Most memorable quote of the night for me? “Umm, uh, I’m not going take that on.” On the Indiana hospital room in 1996.
Betsy: "He shouldn't have done Oprah. He's approaching this the wrong way."
This is turning ugly on CNN. Betsy is very upset.
Andreu contesting Armstrong claims that he didn't push rider firings over doping, citing Andreu's 2000 contract woes.
Betsy, in tears: "This is a guy who used to be my friend. He could have come clean. He says he didn't like the UCI? He owned the UCI. He said he didn't force his teammates to dope? That's a bunch of crap... I was willing to give him a chance, and this is how he responds."
I'd bet on tomorrow's coverage being Lance v. Betsy. This is brutal.
Betsy questions whether Oakley rep Stephanie McIlvain perjured herself in grand jury testimony.
Wow, Betsy Andreu is FIRED UP: "I think he's still protecting people who were loyal to him."
I agree with Betsy, Lance is protecting people. Notwithstanding his general adnission of doping, Armstrong gave up very little in the interview.
We're back up. Lost you there for a moment.
Now on CNN: Former Armstrong mechanic Mike Anderson: "I completely doubt his sincerity. I don't trust anything Lance Armstrong says, and I don't think [Oprah] was an appropriate venue for his confession."
The juxtaposition is remarkable between the bully and bullied. Lance is composed, because he still seems on message. Betsy, on the other hand, is rattled and emotional, and rightly so. It's tough to watch.
During the Oprah interview, I thought that Armstrong's reluctance to talk about the hospital room or his conversation with Betsy might be because they had come to some type of legal settlement. But, after hearing Betsy, it is clear that they have not.
Coyle: It was an innovation race.
There is some questioning among our team as to why Bicycling's Bill Strickland, co-author of Bruyneel's book "We Might As Well Win", is on this panel alongside Betsy Andreu and author Dan Coyle
Betsy: "Lance can still redeem himself if he tells the truth, again, one more time — if he meets with USADA and WADA and tells them everything. There is no way he pulled off the biggest fraud in the history of sport by himself."
Jeff /toobin thinks Lance has opened the door to significant legal liabilities. Although I think that Lance is going to have some liabilities, I don't think that they will be as dire as Toobin suggests. Whether Toobin is right or I am, Lance still will be a very rich man at the end of the day.
Well, folks, we're going to shut this thing down for tonight. We'll be back on Friday night at 8:30 pm ET. Thank you again for following along. For the whole crew here at Velo offices and our team in the field around the globe, we appreciate you following, joining the conversation, and reading Velo magazine and VeloNews.com. We'll see you Friday.
What a snivelling, lying, cheating little wretch @lancearmstrong revealed himself to be tonight. I hope he now just disappears. #LiveWrongby Piers Morgan via twitter 1/18/2013 3:35:52 AM
Ben - not sure I agree with your take. I feel like we got a decent dose of truth - but very little honesty. I don't think he really truly understands that what he did was wrong (not so much the doping - the character destruction). He sounded like a kid apologizing because his parents made him.
