In my eyes, the most damning part of the Armstrong farce is not that he held his own sport hostage, but that he so glibly destroyed the lives of women - aka non-competitors - who got wind of his deceit. Betsy Andreu has been incredible in interviews both before and after last night, but such intense the Armstrong-induced hell of her life that she can no longer even sanction the musical stylings of Sheryl Crow. I wonder if she can watch Matthew McConaughy films?
Via the LA Times:
Andreu said she witnessed a culture where "silence was complicity," noting she refuses even to listen to music from Armstrong's ex-girlfriend Sheryl Crow.
"That bubble he created. … He played on his cancer and the foundation he created as another shield," she said of Livestrong. "He had political connections, from the president of France trying to shut down a drug lab, to the head of the criminal division of the Department of Justice, to those in the California legislature who wanted to review USADA's funding after the report.
"His corporate sponsors always said they had to see the hand in the cookie jar before they'd separate from him. The cycling body swept things under the rug. He had a complicit media. Cycling is such a niche sport that if you question Lance, you cut yourself off from the story of cancer boy trying to win the world's most grueling race."
[h/t Kimmage]