2009 Tour Rider: Lance's Dope-Free Comeback a Lie

Bradley Wiggins has choice words for Armstrong
By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 25, 2013 4:08 AM CST
UK's Wiggins: Armstrong a 'Lying' Scumbag
Lance Armstrong, center, sets the pace for his teammate and overall leader Alberto Contador of Spain, right; second left is Bradley Wiggins of Britain.   (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

The latest Tour de France winner has some choice words about a cyclist who once inspired him. Watching Lance Armstrong claim to Oprah that he hadn't doped in 2009 and 2010, "I thought, 'You lying bastard,'" Bradley Wiggins tells the Telegraph. "I can still remember going toe to toe with him" and comparing "the man I saw on the top of Verbier in 2009 to the man I saw on the top of Ventoux a week later. It wasn’t the same bike rider." (The Telegraph notes Wiggins bested Armstrong by 29 seconds on the former climb; on the latter, Armstrong was 22 seconds ahead.)

"You only have to watch the videos of how the guy was riding," Wiggins adds. "I don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth anymore." The interview was "difficult to watch ... It was heartbreaking in some respects for the sport, but then the anger kicks in and you start thinking 'what a f---ing a------,'" he says. He adds that he's glad he'll never have to explain himself to his son the way Armstrong has. For now, though, "Cycling has got to move on." (Investigators may be on Wiggins' side.)

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