Published October 21, 2013 04:48PM
LeMond: Armstrong should go to jail
Former Tour champion tells Anderson Cooper that Armstrong's fraud was criminal and he should do time
Greg LeMond called for Lance Armstrong to be imprisoned during an interview that aired Monday night on CNN. Photo: Graham Watson | <a id="www.grahamwatson.com" href="http://grahamwatson.com">www.grahamwatson.com</a>
Three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond came out strong on the topic of Lance Armstrong recently, telling television broadcaster Anderson Cooper he believes the cyclist should be jailed for his role in the now-infamous doping scandal that spanned Armstrong’s seven Tour de France wins.
According to an excerpt from an interview, Cooper asked if LeMond thought Armstrong’s achievements were the greatest fraud in the history of sports, something LeMond himself initially said in 2001, noting that if Armstrong were cheating then, it amounted to a towering fraud.
“In 2001 in an interview you said, ‘If Lance is clean, it’s the greatest comeback in the history of sports. If he isn’t it would be the greatest fraud.’ Do you think what Lance Armstrong did was the greatest fraud in the history of sports?” Cooper asked in an interview that will air Monday night on CNN.
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“Absolutely. Absolutely. The greatest fraud was that, I mean, I know his physical capabilities. He’s a top 30 at best. I mean, at best. No matter what. If he was clean and everybody else was clean, he’s a top 30 at best. He’s not capable of winning the Tour. He’s not capable of the top five,” LeMond said.
When asked by Cooper what should happen to Armstrong now, LeMond was forceful.
“This is not a sporting infraction. This is criminal,” LeMond said. Cooper also asked if Armstrong should go to jail. LeMond said he thinks so.
“I do, yea. This was an organized mafia and he literally tried to destroy people,” he said.
The full interview airs Monday night on Anderson Cooper 360° at 8 p.m. EDT on CNN.