Katie Couric, the American broadcaster who did so much expert work during the dismantling of Sarah Palin a year ago, has done a more sympathetic job on Andre Agassi and can reveal the reason that Agassi unloaded the “crystal meth” confessions in his new autobiography, serialised exclusively in The Times, was apparently not to sell copies of his book but to help other people.

Couric’s interview with Agassi on 60 Minutes will run on CBS on Sunday, but preview quotes have been released that include Agassi’s self-defence, particularly from criticism by Martina Navratilova.

Navratilova had compared Agassi to Roger Clemens, who was named 82 times in a report into steroid use in baseball, even if the pitcher has strongly denied all allegations. Agassi lapsed into the third person when he said: “Maybe this person doesn’t need condemnation. Maybe this person could stand a little help.”

Even though Agassi’s description of his crystal meth trip sounds like an advertisement for the drug he tells Couric that he wrote it to create tolerance. “I had a problem,” he said. “And there might be many other athletes out there that test positive for recreational drugs that have a problem.”

Armstrong bike a steal at £78,400
The techie world of bicycles can be a little expensive, as anyone who coughed up £71,750 for one of Aurumania’s ten limited-edition Gold Bikes would agree. The Gold Bike has some useful features (gold-plated spokes, 600 Swarovski crystals), although these do not compare to the street cred of owning a bike pinched from Lance Armstrong.

The American’s time-trial bike, stolen from the Tour of California and later recovered, was auctioned this week at Sotheby’s in New York and fetched £78,400. This compares dimly with another Armstrong bike, designed by Damien Hirst, that was sold for £300,000.

LA pitcher fails to dodge bullet
Vicente Padilla, the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, has shot himself, although this was not a suicide attempt but an accident at a Nicaraguan pistol-shooting range. Padilla was reportedly trying to clear a round from the chamber when the gun went off and shot him in the leg.