Michael McGuire: Finally, Australia’s Lance Armstrong secret is out

It took a full decade for us to find out what price Australians paid to have now-disgraced cyclist Armstrong visit and compete in the Tour Down Under. And it certainly wasn’t worth it, writes Michael McGuire.

Lance Armstrong banked $1.5 million for riding in the Tour Down Under ten years ago.

The secrecy around the payment was lifted on Sunday when Liberal Treasurer Rob Lucas honoured a commitment to release the deal after a 10-year confidentiality agreement lapsed.

Back in 2008, SA’s then Premier Rann was ascendant after the Rannslide election in 2006.

Did it matter that the Premier signed up the rumoured drug cheat? Yes and no.

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There are all sorts of interesting bits and pieces in there, of which Armstrong’s fee is only a part. For a start it seems beyond strange that the South Australian government did not insist on some sort of “morals’’ clause in his contract.

In 2008, Armstrong was still four years away from admitting what many suspected. He won seven Tour de France titles because he was drugged to the eyeballs.

Everyone was excited by Armstrong’s participation in the TDU, including then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Picture: Campbell Brodie.

There was a long list of allegations against Armstrong before he raced in SA. And you can claim “innocent until proven guilty’’ all you like, but it’s weird the state took out no insurance against such an eventuality.

Anyway, he was only “innocent” because of the wilful blindness of cycling’s governing body, the UCI, and Armstrong’s capacity to bully and threaten anyone who could expose him. Indeed, he was only able to race in Adelaide in 2009 because the UCI bent its own anti-doping rules.

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Armstrong won’t refund SA taxpayers, but he has given money back to the US government and been ordered to repay Tour de France prize money.

Which makes you wonder if Armstrong insisted there be no such clause in his contract or he wouldn’t appear here. It’s hard not to think Armstrong saw SA as a soft touch.

Lance Armstrong was paid $1.5 million to take part in the TDU. Picture: Russell Millard

While he was wealthy, the $1.5 million would have been handy. Perhaps it was directed towards helping restart and fund the drug conspiracy he ran during his glory years.

Armstrong has claimed his comeback was drug free. Always good when a singer rolls out their greatest hits.

The other response to the Armstrong story was that it was all OK because we received value for money and he essentially built the TDU.

I think that undervalues the TDU. The year before Armstrong the crowd was estimated at 548,000. In 2009 it was 40 per cent higher.

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But then again how do you count crowds where there is no defined venue and no one buys a ticket? An optimistic guess?

Economic impact was estimated to have doubled but those numbers are filed in the fiction section of your local library.

The TDU was a great event before Lance. As it was after he left. Drug cheats deserve no honours. Let’s not give him too much credit.

Michael McGuire is a journalist for The Adelaide Advertiser.

@mcguiremi