The Times of today reports briefly about the struggle between an insurance company, the SCA Promotions, well known to all bridge players as it was founded by Bob Hamman (still president of it), and the not less famous Tailwind Sport Inc. The latter is controlled by Thomas Weisel, who held the US Postal, the team of Lance Armstrong, that is the cyclist who won seven straight Tour de France from 1999 to 2005.
After the second victory, in 2000, the Tailwind Sports asked SCA Promo to bet against Lance Armstrong winning the following four Tour de France. Bob Hamman accepted and established an odd of 23:1, that is a little more than 400.000 dollars against 9,5 millions. The stake, in more meaningful words, was that Armstrong would have beat the record of five straight victories in the Tour, a record shared by Eddy Merck, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
The SCA Promo lost and had to pay: Armstrong won the following five tours, not only four (then seven straight victories, not only six), but, soon afterward, it came up rumours that the cyclist had used banned drugs. Hamman refused to pay the last part of the sum, 5 millions, but in 2006 an arbitration ruled against, adding other 2,5 millions for the ruling.
The reason, then, was that Armstrong still was the official winner of those years; but in August 2012 the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) disqualified him for doping and stripped of the victories; a month later the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), confirmed the disqualification.
By 2012’s USADA and UCI rulings it is officially restored Eddie Merck as the all time greatest cyclist.
The other matter of these rulings might be that Hamman could get back his 11,5 millions; it will be decided on an arbitration fixed on next Thursday; The Times thinks that Hamman should win: they titled “Hamman to have the last laugh”.
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Paolo Enrico Garrisi