Aurélie Sacchelli, Media365, published on Thursday January 9, 2025 at 3:16 p.m.
In an interview with O Jogo, former Portuguese cyclist José Azevedo looks back on his years alongside Lance Armstrong. He assures that he knew nothing of the American’s doping practices.
They spent two seasons together, at US Postal in 2004, then at Discovery Channel in 2005. José Azevedo experienced Lance Armstrong’s last two Tour de France crowns from the inside (which were then taken away from him) , and the Portuguese, fourth in the 2004 Tour and now aged 51, spoke in the columns ofThe Game on his experience alongside Texan, and he claims to know nothing about the doping practices of his leader at the time. “If I know today that Armstrong used banned substances, it’s because he said so. Because I’ve never seen it. I have never been harassed within the team for using performance-enhancing drugs. It was something that completely escaped me. I had my mission in the team, my schedule, my responsibilities. I went to the races and I knew my place and what was expected of me, to help Armstrong win. That was all I cared about. I did my job, I’m proud of what I did in my career. What happened, happened to him. The runners are at home, that’s where they train. I don’t know what’s going on with the others. I can speak for myself.”
Azevedo: “I’m proud to have been Armstrong’s teammate”
José Azevedo, who finished fifth in the 2001 Giro but also three times in the Top 10 at Paris-Nice, says that he had nothing to reproach the Texan in his behavior as a leader. “I won’t say anything bad about him, because as a person, as a teammate, for me he was the best. He never behaved like a star, he never disrespected us, he always valued our work. And we weren’t there out of obligation, we were paid to work for him. And he always had a word of thanks. I am proud of my cycling career. I am proud to have run for ONCE, led by Manolo Saiz, who also had problems (he was linked to the Puerto affair in 2006, editor’s note). And to have raced for US Postal and Discovery, to be Armstrong’s teammate, to have had Johan Bruyneel as sports director.”
