Michael Barry admits involvement in Lance Armstrong’s doping conspiracy

The Canadian cycling community was shocked to find out that its prized professional cyclist, Michael Barry, was involved in one of the biggest organized doping scandals in the history of sport.

Barry was named in the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) recently released Reasoned Decision as a key witness in the investigation against his former US Postal Service teammate Lance Armstrong.

The investigation ultimately stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and banned him from Olympic sports for life.

Barry started his professional cycling career with the American team Saturn from 1999-2001. After much success in North America, he was recruited to race for US Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams where he spent the next five years, 2002-2006. He made the move to T-Mobile and HTC-Highroad from 2007-2009 and capped off his career with the British team Sky Procycling from 2010 to present.

He admitted to being involved in the nearly decade-long doping conspiracy led by Armstrong between 1998 to 2006, where doping products such as Erythropoietin (EPO), Testosterone and blood manipulation were used to help Armstrong win seven Tours and the US Postal/Discovery Channel to become the most dominant team of that time.

“Recently, I was contacted by United States Anti-Doping Agency to testify in their investigation into the use of performance enhancing drugs on the United States Postal Service Team,” Barry said. “I agreed to participate as it allowed me to explain my experiences, which I believe will help improve the sport for today’s youth who aspire to be tomorrow’s champions.

“After being encouraged by the team, pressured to perform and pushed to my physical limits I crossed a line I promised myself and others I would not: I doped. It was a decision I deeply regret. It caused me sleepless nights, took the fun out of cycling and racing, and tainted the success I achieved at the time. This was not how I wanted to live or race.”

According to his former teammate David Zabriskie, Barry had an influence on his own decision to use performance enhancing drugs. The American stated in his affidavit that, “He looked to Barry for support but he did not find it. Barry’s mind was made up. Barry had decided to use EPO, and he reinforced Bruyneel’s opinions that EPO use was required for success in the peloton. The group retired to Barry’s apartment where both David and Barry were injected with EPO by Dr. del Moral.”

Barry issued a public apology that stated, “I apologize to those I deceived. I will accept my suspension and any other consequences. I will work hard to regain people’s trust.”

Barry, along with other former Armstrong teammates Christian Vande Velde, George Hincapie, Tom Danielson, Levi Leipheimer and Zabriskie gave sworn statements against Armstrong, and each received a six-month suspension.

Barry and Hincapie, however, announced their retirement from cycling before the news of their involvement in the investigation broke to media outlets world-wide.

The Canadian Centre of Ethics and Sport (CCES) cooperated and collaborated with USADA during the investigation. Paul Melia, President and CEO of the CCES, weighed in on the subject stating that, “Michael Barry was wrong to have participated in this extensive doping conspiracy. His sanction, including the disqualification of results, is justified. At the same time, he ought now to be commended for doing the right thing: for speaking up, admitting his mistakes and providing USADA with credible information into the doping practices within the sport of cycling.”

Armstrong and US Postal/Discovery Channel team manager Johan Bruyneel, doctors Ferrari, Pedro Celaya and Luis Garcia de Moral, and trainer Jose Marti were charged with use and/or attempted use, possession, trafficking, administration and/or attempted administration of performance enhancing substances, and assisting, encouraging, aiding abetting attempted anti-doping rule violations, and aggravating circumstances.

Ferrari and Garcia del Moral accepted lifetime bans; however, Bruyneel, Celaya and Marti have chosen to fight USADA’s charges against them.