Ekimov is clean! Check is in the mail! World to end last week!

Ekimov rejects Hamilton's doping accusations

(AP) – 2 hours ago

ROME (AP) — Viatcheslav Ekimov stands to receive his third Olympic
gold medal in the wake of Tyler Hamilton's doping admission. The
Russian is in no mood to celebrate, though.

A former teammate of Hamilton's with the U.S. Postal squad, Ekimov was
extremely irritated by Hamilton's detailed allegations on "60 Minutes"
that Lance Armstrong and other team leaders encouraged, promoted and
took part in a doping program on the way to winning the Tour de France
a record seven times.

"The main point is just the total disappointment of people that you
used to work with and then all of a sudden you see their real faces,"
Ekimov told The Associated Press on Monday. "They're liars."

Ekimov was speaking by phone from the RadioShack team hotel at the
Giro d'Italia, where he is directing the squad.

Ekimov joined the Postal team in 1997 and helped Armstrong to five of
his Tour victories. He was with the Postal squad in 1997 and 1998,
then returned in 2000 and remained with the team when it became
Discovery Channel in 2005. He retired from cycling at the end of the
2006 season and joined team director Johan Bruyneel on the management
side.

Hamilton turned over his gold medal in the time trial from the 2004
Athens Games to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency last week, putting Ekimov
in line for an upgrade from silver.

"If the medal comes it's always welcome," Ekimov said. "The logical
thing is for the IOC to redirect it to the second guy."

Hamilton's performance in Athens had always been clouded by suspicions
of blood doping, but problems at a laboratory meant his backup 'B'
sample could not be tested.

"I was just hoping that the guy will be accepted as a (doper) and he
will be stripped of his medal, but it never happened," Ekimov said.
"Since then the hope was still in my head but it was dying after seven
years. But nothing was happening and now it's all turned around
again."

Ekimov won his first gold in track team pursuit at the 1988 Seoul
Olympics, when the Soviet Union edged East Germany for gold. At the
2000 Sydney Olympics, he won the road time trial ahead of silver
medalist Jan Ullrich and Armstrong, who took bronze.

Armstrong has long denied doping and has never tested positive. The
Texan has said that Hamilton, who was banned twice for doping despite
his long insistence that he never cheated, has altered his story now
because he's in search of a book deal — a suggestion Ekimov agrees
with.

"Behind his story is something. First of all it's untrue. And behind
his story is some money or some stimulation," Ekimov said. "Because
why did this guy just crack now? Why didn't he do it in 2005? ... I
call these guys liars. First they lie about the innocence, now they
lie about something else.

"I think it's just money. It seems to me like somebody really wants to
kill Lance and put him down. There's all this interest to find people
who will say something."

Ekimov completed the Tour de France 15 times and said he never saw
Armstrong do any of the things Hamilton described.

"Maybe it's his sick sense of humor," the Russian said. "Because I've
been on the same team as him."

However, Ekimov had little contact with Hamilton at U.S. Postal.

"He was there when I was there for maybe two years but we raced in few
races together, because he was a like a Grand Tour guy and a stage-
race guy and I was doing all the classics," Ekimov said. "I was never
there with him. Maybe twice at the Tour de France, but that was it."

Ekimov also rejected Hamilton's claims that the UCI helped cover up a
positive drug test by Armstrong at the 2001 Tour de Suisse.

"I never heard that. I just read about it in newspapers," he said.
"Being in the team, I never heard that."

Ekimov spoke to the AP after Italian police apparently searched the
RadioShack team hotel, according to Giro d'Italia director Angelo
Zomegnan said. "By the time I came I (found) everyone healthy and
without problems, so I guess nothing happened," Ekimov said. "I cannot
comment on things that I didn't see."

It was unclear if the search was related to the ongoing investigation
into Michele Ferrari, a banned Italian physician who was once
Armstrong's training adviser.

On May 23, 3:02*pm, Fred Bucephalus Birchmore
wrote:
Ekimov rejects Hamilton's doping accusations

(AP) – 2 hours ago

ROME (AP) — Viatcheslav Ekimov stands to receive his third Olympic
gold medal in the wake of Tyler Hamilton's doping admission. The
Russian is in no mood to celebrate, though.

A former teammate of Hamilton's with the U.S. Postal squad, Ekimov was
extremely irritated by Hamilton's detailed allegations on "60 Minutes"
that Lance Armstrong and other team leaders encouraged, promoted and
took part in a doping program on the way to winning the Tour de France
a record seven times.

"The main point is just the total disappointment of people that you
used to work with and then all of a sudden you see their real faces,"
Ekimov told The Associated Press on Monday. "They're liars."

Ekimov was speaking by phone from the RadioShack team hotel at the
Giro d'Italia, where he is directing the squad.

Ekimov joined the Postal team in 1997 and helped Armstrong to five of
his Tour victories. He was with the Postal squad in 1997 and 1998,
then returned in 2000 and remained with the team when it became
Discovery Channel in 2005. He retired from cycling at the end of the
2006 season and joined team director Johan Bruyneel on the management
side.

Hamilton turned over his gold medal in the time trial from the 2004
Athens Games to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency last week, putting Ekimov
in line for an upgrade from silver.

"If the medal comes it's always welcome," Ekimov said. "The logical
thing is for the IOC to redirect it to the second guy."

Hamilton's performance in Athens had always been clouded by suspicions
of blood doping, but problems at a laboratory meant his backup 'B'
sample could not be tested.

"I was just hoping that the guy will be accepted as a (doper) and he
will be stripped of his medal, but it never happened," Ekimov said.
"Since then the hope was still in my head but it was dying after seven
years. But nothing was happening and now it's all turned around
again."

Ekimov won his first gold in track team pursuit at the 1988 Seoul
Olympics, when the Soviet Union edged East Germany for gold. At the
2000 Sydney Olympics, he won the road time trial ahead of silver
medalist Jan Ullrich and Armstrong, who took bronze.

Armstrong has long denied doping and has never tested positive. The
Texan has said that Hamilton, who was banned twice for doping despite
his long insistence that he never cheated, has altered his story now
because he's in search of a book deal — a suggestion Ekimov agrees
with.

"Behind his story is something. First of all it's untrue. And behind
his story is some money or some stimulation," Ekimov said. "Because
why did this guy just crack now? Why didn't he do it in 2005? ... I
call these guys liars. First they lie about the innocence, now they
lie about something else.

"I think it's just money. It seems to me like somebody really wants to
kill Lance and put him down. There's all this interest to find people
who will say something."

Ekimov completed the Tour de France 15 times and said he never saw
Armstrong do any of the things Hamilton described.

"Maybe it's his sick sense of humor," the Russian said. "Because I've
been on the same team as him."

However, Ekimov had little contact with Hamilton at U.S. Postal.

"He was there when I was there for maybe two years but we raced in few
races together, because he was a like a Grand Tour guy and a stage-
race guy and I was doing all the classics," Ekimov said. "I was never
there with him. Maybe twice at the Tour de France, but that was it."

Ekimov also rejected Hamilton's claims that the UCI helped cover up a
positive drug test by Armstrong at the 2001 Tour de Suisse.

"I never heard that. I just read about it in newspapers," he said.
"Being in the team, I never heard that."

Ekimov spoke to the AP after Italian police apparently searched the
RadioShack team hotel, according to Giro d'Italia director Angelo
Zomegnan said. "By the time I came I (found) everyone healthy and
without problems, so I guess nothing happened," Ekimov said. "I cannot
comment on things that I didn't see."

It was unclear if the search was related to the ongoing investigation
into Michele Ferrari, a banned Italian physician who was once
Armstrong's training adviser.

Ekimov "retired" in the fall of 2001. _Exactly_ six months later he
announced that he wanted to race again. Although he was already 36 at
the time, he continued to race for _another_5_years_. Someone else did
the same type of thing between July 25, 2005 and September 8, 2008..

On May 23, 7:12*pm, Plano Dude wrote:

Ekimov "retired" in the fall of 2001. _Exactly_ six months later he
announced that he wanted to race again. Although he was already 36 at
the time, he continued to race for _another_5_years_. Someone else did
the same type of thing between July 25, 2005 and September 8, 2008..

Don't keep us hanging - who was it?

R

Fred Bucephalus Birchmore wrote:
(AP) [...]
However, Ekimov had little contact with Hamilton at U.S. Postal.

Yes he has. Addresses other lies/mistakes, too:
http://www.irishpeloton.com/?p=1164

Fred Bucephalus Birchmore wrote:
(AP) [...]
However, Ekimov had little contact with Hamilton at U.S. Postal.

They did have quite a bit of contact. This addresses other lies /
mistakes, too: http://www.irishpeloton.com/?p=1164

On May 24, 8:05*pm, "A. Dumas" wrote:
Fred Bucephalus Birchmore wrote:
(AP) [...]
However, Ekimov had little contact with Hamilton at U.S. Postal.

They did have quite a bit of contact. This addresses other lies /
mistakes, too:http://www.irishpeloton.com/?p=1164

Good find - cycling fanatics throughout the world know the truth