Page Contents:
- Did Lance Armstrong Cheat? The World Awaits News From the US Drug Investigation
- Investigators Subpoena Records from 2004 Armstrong Doping Case
- The Heat is On: Armstrong Hires a Criminal Defence Attorney
- The Drug Wars: Cyclist LeMond Subpoenaed in Investigation Involving Seven-Time Tour de France Winner Armstrong
- Lance Armstrong's Crashes in the 2010 Tours vs. News of the Investigation
- Is There Any Evidence Armstrong Cheated?
- Did Armstrong Give UCI $100,000?
- Armstrong's Troubles with SCA Promotions
- Landis Alleges Tailwind Used Proceeds from Trek Bike Sale Used to Finance Doping Program
- Was Armstrong a Partner Or Investor in Tailwind Sports?
- Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation
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| Drew at Rocky Mountain News |
Did Lance Armstrong Cheat? The World Awaits News From the US Drug Investigation
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| Floyd Landis |
[For background information, please read our page on Scandals.]
Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong's former team-mate and friend told all to ABC's Nightline - his first interview since admitting doping during his career - on July 23, 2010 (see videos below).
He also told Nightline that his former friend and team-mate had transfused his own blood "Yes, many times".
Armstrong, who had won the Tour de France a record breaking seven-times Tour winner between 1999 and 2005, has always vehemently denied the accusations. He has also never tested positive for a banned substance or procedure.
On August 1, 2010, the China Daily cited Zhang Bin, secretary-general of the Chinese Cycling Association as saying that a 32-year-old Chinese rider on Lance Armstrong’s Team RadioShack has been confirmed as testing positive for using the banned substance, Clenbuterol, an anabolic agent.
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| A secret former Armstrong team-mate speaks to the New York Times and backs up the cheating allegations |
The cheating allegations now seem to implicate the entire team led my Lance Armstrong from 1999 to 2005.
On August 6, 2010, Wisconsin-based Trek Bicycle Corporation officials announced that they have provided documents to a federal criminal investigation involving Lance Armstrong. Armstrong endorses Trek bikes and has worked with Trek since 1998 when the company sponsored Armstrong's US Postal Service team. Trek now sponsors Armstrong's latest team, Radio Shack.
Lance Armstrong’s attorney Bryan D. Daly said "To the extent that any riders are suggesting that Lance Armstrong violated cycling rules or doped, they are either mistaken or not telling the truth. Lance has ridden with hundreds of riders over the years who will support his position, and over all that time he has never failed even a single test."
However, while we had heard from a few former team-mates, we have yet to hear from "the hundreds of riders" especially under oath.
Armstrong's attorney Daly went on to call the investigation un-American: "The power of the federal government is being abused to pursue dated and discredited allegations, and that’s flat-out wrong, unethical, un-American, and a waste of taxpayer dollars."
Up to now, the Armstrong defence team response to allegations has been angry put-downs and wrapping themselves in the flag. This might work if the investigators are easily intimidated. It won't work if the investigators doggedly seek the truth. What might be more helpful (than intimidation and mud-slinging) for Armstrong's defence to the allegations are sworn statements by the "hundreds of riders" cited by Armstrong's attorney - that Armstrong never violated cycling rules related to the use of prohibited performance enhancing techniques or drugs.
Click here to read our page on Scandals for various stories and background on the drug scandal surrounding Lance Armstrong, Floyd Landis and other US Tour de France cyclists.
The interview with ABC Nightline:
Investigators Subpoena Records from 2004 Armstrong Doping Case
July 27, 2010. Austin, Texas — Federal prosecutors investigating cheating by US professional cyclists have subpoenaed documents from a 2004 arbitration case (see Armstrong's Troubles with SCA Promotions, below) in which SCA Promotions, a Dallas, Texas based company tried to withhold a $5 million performance bonus due Lance Armstrong for winning the Tour for the sixth time. SCA based their refusal cited published allegations that Lance Armstrong had used performance enhancing drugs or was doping.In 2004, Armstrong invoked an arbitration clause in his contract when SCA withheld a $5 million performance bonus for Lance winning the Tour for the sixth time. SCA had cited published allegations Armstrong was doping, which he denied.
SCA Promotions Inc.'s attorney during the 2004 case, Jeffrey Tillotson, said today that his office will send the documents to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.
The records include depositions made over a three-week period from former Tour de France winner Greg LeMond, former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu and his wife (see the ABC Nightline videos), as well as testimony from Armstrong and his business associates.
Betsy Andreu has claimed that days after Armstrong underwent brain surgery in 1996, he told a doctor he used the blood-boosting hormone EPO and other drugs. Frankie Andreu has also given similar testimony. However, the doctor who supervised Armstrong's chemotherapy treatments Said there are no medical records of any such admission by the cyclist.
"I would have recorded such a confession as a matter of form, as indeed, would have my colleagues," Dr. Craig Nichols said. "None was recorded."
LeMond has alleged that Armstrong threatened his life, a charge denied by Armstrong as "ridiculous."
The federal investigators also have sought records from Armstrong's former teammate Tyler Hamilton.
Armstrong's attorney, Bryan D. Daly, a criminal defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor based in Los Angeles, told reporters that his client had not (as yet) received any subpoenas or official requests from federal investigators.
Daly added, "Truthfully, I don’t have any idea how Lance Armstrong fits into this whole thing. Lance Armstrong doesn’t want to be stuck in the middle of a celebrity investigation."
Armstrong and his attorney respond to every charge by undermining the credibility of Landis, but their problem is that many of Armstrong's former colleagues are making similar accusations.
The Heat is On: Armstrong Hires a Criminal Defence Attorney
July 22, 2010. Lance Armstrong has hired criminal defense attorney Bryan D. Daly - a former U.S. federal prosecutor based in Los Angeles and partner at the firm Sheppard Mullin Richter and Hampton - to represent him in the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) investigation (also see article immediately below).It is possible that the FDA are not making any announcements in connection with Lance Armstrong given that he is currently racing in the Tour de France. The publicity and harm caused to the US' reputation may be the reasons. If this is the case, then we might expect several announcements after the conclusion of the Tour.
The heat is on.
The Drug Wars: Cyclist LeMond Subpoenaed in Investigation Involving Seven-Time Tour de France Winner Armstrong
July 17, 2010. The New York Daily News, reported on July 16, 2010 from New York that three-time Tour de France champion Greg LeMond has been served with a grand jury subpoena as part of a widening federal investigation by the United States' Food and Drug Administration into potential fraud and doping conspiracies on Lance Armstrong's cycling team. |
| LeMond at the start of the last stage in the 1990 Tour de France. Source: Wikipedia |
The drug scandal amongst professional US cyclists started when LeMond alleged extensive use performance-enhancing substances in the sport. In July 2001, LeMond criticized Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong for continuing to associate with Michele Ferrari, an Italian physician and sports trainer. It is reported that Ferrari has at various times admitted to practicing blood doping and has advocated the controlled use of banned substance Erythropoietin by athletes. Apparently, Ferrari has also been accused by professional cyclists of providing banned substances (see Wikipedia).
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| Greg LaMond. Photo credit: captian mail at photobucket |
Returning to the story surrounding the current investigation, the federal subpoena requests LeMond to provide testimony and documents related to the four cycling teams Armstrong has led, namely, the U.S. Postal Service, Discovery Channel, Astana and RadioShack teams, and orders LeMond to appear at a federal courthouse in Los Angeles on July 30.
The current investigation is a result of allegations made by American cyclist and 2006 Tour de France winner (until stripped of the title for drug violations) Floyd Landis in e-mails sent to cycling and doping officials earlier this year. Landis has alleged that the use of banned substances was common on the US Postal team when he and Armstrong were members. The implication is that Armstrong was deeply involved in the scandal.
Lance Armstrong has responded by saying "As long as I live I will deny that. There is absolutely no way I forced people, encouraged people, told people, helped people, facilitated... Absolutely not; 100 percent."
Armstrong, who is currently competing in the Tour de France, said Wednesday, July 14, 2010 that he had not been subpoenaed or contacted by the investigator. Armstrong added "Like I said, as long as we have a legitimate and credible and fair investigation, we’ll be happy to cooperate, but I’m not going to participate in any kind of witch hunt." Armstrong has emphatically and repeatedly denied any involvement in doping during the Tour de France.
Lead investigator Jeff Novitzky was the investigator who uncovered the BALCO doping scandal. The BALCO (Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative) scandal was a scandal involving the use of banned, performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes and the Bay Area Laboratory Cooperative was a San Francisco Bay Area business accused of supplying steroids to Major League Baseball players.
LeMond's response to the subpoena was conveyed through his wife Kathy who told the New York Daily News, "We are overjoyed. I hope the truth will come out."
Lance Armstrong's Crashes in the 2010 Tours vs. News of the Investigation
Though he’s not been badly injured, the Texan Lance Armstrong has had some uncharacteristic crashes during his final Tour de France and now sports scrapes and bandages. And many of the crashes were his own doing - losing control of his bicycle. Given that he has seldom crashed in his previous races, it raises the question: why now?Armstrong's stage eight crash came on the day The Wall Street Journal reported that his former teammate George Hincapie would cooperate with the federal drugs-in-cycling investigation. The his stage thirteen crash came the day German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported that Greg LeMond had claimed that Armstrong attempted to pay a former rider $300,000 to say LeMond of using EPO (erythropoietin a glycoprotein hormone that controls red blood cell production and is used as a performance-enhancing drug) during his racing career. LeMond refused to reveal the identity of the rider who was allegedly offered the $300,000 by Armstrong, saying this person still works in cycling.
Former teammate and disgraced Tour de France racer, Floyd Landis has also alleged in May 2010 that Armstrong and his long-time directeur sportif, Johan Bruyneel, came to a "financial arrangement" with an International Cycling Union (UCI) official to cover up a positive test for the banned drug EPO by Armstrong during the 2002 Tour of Switzerland. Landis has also written in an email to the media that "He (Armstrong) and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test."
Previously, Armstrong had crashed and left the Amgen Tour of California in May, 2010, just an hour after holding a press conference outside his team bus, where he first denied Floyd Landis’ allegations that Armstrong took part in illegal performance enhancing doping, a charge that UCI has denied angrily.
Armstrong, who has never failed a drug test or been disciplined for a doping violation, was forced to issue a denial before competing in the fifth stage of the Tour of California.
Armstrong told VeloNews on Sunday, July 18, 2010, "I might be distracted, but I’m not distracted on the things people are speculating I’m distracted on,” Armstrong said prior to the start of stage 14. “I don’t have any fear about any of that. I know what’s gone on in my life. I rest at night perfectly well."
Is There Any Evidence Armstrong Cheated?
According to Wikipedia and various media reports such as in The Week, state as follows:
Wikipedia: "On August 23, 2005, L'Équipe, a major French daily sports newspaper, reported on its front page under the headline "le mensonge Armstrong" ("The Armstrong Lie") that 6 urine samples taken from the cyclist during the prologue and five stages of the 1999 Tour de France, frozen and stored since at 'Laboratoire national de dépistage du dopage de Châtenay-Malabry' (LNDD), had tested positive for erythropoietin in recent retesting conducted as part of a research project into EPO testing methods. For years, it had been impossible to detect the drug, called erythropoietin, which builds endurance by boosting the production of oxygen-carrying red blood cells. The world governing body of cycling, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), did not begin using a urine test for EPO until 2001, two years after the samples were taken. This claim was based on an investigation in which they claimed to be able to match samples from the 1999 Tour that were used to hone the EPO test to Armstrong. To establish a link between Armstrong and the samples, Damien Ressiot, L'Equipe's reporter, matched the tracking numbers, with the indirect help of UCI and Lance Armstrong on the samples with those on Armstrong's record with the UCI during the 1999 Tour. Armstrong immediately replied on his website, saying, 'Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism. The paper even admits in its own article that the science in question here is faulty and that I have no way to defend myself. They state: 'There will therefore be no counter-exam nor regulatory prosecutions, in a strict sense, since defendant's rights cannot be respected.' I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance enhancing drugs.' In October 2008, the AFLD gave Armstrong the opportunity to have samples taken during the 1998 and 1999 Tours de France retested. Armstrong immediately refused, saying, "the samples have not been maintained properly." Head of AFLD Pierre Bordry stated: "Scientifically there is no problem to analyse these samples - everything is correct" and "If the analysis is clean it would have been very good for him. But he doesn't want to do it and that's his problem."
The Week stated that in 2005, a leak from the Union Cycliste Internationale, the sport’s Swiss-based cyclists' governing body, stated that the results of tests performed retroactively on urine samples taken from Armstrong during the 1999 Tour - when there were no reliable tests for EPO, erythropoietin a performance-enhancer - showed that EPO was present in six of Armstrong’s samples. Armstrong, however, has claimed that the samples had been tampered with.
Did Armstrong Give UCI $100,000?
Lance Armstrong's former teammate Floyd Landis has alleged in May 2010 that Armstrong and his long-time directeur sportif, Johan Bruyneel, came to a "financial arrangement" with an official of the International Cycling Union (or Union Cycliste Internationale / UCI), an international cycling governing body, to cover up a positive test for the banned drug EPO (erythropoietin) by Armstrong during the 2002 Tour of Switzerland. Landis has also written in an email to the media that "He (Armstrong) and I had lengthy discussions about it on our training rides during which time he also explained to me the evolution of EPO testing and how transfusions were now necessary due to the inconvenience of the new test." At first, UCI angrily denied the charge.
Then at a May 25, 2010 press conference, Pat McQuaid, the president of the UCI, confirmed that Lance Armstrong made a donation of $100,000. UCI used the money to purchase a Sysmex unit, a piece of equipment used to analyse blood samples. This admission by the president of UCI contradicted the declaration made by Lance Armstrong in a deposition taken as part of the case brought by Armstrong against SCA Promotions in 2005.Then, Armstrong said he had made a payment of around $25,000 to the UCI to help fund the fight against doping.
Speaking to journalists during the Giro Italia [one of the three professional cycling Grand Tours (the others being the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España)], McQuaid said: "We are looking into it to be fully transparent; by the end of it we will have the full facts available. That will include the invoice of the Sysmex machine, when it was bought. My understanding, without having examined the full details, is that during 2002 Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel visited the UCI headquarters in Aigle [Switzerland]. It had just opened in April 2002; it was some time after that. They got a guided tour of the centre. They were impressed by what they saw and Armstrong offered $100,000 to help the development of cycling. The UCI decided to use the money on a Sysmex machine, my understanding is that the machine cost around $88,000. We did nothing more about this until 2005 when it was realised that the money had not been paid by Armstrong. A phone call was made and the money came in. I don’t believe there was a conflict of interest. The machine is still in use today to test riders before major races. If there is any money left over it is still in the account of the UCI."
It now appears that there had been two payments made by Lance Armstrong to UCI - one in 2002 of around $25,000 made by personal cheque from the joint account of Armstrong and his then wife. A second payment of $100,000 was in 2005, made on Armstrong's behalf by his management company.
As we noted above, one of Floyd Landis’s allegations was that Johan Bruyneel and Armstrong travelled to UCI headquarters in 2001 to make a payment to Hein Verbruggen, Pat McQuaid's predecessor, in order to suppress a positive test for EPO at the Tour de France. Verbruggen and Armstrong both strongly denied the allegation and the UCI said it had documentary evidence to support its claim that there was no positive test for EPO at that year’s Tour of Switzerland.
The UCI is no stranger to accusations of corrupt dealings. In 2005, BikeBiz.com accused the UCI of rigging a vote to rid the Olympic Games of the kilo, a move akin to the world athletics body ditching the 100 metre sprint. Then, for years there had been rumours that the Japanese had given money to the UCI in return for its promotion of Keirin as an Olympic event. According to one member of the UCI at the time, the Japanese donated a 'big envelope' in return for access." The Keirin is a big-money Japanese event, fuelled by cash from gambling. The allegation is that big money Japanese interests bought Keirin's way into the Olympic Games. Documents supplied to BBC suggest that £1.5m was paid by organisers of the Japanese cycling event to the UCI. The then president of UCI, Hein Verbruggen, was also flown around the world at the expense of Japan's Keirin Association.
Now McQuaid’s recollections of how and for what money was 'donated' to UCI, contradicts Lance Armstrong's statements and brings into question, the credibility of all the statements he has made. At present, Armstrong is relying on Landis' own lack of credibility to dismiss Landis' allegations. But a federal investigation might be able give us a more objective picture.
Cycling Weekly published an article in May 2010 examining the conflicting statements by Armstrong and McQuaid surrounding the payment. A Sysmex machine is used to analyse blood to perform cell and reticulocyte counts. The UCI uses the machine to do blood tests before races. Armstrong told CW in an interview in 2008 that the amount he had donated to the UCI was in the region of $25,000.
At a hearing involving Armstrong's attempt at recovering $5 million from SCA Promotions, Armstrong was questioned in a deposition under oath, about the amount and timing of any payment or payments he had made to the UCI. The deposition interview took place in November 2005. Asked then if he had made a contribution or donation to the UCI, Armstrong said: "I have, yeah." He also said the payment was made "some years ago. I don’t recall exactly." When asked what the payment was for, Armstrong said it was to fund the fight against doping. Asked if there was any specific event that triggered the desire to make a donation he said: "The only event or the only idea is that I’m in support of that fight, just like I’ve done on other occasions." Asked how much he paid, Armstrong said: "I think 25,000." When pressed, he said it couldn’t be in the region of 200,000 or 150,000 but "I think it’s no more than 30." In reply to a question if he had given money since, Armstrong stated "I have pledged money since but I don’t think I’ve done it yet."
Armstrong's Troubles with SCA Promotions
Tailwind Sports, the owner of the team Lance Armstrong raced for in the Tour de France, contracted with Armstrong to pay him bonuses in the event that he won the 2002 and 2003 editions of the Tour de France. Tailwind in turn, took out an insurance policy with several insurers including one in 2001 with SCA Promotions, a sports promotion company based in Dallas, Texas. In addition, to the annual Tour win bonuses SCA also agreed to insure $5 million (50%) of a $10 million performance award if Armstrong won six consecutive Tours de France, the sixth one being 2004. They did this after Armstrong had already won the Tour twice consecutively. To earn the 2004 $10 million award, Armstrong would have to win another four consecutive Tours from 2001, a feat which had never been accomplished up to that time.
The bonus policy with SCA cost Tailwind $420,000.
SCA paid the $3 million and $1.5 million performance awards for 2002 and 2003 respectively. However, SCA refused to pay their $5 million share of the $10 million 2004 performance award even though two other insurers had already promptly paid their $5 million share. SCA cited allegations of performance enhancement doping made against Armstrong in David Walsh and Pierre Ballester's book LA Confidentiel of use by Armstrong as their reason.
Armstrong denied the rumours and produced testing reports from the 2004 Tours.
When SCA still refused to pay its share of the 2004 performance award, Armstrong invoked the contract's arbitration clause in early September 2004. He confirmed that he had "furnished the Tour de France testing protocols and proof of compliance to SCA on August 16, 2004, and again in September shortly after SCA requested test results."
We will not go into the procedural details here, but after a lengthy process, SCA decided not to pursue the legal process and sought a settlement with Armstrong and Tailwind. As a result, SCA Promotions paid Armstrong and Tailwind Sports $7.5 million, to cover the $5-million bonus plus interest and lawyers' fees.
In July 2006, the Los Angeles Times published a story on the allegations raised in the SCA case. The Times story cited evidence given at the SCA case including the results of a Laboratoire national de dépistage du dopage de Châtenay-Malabry (LNDD) test and an analysis of these results by an expert witness. The LA Times stated, "The results, Australian researcher Michael Ashenden testified in Dallas, show Armstrong's levels (of EPO - erythropoietin a glycoprotein hormone that controls red blood cell production and is used as a performance-enhancing drug) rising and falling, consistent with a series of injections during the Tour. Ashenden, a paid expert retained by SCA Promotions, told arbitrators the results painted a "compelling picture" that the world's most famous cyclist "used EPO in the '99 Tour."
There is now renewed interest in the SCA case not just because of the ongoing doping allegations but also because of the sworn testimony given by Lance Armstrong during depositions for the case.
SCA Promotions has undoubtedly been following recent developments closely.
Landis Alleges Tailwind Used Proceeds from Trek Bike Sale Used to Finance Doping Program
July 19 - 21, 2010. An early July 2010 story in the Wall Street Journal quoted Floyd Landis as alleging that Tailwind Sports acquired a number of Trek bikes and then sold them to help finance a doping program. In the article, Landis said that there was no accounting for about 60 of the US Postal team bikes which were sold for cash. He said he obtained this information from Johan Bruyneel who added that money raised from the sale helped fund the team's doping program.
Johan Bruyneel, team director of the Radio Shack's 2010 team of which Lance Armstrong is a rider, was a longtime buddy and coach to Lance Armstrong when the two were part of the US Postal Service team. The name of the team is determined by its principle sponsor and not the owners of the team. The team owners were Tailwind Sports. When the sponsor subsequently changed, the team was called the Discovery team.
A Trek spokesman said it had no knowledge of such activity. Nor would Trek, a bicycle company that had supplied bikes to Armstrong's US Postal Service team, condone such practices. In a July 13, 2010 report, the New York Daily News had stated that Trek had been issued with a grand jury subpoena to release documents relating to Trek's sponsorship of the Postal Service team.
On July 21, 2010, Johan Bruyneel, team director of the Radio Shack's 2010 team and longtime buddy and coach to Lance Armstrong confirmed that the Discovery Channel team, the successor name to the US Postal Service team (same owner, different sponsors) sold bicycles provided by sponsor Trek Bicycle Corp. after Discovery Channel ended its sponsorship of the squad. Bruyneel said, "At the end of the Discovery Channel’s sponsorship, I think there were bikes sold on eBay."
However, Bruyneel added that he had "no idea" where the money went. He further denied that he had ever told Landis about 60 bikes being unaccounted saying, "I have absolutely no idea where he got that from."
Was Armstrong a Partner Or Investor in Tailwind Sports?
Questions about Armstrong's involvement with Tailwind Sports - the company that owned and operated the US Postal Service team (and which later became the Discovery Channel team) - arose after a story published in early July 2010 in the Wall Street Journal (see article immediately above).
In the light of the report, Armstrong appears to want to distance himself from Tailwind Sports, a company in which he is thought to have an ownership stake. Speaking to reporters on July 14, 2010, Armstrong asserted that he had never owned a stake in Tailwind thereby contradicting a 2005 statement he had given under oath in a deposition during an arbitration case between Tailwind Sports against SCA Promotions, a sports marketing company, when Armstrong stated that he had indeed owned a 'small' stake in the company.
Now, in the July 2010 meeting with reporters, Armstrong stated emphatically: "I was a rider on the (Postal Service / Discovery) team. I was contracted with Tailwind Sports. I never had any dealings with the Postal Service (team) - zero. I didn't own the company (Tailwind Sports). I didn't have an equity stake. I didn't have a profit stake. I didn't have a seat on the board. I can't be any clearer than that."
The text of the deposition reads as follows:
Question: Can you tell us what your relationship, first, your business relationship, with Tailwind Sports is?
Armstrong: I'm an athlete on the team.
Question: Do you have any ownership interest in Tailwind Sports?
Armstrong: A small one.
Question: When you say a small one, can you give me an approximate percentage as to what that would be, if you know?
Armstrong: Perhaps 10 per cent.
Question: Do you know when you acquired that ownership interest?
Armstrong: No. I don't remember.
Question: Would it have been in 2005, or before that?
Armstrong: I don't remember.
Question: Who would know the answer to the question as to when you acquired an ownership interest in Tailwind?
Armstrong: Bill Stapleton.
Question: Is there documentation? Like, do you have papers or an ownership certificate of some sort that reflects your ownership interest in Tailwind?
Armstrong: I'm sure there is.
Lance Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation
Lance Armstrong established the Lance Armstrong Foundation of which Livestrong is a trademark. In 2009, the Lance Armstrong Foundation adopted the name Livestrong. Lance Armstrong is Founder and Chairman.The Foundation web-site states "Since 1997, we've been working to improve the lives of people affected by cancer." The site also states, "Since our inception in 1997, the Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised more than $325 million to support our mission to inspire and empower people affected by cancer." It is reportedly one of the top 10 groups funding cancer research in the United States.
