US Anti-Doping Agency charges Armstrong

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By JIM VERTUNO | The Associated Press


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is bringing doping charges against seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, threatening to strip his victories in the storied cycling race.

Armstrong could face a lifetime ban from the sport if he is found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. The move by USADA immediately bans him from competing in triathlons, which he turned to after he retired from cycling last year.

Armstrong, in a statement Wednesday, dismissed any doping allegations as ''baseless'' and ''motivated by spite'' and noted they came just months after federal prosecutors closed a two-year criminal investigation against the cyclist without bringing an indictment.

The charges by USADA were first reported by the Washington Post.

USADA's letter to Armstrong informing him of the charges also said the agency was bringing doping charges against Johan Bruyneel, manager of Armstrong's winning teams; team doctors Pedro Celaya and Luis Garcia del Moral; team trainer Pepe Marti, and consulting doctor Michele Ferrari.

The USADA letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press, accuses Armstrong of using and promoting the use of the blood booster EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone, human growth hormone and anti-inflammatory steroids. The letter doesn't cite specific examples, but says the charges are based on evidence gathered in an investigation of Armstrong's teams, including witnesses who aren't named in the letter.

According to USADA's letter, ''numerous riders, team personnel and others will testify'' they either saw Armstrong dope or heard him tell them he used EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and cortisone from 1996 to 2005. Armstrong won the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005.

It also says blood collections obtained by cycling's governing body in 2009 and 2010 are ''fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.'' Armstrong came out of retirement to race in the Tour de France those two years.

USADA officials had said they would pursue possible charges against Armstrong even after federal criminal investigators had closed their case.

In a letter to the USADA last week, Armstrong attorney Robert Luskin noted that USADA Chief Executive Officer Travis Tygart participated in witness interviews with federal investigator Jeff Novitzky during the criminal investigation.

''It is a vendetta, which has nothing to do with learning the truth and everything to do with settling a score and garnering publicity at Lance's expense,'' Luskin's letter said.

Tygart did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Armstrong, who has been in France training for a triathlon, maintained his innocence, saying in a statement: ''I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one.''

[Hal-9000]

this will be huge if they prove it....like the article mentions, he was unbeatable for 6 or 7 years..

[Godfather]

So Lance passes 500+ drugs tests and dominates his sport for a decade... now he's getting old, switched sports and maybe doped to keep up.... and they can strip him of ALL his wins!?! That seems unreasonable, even for a pompous dick like Armstrong.

[Arkady Renko]

So Lance passes 500+ drugs tests and dominates his sport for a decade... now he's getting old, switched sports and maybe doped to keep up.... and they can strip him of ALL his wins!?! That seems unreasonable, even for a pompous dick like Armstrong.

oh no no no, this is about the time when he as good as ran pro cycling. the idea is that they would lie to prove how he managed to cover up his blood manipulation treatments. Personally, I'm convinced that's what happened (same as, for instance, Jan Ullrich, Alberto Contador and many other tour de france stalwarts). But realistically, it looks like a fishing expedition.

[redred]

http://i.imgur.com/tX2Xz.jpg:shock:



why is it when ever you do well at something everyone wants to knock you down

[Arkady Renko]

http://i.imgur.com/tX2Xz.jpg:shock:



why is it when ever you do well at something everyone wants to knock you down

there's a lot of hypocrisy in the criticism against Arnstrong, no doubt about it. PArticularly in France and Spain, they simply hated to see him beat their national favourites time aftertime and conveniently forgot that those guys were probably loaded up to the hairtips as well.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By the CNN Wire Staff


(CNN) -- Champion cyclist Lance Armstrong said Wednesday the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency intends to "dredge up discredited" doping allegations against him in a bid to strip him of his seven Tour de France victories.

The Washington Post said it received a copy of a 15-page agency letter sent Tuesday to Armstrong and several others. As a result of the allegations, Armstrong was immediately banned from competing in triathlons, a sport he took up after retiring from professional bicycling, the newspaper reported on its website.

Armstrong, as he has in the past, said he has never engaged in doping.

"Unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one," Armstrong said on his website. "That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence."

Justice Department prosecutors in February said they closed a criminal investigation after reviewing allegations against Armstrong. They had called witnesses to a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, but they apparently determined they lacked evidence to bring a charge that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong was accused of using such drugs by other riders, but never failed a drug test.

"These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation," Armstrong said Wednesday.

According to the Post, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency alleged it collected blood samples from Armstrong in 2009 and 2010 that were "fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions." The allegations were previously unpublicized, according to the Post.

Prosecutors drop Lance Armstrong doping investigation

The letter says Armstrong and five former cycling team associates engaged in a doping conspiracy from 1998 to 2011, the Post reported. Riders will testify that Armstrong used EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and masking agents, and that he distributed and administered drugs to other cyclists from 1998 to 2005, the Post quoted the letter as saying.

In a statement obtained by CNN, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis T. Tygart said the five other people, formerly associated with the U.S. Postal Service pro cycling team, are three team doctors and two team officials. The letter included written notice of alleged anti-doping rule violations, Tygart said

"USADA only initiates matters supported by the evidence," Tygart said. "We do not choose whether or not we do our job based on outside pressures, intimidation or for any reason other than the evidence." All named individuals are presumed innocent until proven otherwise, he added.

His statement did not mention anything about Armstrong's status as a triathlete.

According to its website, the quasi-government agency is recognized as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic events in the United States.

Armstrong lashed out at the organization, saying it has "self-written rules" and that it punishes first and adjudicates the facts later.

Armstrong has been dogged by allegations of drug abuse in recent years, with compatriot Floyd Landis -- who was found guilty of doping in the 2006 Tour de France, resulting in him being stripped of the title -- making a series of claims last year.

Armstrong came out fighting once again in May 2011 in the face of fresh allegations made on the CBS News "60 Minutes" show by another American, Tyler Hamilton.

In the CBS interview, Hamilton -- who retired in 2009 after twice testing positive himself -- says he first saw Armstrong use blood boosting substance EPO in 1999, the year of his first Tour de France victory.

"I saw it in his refrigerator," Hamilton told the American news program. "I saw him inject it more than one time like we all did, like I did many, many times."

On his Twitter page, Armstrong at the time said he never failed a drug test.

[FBD]

federal grand jury...seriously :facepalm: because its important for the feds to establish these things :roll:

[Hal-9000]

He keeps saying that he's never failed a drug test....rather than he's never done the enhancing drugs...odd choice of words to keep repeating..