Cycling

Fabio Jakobsen, a 23-year-old professional cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam Deceuninck–Quick-Step, is being kept in a medically-induced coma following a crash at the 2020 Tour of Poland.

"Fabio Jakobsen's situation is serious but at the moment he is stable," the Deceuninck-QuickStep team wrote in a statement, per CNN's George Ramsay.

"Diagnostic tests didn't reveal brain or spinal injury, but because of the gravity of his multiple injuries he is still kept in a comatose condition and has to remain closely monitored in the following days at the Wojewodzki Szpital in Katowice."

Jakobsen had a five-hour surgery for facial injuries, per Tim Bonville-Ginn of Cycling Weekly. He also suffered a chest injury that has affected breathing.

Doctors said Thursday that they would attempt to wake Jakobsen up later in the day but that he is being kept in a coma for precautionary reasons.

Per Bonville-Ginn, Dutch cyclist Dylan Groenewegen caused the crash near the end of the race's first stage.

"Fabio Jakobsen was making a move on Groenewegen's right, which was defended but still left a gap for the Dutch champion to move through," Bonville-Ginn wrote.

"Groenewegen closed the gap more and more until Jakobsen had nowhere else to go but the barriers."

Groenewegen has been disqualified from the race, and the sport's governing body (UCI) has referred him to the Disciplinary Commission.

He has since issued a public apology on Twitter (via Bonville-Ginn): "I hate what happened yesterday. I can't find the words to describe how sorry I am for Fabio and others who have been dropped or hit. At the moment, the health of Fabio is the most important thing. I think about him constantly."

Bonville-Ginn reported that the setup of the finish in Katowice has been criticized before, as the course sends riders into a downhill sprint where they can hit speeds of over 50 mph. He also noted that some riders suggested the crash barriers shouldn't have broken so easily even at high speeds.

Jakobsen joined UCI WorldTeam Deceuninck–Quick-Step in 2018 after three years with SEG Racing.

Lance Armstrong acknowledged that he took part in "inappropriate behavior" during his controversial career and expressed remorse in the ESPN documentary Lance: 

Armstrong was the best cyclist in the world at his peak, winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles. However, it was later revealed he had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs.

He had also filed multiple lawsuits against those who claimed he had cheated, while denying any drug use under oath in legal proceedings. This included offensive attacks toward the people who opposed him.

In 2013, Armstrong finally admitted to doping during his career. 

The 48-year-old is now reflecting on his time in the spotlight for his documentary and knows he didn't carry himself well when he was a leader in his sport.

Despite his introspection, he's able to move past his own mistakes.

"All that gets to 'How do you sleep at night? Can you live with yourself?'" Armstrong pondered. "And I can."

Lance Armstrong doesn't regret the role he played in performance-enhancing drug accusations against him and the legal aftermath, the 48-year-old cyclist revealed during the second and final episode of ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary titled Lance:

Floyd Landis outed Armstrong and other USA Cycling teammates for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs, which launched a United States Anti-Doping Agency investigation. USADA named Armstrong at the center of the "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

ESPN's T.J. Quinn provided more insight into Armstrong's lawsuit against USADA:

Armstrong addressed Landis directly:

And he expressed some remorse:

Armstrong was banned for life from cycling and had his seven Tour de France titles stripped. He publicly admitted to doping in January 2013.  

Lance Armstrong does not think highly of former teammate Floyd Landis.

Armstrong said during ESPN's airing of its "30 for 30" documentary Lance on Sunday night that Landis wakes up "a piece of s--t every day":

Armstrong and Landis have a contentious and intertwined history. They were teammates for years on the U.S. Postal Service cycling team during Armstrong's reign of dominance over the sport, leading to seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong retired in 2005, and Landis won the Tour de France in 2006.

But Landis would later be stripped of his title after a positive doping test and was banned from cycling for two years.

According to the documentary, when Armstrong came out of retirement with the goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France, Landis asked to join his team and was denied, being told his reputation was too toxic.

So Landis, who said in the documentary he was angry that he had essentially been the fall guy for a culture of doping that was rampant in the sport, came forward and detailed the doping program Armstrong and other members of the U.S. Postal Service team used, implicating himself in the process.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency concluded that Armstrong had used a sophisticated performance-enhancing regiment during his career that included everything from EPO and human growth hormone to having illegal blood transfusions. It was an enormous scandal—Armstrong went from being the darling of the sport to completely tarnished, banned from the sport and stripped of his titles.

The bad blood between the two men at the center of the biggest scandal in cycling history hasn't been diluted over time. Armstrong said in the documentary he still hasn't forgiven Landis. Landis said at one point that Armstrong was better at lying than he was at telling the truth. It seems unlikely that an olive branch will be extended any time soon.

Lance Armstrong doesn't want his son, Luke, to repeat his mistakes.  

The disgraced 48-year-old cyclist revealed what he would tell Luke, who plays football at Rice, if he came to him about using performance enhancing drugs:

Lance, a two-part ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, has aired the past two Sunday nights. Part 1 explored Armstrong's childhood and journey into cycling, as well as his illegal use of PEDs and battle with testicular cancer:

While Armstrong wouldn't want Luke to dabble in doping, he admitted his nearly fatal cancer didn't stop him from continuing to take the risk himself:

Armstrong captured seven Tour de France titles, which were stripped after he admitted to doping in 2013. He was also banned from the sport for life.

Luke is the eldest of Armstrong's five children.

Former cyclist Lance Armstrong admitted during ESPN's "30 for 30" documentary Lance that he often used his recovery from cancer as a "shield" to protect himself from doping allegations during his career and said he should have kept those parts of his life distinct.  

"In hindsight, cycling and cancer should have been kept separate," Armstrong said.

The documentary showed a past clip of Armstrong during an interview, saying that he would never have put his body through a doping regimen to return from cycling after his recovery from cancer. 

Not only was Armstrong regularly using performance-enhancing drugs despite lying about doing so on numerous occasions, but he also led a doping regimen for his entire U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team. 

USADA found in 2012 that Armstrong used EPO and received both cortisone injections and blood transfusions. His ex-teammate, Tyler Hamilton, said he saw Armstrong use a mixture of Andriol (liquid testosterone) and olive oil. Other teammates said he had been injected with human growth hormone and took anti-diabetes drug Actovegin. 

In 2013, Armstrong admitted to doping. 

"I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times," he said at the time. "I know the truth. The truth isn't what was out there. The truth isn't what I said.

"I'm a flawed character, as I well know," he added. "All the fault and all the blame here falls on me."

The fall from grace for Armstrong—a seven-time Tour de France winner and one of the heroes of a generation given his recovery from cancer and the money he raised for cancer research through the Livestrong Foundation—was severe. For many cycling fans and fans of Armstrong's story of perseverance, it was a betrayal of the highest order. 

Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong opened up about his challenging upbringing during the documentary LANCE, discussing abuse he suffered as a child.

Armstrong specifically noted physical punishment from his stepfather, Terry Armstrong.

"Sure enough, I would leave a drawer open, and he would pull out his fraternity paddle and just beat the (expletive) out of me," he said.

He added that his stepfather, who adopted him when he was three, was "kind of terrible."

Terry Armstrong didn't deny the punishment, noting it was his parental style coming from a military school background.

"I was a taskmaster, but I didn't put my arms around him enough and tell him I loved him," he said. "I was always there, always coaching him, always pushing him. But I didn't show him the love that I should have."

Lance went on to win seven consecutive Tour de France titles and was at the pinnacle of his sport, but it was later revealed he used performance-enhancing drugs, and he was stripped of those triumphs.

Terry believes his parenting played a key part in Lance's success—as well as possibly his downfall.

"Lance would not be the champion he is today without me because I drove him," he said in the ESPN documentary. "I drove him like an animal. That's the only thing I feel bad about. Did I make him too much 'win at all costs'?"

Lance's mother and stepfather divorced when he was 15.

Legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong was noncommittal when asked whether his testicular cancer was tied to his history of doping.

"I don't know the answer to that," Armstrong said in the first part of the ESPN 30 for 30 documentary Lance. "And I don't want to say no because I don't think that's right either. I don't know if it's yes or no."

While Armstrong was a seven-time Tour de France winner—before being stripped of his titles—he transcended sports with the Livestrong Foundation, a cancer charity he founded in 1997 and originally named the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Yellow bracelets representing the foundation became ubiquitous in the mid-2000s.

Armstrong's reputation and career came crumbling down when the scope of his doping became public knowledge.

The idea that his drug use may have played a role in his cancer isn't a topic that has gained much traction, however.

Armstrong revealed his cancer diagnosis in October 1996. During Lance, he admitted he was probably around 21 when he first started doping, roughly four years before his diagnosis.

ABC News' Katie Moisse cited a cancer researcher at the Tor Vergata University of Rome, Dr. Lucio Tentori, who was unable to draw any conclusions about whether steroids could lead to an increased risk of cancer:

"Several cases of cancers associated to the use of anabolic steroids as doping practice have been reported. Unfortunately, to evaluate this cancer risk in controlled clinical studies is difficult since these substances are frequently used at very high doses and in combination with other licit or illicit drugs."

Armstrong isn't a doctor, so expecting him to have an answer is unrealistic. However, the topic adds yet another layer to his complicated legacy.

One of the most memorable moments of the first part of ESPN's documentary Lance, which aired Sunday, was when seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong opened up about physician and cycling coach Michele Ferrari introducing him to EPO blood doping.  

"Whatever he said, I did," Armstrong said. "To the word. Ferrari was a proponent of less is more. ... He said, 'Lance, all you need is red cells.'"

That Armstrong trusted Ferrari so much is notable considering he also said he always asked and knew what was going into his body during another interview for the documentary.

"I educated myself on what was being given, and I chose to do it," he said.

Armstrong also discussed the history of EPO doping in the sport of cycling in part of the documentary, noting the rumors truly started circulating in 1993 even though what he called the "plague" had actually begun in the 1980s.

He said since the benefits from a performance standpoint were so notable, "the sport went from low-octane doping, which has always existed, to this really high-octane rocket fuel." However, he also called it a "safe drug" if "taken in conservative amounts," suggesting there are "far worse things you can put in your body."

Lance is the first 30 for 30 ESPN has broadcasted since the conclusion of The Last Dance documentary, which chronicled Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls dynasty of the 1990s.

Armstrong's story comes with plenty of highs and lows since he became one of the most famous athletes in the world with seven straight Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005 and experienced a downfall in the court of public opinion because of doping.

He was also diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer that spread in his body, and he helped raise millions of dollars for cancer relief through the Livestrong foundation.

In April 2018, Armstrong reached a settlement with the federal government and agreed to pay $5 million instead of going to trial with approximately $100 million at stake. What's more, he paid former teammate Floyd Landis $1.65 million as part of the settlement.

Landis was the whistleblower on the sport's doping issues and admitted to doping himself.

The federal government filed the lawsuit on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service, which served as one of Armstrong's primary sponsors during his career. The government said it would never have sponsored him if it knew about the doping.

Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong said in the upcoming ESPN 30 for 30 documentary LANCE that he told "10,000 lies" during his racing career.

“Nobody dopes and is honest," Armstrong said, per Brett Schrotenboer of USA Today.

"You’re not. The only way you can dope and be honest is if nobody ever asks you, which is not realistic. The second somebody asks you, you lie. It might be one lie because you answer it once. Or in my case it might be 10,000 lies because you answer it 10,000 times."

The first episode of the two-part documentary will air Sunday, with the final part airing the following Sunday.

Schrotenboer, who has already seen the documentary, discussed a few of its notable moments, including Armstrong's retelling of forging birth certificates so he could race as a teenager and his feud with ex-teammate Floyd Landis.

Armstrong was one of the world's most decorated, inspirational and revered athletes, winning the Tour de France seven times from 1999-2005. He did so after beating testicular cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1996.

However, doping allegations followed Armstrong, who consistently denied that he cheated.

But Armstrong came clean in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013, admitting that his Tour de France titles were all aided by doping.

In addition, he copped to being a bully to others who questioned his tactics in the midst of continuing his doping and protecting his career.

Part I of LANCE airs Sunday at 9 p.m. on ESPN. The second part will air the following Sunday, also on ESPN at 9 p.m.