusion about Landis's guilt, but advised the race winner to "come clean " if the accusation was true. He said Landis was "very defensive."

"He said, 'What good would it do?'" LeMond recalled. "'If I did, it would destroy a lot of my friends and hurt a lot of people.'"

LeMond said he then told Landis that he had been sexually abused before he began cycling, "and it really destroyed me to keep the secret." He advised Landis "for your own help and your own future" not to keep any such secret.

He further testified that he received an anonymous call on his cellphone Wednesday night. The caller alluded to his history of sexual abuse and remarked, "I'm going to be there tomorrow." He said he regarded the call as a threat that if he testified, his history would be publicly disclosed.

However, there is the real possibility that Landis' associate faces witness tampering, if the rules of court hold in an arbitration hearing.

He said he contacted law enforcement officials in Calabasas, where he was staying, to report the call.

He said he subsequently traced the call to a cellphone registered to Will Geoghegan, Landis' manager. The number he idenified via Caller ID appears on Geoghegan's business card.

LeMond told reporters after leaving the witness stand that Geoghegan admitted making the call and tried to apologize. LeMond said he intended to pursue the police complaint.

And a Landis attorney told the arbitration panel later in the afternoon that the cyclist has fired his manager. According to Maurice Suh, Geoghegan has been "terminated...as of right now."

According to the New York Times, LeMond was unapologetic about his testimony:

He insisted he appeared only to help cycling, a sport he thinks has been ruined by an unabated culture of doping.

His appearance at Pepperdine, however, made the sport look every bit the unseemly circus he's been trying to fix all these years. Still, he had no remorse.

''What I felt was right was to come here and tell the truth,'' he said as he walked to his car. ''People say it's the message that hurts this sport, but it's not that. It's cheating that hurts this sport, and that's all I have to say.''

Comments

[Bud White]

LeMond is known for trying to 'trump' Lance. He will go to any means to try to climb on top of Lance. LeMond will use any means and any situation to look to be the hero and the true champion. Why does his face keep appearing in current cycling news. No one wants to see him or hear from him. LeMond is the symbol of a sulking 10-year old.

I guess to sum up my feelings about LeMond...in the words of Floyd 'the mechanic', I would ask Satan for advice before calling Lemond.

[th]

So we don't know that Landis told Geoghegan to threaten Lemond, or that Landis even know about the threat.

And we do have good reason to think that Lemond used the abuse story to try to pull a confession out of Landis.

I think it will be a relief when Landis loses and is kicked out, but I understand Landis. I don't understand Lemond. I am kind of sick at the idea that Lemond may have 'confessed' something himself with a goal of entrapping Landis.

I'm hanging up the phone the next time anyone names Greg calls me.

From the Nation: Speculation is rampant, even in our posts :-). However we really don't know the thoughts and motivations behind any of these characters.

It does appear that from our limited view of the cycling world Greg LeMond presided over the end of the 'clean era' of cycling. And it appears he throws all the winners from thence on into the 'doping' category. This seems similar to Hank Aaron's reign as home run king of the 'clean era' of baseball, and his attitude to the new king of the 'steroid era' Barry Bonds.

[Big 11 Camp 10]

You noobs. You still think Landus and Lance were not Dope heds?! maybe Thomas Fresshnik is the only guy who did not dope- and he only won after the dope hed who beat him got caught... Ha ha ur alll soo foolish if you are on the same team have the same docs and they use drugs - then you claim you did not know about and that u never used drugs will you bellive that... sooooo dum they all are crackheds... Drugs work they make you better and if you do not get a extra edge a weaker man will beat ur talent cuz hes got fresh blood or a bit more boom in his fat butt... I never was pro never dpoped but I know they are all crackheds... Lemond is c00l and I bet u are a hippie who dopes and is only a lame cat 1 ... get life Lemond may be one of the few champs that was a non dope head.. Umm Pedro and Migueil and COKE Hed Pantanni welll um yeah maybe they moght have just used a bit... Ha ha