Frankie Andreu

Frankie Andreu (born September 26, 1966 in Dearborn , Michigan ) is a former American cyclist , later cycling commentator and sporting director of cycling teams .

Career as a racing cyclist

Andreu (left) with Ron Kiefel at the Thrift Drug Classic 1991

Frankie Andreu began his cycling career as a track cyclist . He won the singles pursuit at the US Junior Championships in 1984. In 1985, he won the amateurs in the Madison and finished second in each point race and in the team pursuit . The following year he was US team pursuit champion. Andreu qualified for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul , where he finished eighth in the points race.

Andreu then concentrated on road cycling and signed a contract with the professional cycling team 7-Eleven in 1989 , for which he did his first major national tour in 1990 with the Giro d'Italia and finished in 136th place. He took part in every edition of the Tour de France from 1992 to 2000 and finished the race in each of his nine participations. His best result at the Tour de France was a second place in the mass sprint of the 18th stage of the Tour de France 1993 behind Jamolidin Abduschaparov , in which he participated as a member of the Motorola team together with the young Lance Armstrong . Andreu mainly drove as a helper who supported Armstrong in particular in his first two Tour de France victories in 1999 and 2000 .

Andreu achieved his most significant individual success as fourth in the 1996 Olympic Road Race in Atlanta .

Armstrong affair and doping confession

Andreu and his wife Betsy testified in a lawsuit concluded in early 2006 between Armstrong and the Texas company SCA Promotions over a $ 5 million bonus that Lance Armstrong doped his doctors with EPO , growth hormone, in their presence in 1996 as part of his cancer treatment and given steroids . Armstrong denied the declaration under oath. The Andreus only went to the media with their allegation after the court documents had already been published, but then confirmed the content. Even before the court's verdict was announced, the parties reached an agreement: SCA Promotions paid Armstrong and team operator Tailwind Sports $ 7.5 million for the bonus, interest and legal costs. Further litigation was hopeless, according to SCA boss Robert Hamman, because the World Cycling Association UCI Armstrong continues as the tour winner.

In September 2006, Andreu confessed in an interview with the New York Times that he took EPO in preparation for the 1999 Tour de France , which he contested as an assistant for eventual winner Lance Armstrong. Andreu said he was introduced to doping in 1995 while driving for the Motorola team.

After the racing career

After his active cycling career, Andreu initially worked as a cycling commentator on television.

In 2006 Andreu was appointed sports director at Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team , but was fired on July 25, 2006 for no reason. It is assumed that this termination occurred in view of the ongoing doping controversy surrounding Andreu.

In the following year Andreu became sporting director of the Rock Racing team, but left the team in January 2008 due to differences with team owner Michael Ball. In particular, he was dissatisfied with the fact that driver commitments were made without his consultation. Several of these drivers, including Tyler Hamilton , Santiago Botero , Oscar Sevilla and Mario Cipollini , have been involved in doping investigations. Andreu also stated that he disapproves of the team owner's "win or you're fired" ("win or you're fired") mentality.

In 2008 Andreu worked with the women's cycling team Proman . In 2009 he became the athletic director of Kenda-5-Hour Energy Cycling Team , a US Continental team, and stayed there until the end of the 2014 season. He retired to work in the media sector again.