Newsgroup: it.sport.ciclismo
Titolo: Armstrong in Italia - cyclingnews

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/apr05/apr01news
Lance Armstrong has made an impromptu visit to Italy on Wednesday of 
this week in order to discuss the Filippo Simeoni case with the judge in 
Lucca, Tuscany. Simeoni claimed that Armstrong intimidated him during a 
stage of the 2004 Tour de France, when he tried to bridge up to a 
breakaway and the American chased him down, virtually ordering him back 
to the bunch or he would make his team chase. The pair became rivals 
after Simeoni testified in the Dr Ferrari trial, and Armstrong 
subsequently called him a liar.
Armstrong raced in Paris-Camembert on Tuesday before flying to Italy. 
According to a report in la Gazzetta dello Sport, he met with judge 
Giuseppe Quattrocci in Lucca, Tuscany. No details of the meeting were 
revealed, but Armstrong did say that he was "very civilised, I think 
that he appreciated my goodwill."
In other Armstrong legal news, the Associated Press is reporting that 
the six-time Tour winner is engaged in a legal battle with his former 
personal assistant Mike Anderson, who has filed a court brief alleging 
that he found a banned steroid in Armstrong's Girona apartment in 2004. 
Anderson said he did not see Armstrong using the substance, nor did he 
take possession of it for the purposes of evidence.
Anderson was sacked in November 2004 after he asked for received a $500 
per month pay rise. Armstrong then sued Anderson in December 2004, 
alleging that Anderson demanded $500,000 from him, along with assurances 
of future payments to assist him in starting a bike shop, and even a 
signed Tour de France jersey. Anderson launched a countersuit, claiming 
breach of contract, emotional distress and fraud.
-- 
Il segreto della felicita' non e' di far sempre cio' che si vuole, ma di 
voler sempre cio' che si fa. (Lev Tolstoj)

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Everyone wants a piece of Lance, whether it be to tap his earnings or trash
his career by trying to prove he uses drugs. Could it be that Armstong is
the best rider because he not only has good genes but he works harder then
anyone else, has superior lungs and heart and mental capacity to endure pain
in the mountain stages? When Lance came back from cancer he said the pain of
climbing didn't hurt as much anymore since dealing with the pain of cancer.
Also in Sports Illustrated, there was a article on Lance about his training
methods. Lance isn't happy unless he's riding 4 or more hours on the bike a
day just to stay fit in the winter time. Since cancer his desire to race and
train was like a new lease on life. Give his some credit for being clean,
and working really hard to achieve the same results that the dopers use.
Also Lance almost died from cancer and getting a second lease on life, he is
smart enough not to use drugs. By the same token, Lance respects his piers
enough in Europe to not be a rat either by exposing drug users. I am sure he
has a good idea who is juicing, but he is not the trouble maker and he play
fair by the rules. What more could the cycling world ask of him? Perhaps yet
a 7th Tour win would cause Americans to love him all the more and Europe to
hate him. Luckily last year, no one pulled the sucker punch they pulled on
Eddy, but the Germans did spit on him. Odds are against him to win another
tour, (IMO) but its certainly possible.
B-