Cyclist Greg LeMond revealed in court last week that he had been sexually abused as a child.
The shocking revelation by the three-time winner of the Tour de France competition came under oath during testimony in Floyd Landis' doping hearing. Landis, last year's Tour de France winner, is accused of doping in that event—and LeMond said that he shared his childhood secret of the abuse with Landis in a phone conversation last August. LeMond did so, he said, in the hopes that if Landis, too, had a secret to share that he would come clean.
LeMond's revelation wasn't the only shocking moment from the case, held in Malibu, Calif.
LeMond also disclosed that he received a phone call the day before he was to testify from Landis' manager who threatened to reveal the secret if LeMond showed up to testify.
The manager, Will Geoghegan, later walked up to LeMond, apologized and admitted he made the call, according to LeMond. Geoghegan was then fired by Landis' attorney, Maurice Suh.
LeMond said he told of his past sexual abuse, from when he was six, as an example of how it's good to get things out in the open.
'It nearly destroyed me by keeping the secret,' LeMond told the Associated Press.
LeMond described the mysterious phone call as being from someone who claimed to be his uncle. He said he later traced the call to Geoghegan's cell phone.
'He said, 'I'll be there tomorrow and we can talk about how we used to' perform a sexual act, LeMond said of the phone call. 'I thought this was intimidation to keep me from coming here.'
LeMond said he was so distraught by the phone call that he filed a police report, which was presented as evidence by attorneys.
