Jeff Novitzky: Lance Armstrong’s new nemesis
Lance Armstrong watches as a mysterious figure picks off his allies one-by-one. The latest victim of US federal investigator Jeff Novitzky is Yaroslav Popovych, who stepped before a Los Angeles grand jury on Wednesday to testify in
a secretive, far-reaching American federal investigation which appears to be enclosing seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong in smaller and smaller circles.
“He is a nightmare for anyone that's he's focused on," said Attorney Richard Emery of Novitzky, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agent who leads the investigation.
Armstrong found himself hounded by the same beast that took down Barry Bonds when Floyd Landis released a series of emails described his experiences in pro cycling’s doping culture. Landis rode with Armstrong on the US Postal Service team, under the management
of Johan Bruyneel. The cyclist has alleged that the federally-funded team had a sophisticated doping system in place, which immediately sparked a federal investigation by the FDA. Novitzky, with his history in athletic doping, was assigned to the case.
“From the very start with me, he made it very clear that it was going to be a one-way street,” continued the confidential witness. “I’d give him the information he wanted and get nothing in return. He wouldn’t tell me about the investigation. He wouldn’t
ask me about the family. He knows that if he even laughs at a joke, it could be ammunition for the Armstrong camp to suggest that he’s got some kind of ulterior motive or lacks credibility.”
Armstrong’s former teammate Yaroslav Popovych was served a subpoena while competing in the Livestrong Challenge, October 22-24. The Ukrainian rider opted to remain in the country and immediately began working with San Clemente attorney
Ken Miller. Popovych rode for team Discovery Channel from 2005 to 2007 and joined Armstrong at Astana in 2009, from which he followed the champion to the new team RadioShack this year.
“[Novitzky] has changed the face of sports,” said attorney Kevin V. Ryan to Outside Magazine. “He is very dogged, very determined, very focused. If I were a professional athlete, I would not relish the fact that this guy might be on my tail.”
Popovych is the latest in a long list including cyclist Tyler Hamilton, trainer Allan Lim and Oakley representative Stephanie McIlvain. McIlvain had admitted in a secretly-recorded phone conversation with former cyclist Greg LeMond that she had personally
witnessed Armstrong using banned substances, though she reportedly contradicted that admonition in her testimony.
“He has no desire to make a name for himself. He’s not ego-driven. If he tells a witness that they face perjury charges if they lie, that’s not a threat or intimidation – it’s a fact,” said an anonymous witness to Cyclingnews.
But how has Jeff Novitzky earned this reputation? The federal agent burst onto the scene on 3 September 2003, when he stepped up to the door of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative (BALCO) in San Francisco and said “Federal agents. We have a search warrant.”
That day, the 6’6”, then-35-year-old father of three set into motion the most significantly doping case in the history of sports. The BALCO investigation led to the downfall of the until-then uncontested steroid culture in Major League Baseball and ended the
careers of some of the fastest sprinters in the world.
“There is no greater friend of clean athletes,” said Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the United States Anti-Doping Agency to the press. “Clean sport should be real thankful that he is on our team. He deserves a shrine in Cooperstown and an M.V.P.
award of clean sport. He has done more than any other individual to bring issues to the forefront.”
Armstrong tested positive for EPO in 2005, based on blood taken in 1999, but the UCI dismissed the charges. Now Novitzky is working with Interpol and is likely to head to Europe to dig through the UCI’s trash cans.
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