Lance Armstrong hit by doping allegations
PARIS (Reuters) - Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs following a report in French newspaper L'Equipe that he had used the blood-boosting drug EPO.
Tour de France executive director Jean-Marie Leblanc said he felt let down by Armstrong after L'Equipe alleged the American had taken the banned drug in 1999, the year he first won the world's greatest cycle race.
Armstrong, who recovered from testicular cancer to become the most successful rider in the Tour's history, has been forced to rebut several doping allegations during his career and he repeated on Tuesday that his sporting successes were 'clean'.
"I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs," the 33-year-old, who retired in July, said in a statement on his personal website.
L'Equipe, saying it had access to laboratory documents, reported on Tuesday that six of Armstrong's urine samples collected on the 1999 Tour de France showed "indisputable" traces of EPO (erythropoietin).
L'Equipe published what it claimed to be a results sheet from the laboratory which appeared to show six figures revealing traces of EPO. The newspaper also published documents from the French cycling federation showing exactly the same figures under Armstrong's name.
The Chatenay-Malabry lab said in a statement that the samples they tested did not have names attached and they could not confirm if any of the samples were Armstrong's.
TEST RESULTS
The lab said all test results had been sent to WADA, the agency in charge of the fight against doping in world sport, on the condition they did not use them to take disciplinary action.
Despite the lack of proof and Armstrong's denials, cycling officials expressed disappointment.
"I remain cautious and slightly circumspect but this is troubling and I feel disappointment inside me, like many sports lovers must do," Leblanc told French radio station RTL
Asked if he felt let down by Armstrong, Leblanc said. "Yes."
International Cycling Union (UCI) president Hein Verbruggen told Reuters: "We have to wait and see if this is true.
"Only then will we be able to ask ourselves whether there should be any legal action and whether this is a further blow for cycling.
"I have to say this is not pleasant but, for the moment, it only involves Lance Armstrong and France."
There were no tests to detect EPO, a drug that increases the level of red blood cells and endurance, in 1999.
However, samples from the 1999 Tour were kept and have been recently retested by the specialist anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry outside Paris.
The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA)-accredited lab, which developed the test to detect EPO, started retesting last year samples that had been taken between 1998 and 1999 and frozen. The new tests were part of a scientific research programme.
CANCER FIGHT
A spokesman for WADA said the latest research results from the French laboratory had arrived at the Montreal-based organization on Monday.
He said that like the lab, WADA had no means of matching names to the samples and this could be done only by the French cycling federation, the French sports ministry or the UCI.
Despite being in a class of his own in recent years, Armstrong could never win over French fans or journalists. "LA Confidential," a book on his life containing accusations of doping, was published on the eve of the 2004 Tour.
The leader of the U.S. Postal team, which became the Discovery Channel team this year, he lost a Paris court case in 2004 when his request that the controversial book should include his denial of drug-taking was turned down.
"To all the cynics, I'm sorry for you," Armstrong said after his final Tour triumph in July. "I'm sorry you can't believe in miracles. This is a great sporting event and hard work wins it."
Armstrong said in his statement of denial on Tuesday: "Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and (L'Equipe'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 (the) defendant's rights cannot be respected."'
The American retired after winning his record seventh Tour de France in July. Before winning his first Tour in 1999, Armstrong won a battle against testicular cancer, undergoing two operations and four bouts of chemotherapy.
Since retiring the Texan has concentrated on supporting the fight against cancer, pressing President Bush to boost spending on research.
PARIS (Reuters) - Seven-times Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs following a report in French newspaper L'Equipe that he had used the blood-boosting drug EPO.
Tour de France executive director Jean-Marie Leblanc said he felt let down by Armstrong after L'Equipe alleged the American had taken the banned drug in 1999, the year he first won the world's greatest cycle race.
Armstrong, who recovered from testicular cancer to become the most successful rider in the Tour's history, has been forced to rebut several doping allegations during his career and he repeated on Tuesday that his sporting successes were 'clean'.
"I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs," the 33-year-old, who retired in July, said in a statement on his personal website.
L'Equipe, saying it had access to laboratory documents, reported on Tuesday that six of Armstrong's urine samples collected on the 1999 Tour de France showed "indisputable" traces of EPO (erythropoietin).
L'Equipe published what it claimed to be a results sheet from the laboratory which appeared to show six figures revealing traces of EPO. The newspaper also published documents from the French cycling federation showing exactly the same figures under Armstrong's name.
The Chatenay-Malabry lab said in a statement that the samples they tested did not have names attached and they could not confirm if any of the samples were Armstrong's.
TEST RESULTS
The lab said all test results had been sent to WADA, the agency in charge of the fight against doping in world sport, on the condition they did not use them to take disciplinary action.
Despite the lack of proof and Armstrong's denials, cycling officials expressed disappointment.
"I remain cautious and slightly circumspect but this is troubling and I feel disappointment inside me, like many sports lovers must do," Leblanc told French radio station RTL
Asked if he felt let down by Armstrong, Leblanc said. "Yes."
International Cycling Union (UCI) president Hein Verbruggen told Reuters: "We have to wait and see if this is true.
"Only then will we be able to ask ourselves whether there should be any legal action and whether this is a further blow for cycling.
"I have to say this is not pleasant but, for the moment, it only involves Lance Armstrong and France."
There were no tests to detect EPO, a drug that increases the level of red blood cells and endurance, in 1999.
However, samples from the 1999 Tour were kept and have been recently retested by the specialist anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry outside Paris.
The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA)-accredited lab, which developed the test to detect EPO, started retesting last year samples that had been taken between 1998 and 1999 and frozen. The new tests were part of a scientific research programme.
CANCER FIGHT
A spokesman for WADA said the latest research results from the French laboratory had arrived at the Montreal-based organization on Monday.
He said that like the lab, WADA had no means of matching names to the samples and this could be done only by the French cycling federation, the French sports ministry or the UCI.
Despite being in a class of his own in recent years, Armstrong could never win over French fans or journalists. "LA Confidential," a book on his life containing accusations of doping, was published on the eve of the 2004 Tour.
The leader of the U.S. Postal team, which became the Discovery Channel team this year, he lost a Paris court case in 2004 when his request that the controversial book should include his denial of drug-taking was turned down.
"To all the cynics, I'm sorry for you," Armstrong said after his final Tour triumph in July. "I'm sorry you can't believe in miracles. This is a great sporting event and hard work wins it."
Armstrong said in his statement of denial on Tuesday: "Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and (L'Equipe'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 (the) defendant's rights cannot be respected."'
The American retired after winning his record seventh Tour de France in July. Before winning his first Tour in 1999, Armstrong won a battle against testicular cancer, undergoing two operations and four bouts of chemotherapy.
Since retiring the Texan has concentrated on supporting the fight against cancer, pressing President Bush to boost spending on research.
