Armstrong's Admission No Surprise To Bay Area Cycling Enthusiasts
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - Lance Armstrong's supposed tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey comes as little surprise to some Bay Area cycling enthusiasts who say that what happens next for the cycling star and his charitable endeavors carries a bit more suspense.
The Bay Area has long been a haven for pro cyclists and enthusiasts like Bob Hammer, who is a two-time testicular cancer survivor. He credits a meeting with Lance Armstrong's oncologist for an intervention that eventually led to Hammer having a son.
Hammer, who has since raised $1.3 million for cancer charities including the Livestrong Foundation, says no one is surprised at the reported admission.
"Gut reaction is it's not surprising," he told KCBS. "Basically everybody was dirty in that sport, it seemed. I thought that probably something like this was going to come."
Bay Area Cycling Community Weighs in on Lance Armstrong's Reported Admission
"Yeah, I don't think anybody's really surprised," Hammer continued. "Anybody who was a cyclist or an athlete, I think it's been out there for so long. I'm not sure why he's doing it now, to be honest with you. Maybe he just finally wanted to come clean."
Given Armstrong's advocacy for cancer charities, there is a very real possibility that an admission on his part that he doped through his professional career could slow donations to all cancer-fighting charities.
"His (LIVESTRONG) foundation is going to take a hit financially from this, yes," predicted Hammer. "There's going to be this rush for a little while of 'wow, I can't believe he did what he did.' But then what they've done as a foundation, I think they've separated themselves from him, and that's a start, and I think what they've done over the least 15 years as a foundation will probably overshadow this kind of thing."
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