When Lance Armstrong reunited with former teammates Christian Vande Velde, George Hincapie and Dylan Casey to race the 24 Hours of Old Pueblo mountain bike race last weekend, he also took the opportunity to host them on his Forward podcast. Over the course of more than 80 minutes, the former US Postal Service riders discussed both the past and the present and took questions as well.
Armstrong opened the show by addressing the recent decision of a US district judge to rule that his legal battle with Floyd Landis and the US Postal Service must be heard by a jury. The District Court granted the government's motion to set the amount in question at $32,267,279, the total of the payment invoices that team owners Tailwind Sports submitted to USPS. A jury could decide Armstrong and Tailwind should pay damages as much as three times that amount, or $96,801,837.
"I was a little surprised with how widely spread the news was. That's fine but I wanted to address a few things," Armstrong said.
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"First of all, we believe in this case from our perspective. We believe the Postal Service greatly benefitted. While the situation certainly is not perfect, I'll be the first to admit that, we do not believe that they can go back and undo all the good that was done all of those years ago.
"I think the most important thing I want to say to y'all and to anybody who works for the Postal Service, is that I absolutely loved representing your company. I loved wearing that jersey, I loved riding around Europe, riding down the Champs Elysees, hearing our national anthem with that jersey on. It could have been any other team. It could have been a foreign team. It could have been another American team. But it was a real pleasure to represent that organisation, and I think we did great things.
"So, while I know many out there feel as if I need to be punished, severely, which is fine and your opinion, I understand that. My life hasn't been without punishment. Some of it has been public, some of it not, but there's been many other cases that have to be resolved, that have certainly changed the look and feel of our life, I mean myself and my family. On this one, we believe the law and the merit is on our side, so we will see it through. If you're supportive, then thank you. If you're not, then just know this: I get it. I understand. That's fair."
Regrets, several different views
- Armstrong asks for summary judgment in US civil fraud lawsuit
- Armstrong a 'doper, dealer and liar' says US federal government
- Details of Landis' federal whistleblower suit revealed
- Armstrong fails to stop US federal government lawsuit going ahead
- Armstrong fearing financial ruin from federal whistleblower lawsuit
- Lance Armstrong: 'We like our case' in federal lawsuit
- Armstrong 'whistleblower' lawsuit cleared for jury trial
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