Former UCI boss derides Armstrong link as ‘cynical’

Former UCI President Hein Verbruggen had assets managed by the investment bank of Thom Weisel, backer of the US Postal Services team that disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong rode for during his rise to fame in the late 90s and early 2000s — but has denied any wrongdoing.

BMC general manager Jim Ochowicz, who worked as a broker for Thomas Weisel Partners at the time, told the influential Wall Street Journal newspaper that the firm managed some of Verbruggen’s assets between 2001 and 2004 — when Armstrong won his fourth, fifth and sixth Tour titles.

Ochowicz had previously managed Armstrong at Motorola and he later became a stockbroker at Robert Baird & Co. when the team disbanded at the end of 1996, while Verbruggen is reported to have invested with him in 1999. Ochowicz began to work for Thomas Weisel Partners investment bank in 2001 and the Verbruggen account moved with him.