LeMonds, Betsy Andreu to speak at doping symposium in Austin, Texas

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Both Greg and Kathy LeMond, plus Betsy Andreu, will speak at a panel discussion entitled "The Real Price of Winning at all Costs: A Discussion about Elite Cycling" on April 22, 2013 at the University of Texas at Austin, part of the university's Texas Program in Sports and Media's annual McGarr Symposium on Sports and Society.

The purpose of the discussion, taking place in Lance Armstrong's home town, is to relay "their personal experiences and perspectives regarding the physical, emotional, relational, ethical and financial costs they've experienced and witnessed throughout their engagement with the world-wide, elite cycling community", according to a statement from the Texas Program in Sports in Media.

Joining the LeMonds and Betsy Andreu are Bill Bock, US Anti-Doping Agency general counsel and principal author of USADA's Reasoned Decision which detailed the evidence of Lance Armstrong's doping regimen, and Reed Albergotti, a reporter for the Wall Street Journal who has written extensively about the investigation into doping carried out by Armstrong and the US Postal Service team.

The LeMonds and Andreus were prominent targets of Armstrong's campaign to bully and intimidate those who questioned the veracity of his Tour de France victories. Armstrong would ultimately be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life from competition following USADA's investigation into Armstrong and the US Postal Service team.

Greg LeMond, who questioned Armstrong's involvement with Dr. Michele Ferrari in 2001, then faced a lengthy, costly legal battle with the Trek Bicycle Corporation which LeMond ultimately settled in 2010.

Betsy Andreu, wife of Armstrong's former USPS teammate Frankie Andreu, was present in Armstrong's hospital room in 1996 when he is said to have told doctors treating him for cancer that he had used doping products. While Armstrong later confessed to doping in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey in January of this year, Armstrong refused to address the hospital room incident, providing no closure for the Andreus.

The panel discussion will take place Monday, April 22 from 7-9pm in the Belo Center for New Media auditorium and is open to the public.