"Preposterous is a strong word, but it is warranted in this case," said Gerard Bisceglia, chief executive officer of USA Cycling. "This kind of years-ago testing of a single sample with new technology is completely without credibility." "What's worse is that Lance cannot defend himself because there is no mechanism for final resolution" ---Bisceglia _______________ USA Cycling backs Armstrong Lance Armstrong received strong backing Friday from cycling's domestic governing body, which said accusations against the seven-time Tour de France champion are "completely without credibility." "Preposterous is a strong word, but it is warranted in this case," said Gerard Bisceglia, chief executive officer of USA Cycling. Armstrong has denied reports in the French media this week that he used a banned blood booster in his first tour victory in 1999. The sports newspaper L'Equipe reported that new tests on six urine samples Armstrong provided during the 1999 tour resulted in positive results for the red blood cell-booster EPO. "Lance Armstrong is one of the most tested athletes in the history of sport and he has come up clean every single time," Bisceglia said. "This kind of years-ago testing of a single sample with new technology is completely without credibility." "What's worse is that Lance cannot defend himself because there is no mechanism for final resolution," he added. Although Armstrong has not said if he'll pursue legal action, Bisceglia said USA Cycling will support him in whatever way he chooses to "denounce these accusations." On Thursday, Armstrong lashed out at the French lab that produced the findings. "There's a setup here and I'm stuck in the middle of it," Armstrong told The Associated Press. "I absolutely do not trust that laboratory," he said. Armstrong spoke after Dick Pound, head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, said officials had received the lab results and would review them. Armstrong also said that while Pound might trust the lab that tested the samples, "I certainly don't." On Thursday night, Armstrong elaborated on that distrust on CNN's "Larry King Live." "A guy in a Parisian laboratory opens up your sample, you know, Jean Francois so-and-so, and he tests it -- nobody's there to observe, no protocol was followed -- and then you get a call from a newspaper that says 'We found you to be positive six times for EPO.' Well, since when did newspapers start governing sports?" Although frustrated by the report and the difficulty of proving his case, Armstrong told King he is at ease. "All I can do is come on this stage and tell my story and be honest. I've always done that," he said. "Since this stuff's rolled out, I sleep great at night .... I don't have a problem looking at myself in the mirror." Armstrong questions the handling of samples frozen six years ago. He also wonders how he is to defend himself when the only confirming evidence -- the 'A' sample used for the 1999 tests -- no longer exists. He also charged officials at the suburban Paris lab with violating WADA code for failing to safeguard the anonymity of any remaining 'B' samples. Pound said the French report appears stronger than previous accusations against Armstrong. "If he had one, you could say it was an aberration," Pound said. "When you get up to six, there's got to be some explanation." Pound said the lab is accredited by the International Olympic Committee. He also questioned the need for two samples to confirm a positive test. "You can count on the fingers of one hand the times a B sample has not confirmed the result of the A sample," Pound said. "It's almost always a delaying tactic." Armstrong said that contradicts WADA's own policy. "For the head of the agency to say he actually doesn't believe in the code ... if your career is riding on the line, wouldn't you want a B sample?" Armstrong told the AP. "The French have been after [me] forever, and `Whoops!' there's no B sample? The stakes are too high." link
What are the results of Lance's samples this year? If he is a cheater then there should be more positive results because he has won 7 tours in a row. IMHO, L'Equipe are the ones on drugs. They can't accept a non-European dominating a traditional European sport and they got nothing better to report on.
Teach them a lesson Lance! Link Lance Armstrong Is Considering Return to 2006 Tour de France Sept. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong is considering a return to the event next year to answer allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career. ``While I'm absolutely enjoying my time as a retired athlete with (girlfriend) Sheryl (Crow) and the kids, the recent smear campaign out of France has awoken my competitive side,'' Armstrong said in a statement on his Web site. ``I'm not willing to put a percentage on the chance, but I will no longer rule it out.'' Armstrong retired from cycling after winning the Tour in July. The French newspaper L'Equipe said last month that six of Armstrong's samples from the 1999 Tour showed traces of the banned hormone erythropoietin, or EPO. Armstrong has denied the allegations and said on Aug. 26 he was considering legal action against the French newspaper. A run at an eighth Tour de France title would be the best way to get back at the French, he told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper.
Oh snap. He's only been engaged for a few days, already looking for some space from the ball and chain. Go get 'em Lance. Ride until you drop. I mean seriously, if you love riding, why quit. Go for a joy ride. Who cares. Just ride.
http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-armstrong-doping&prov=ap&type=lgns Cycling body criticizes world doping authorities, French newspaper over Armstrong allegations By UTA HARNISCHFEGER, Associated Press Writer September 9, 2005 AP - Aug 25, 10:47 pm EDT GENEVA (AP) -- Cycling's world governing body criticized world doping authorities and a French sports newspaper for alleging seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong used performance-enhancing substances six years ago. The UCI said Friday it was still gathering information and had asked the World Anti-Doping Agency and the French laboratory which tested the samples taken from Armstrong in 1999 for more background. It also wanted to know who commissioned the research and who agreed to make it public. ``How could this be done without the riders' consent?'' the UCI said. Last month, Armstrong was accused of doping by L'Equipe, which reported that the blood booster EPO was found in six of his 1999 urine samples. Armstrong has angrily denied the charges, saying he was the victim of a ``witch hunt.'' He questioned the validity of testing samples frozen six years ago, and how the samples were handled. ``The UCI statement from our standpoint was encouraging to the extent they seem to be conducting a meaningful investigation and they seem to be asking the right questions,'' Armstrong's agent Bill Stapleton said Friday. The UCI also asked WADA to say if it allowed the results to be disseminated, which the cycling federation says is a ``breach of WADA's anti-doping code.'' ``We have substantial concerns about the impact of this matter on the integrity of the overall drug testing regime of the Olympic movement, and in particular the questions it raises over the trustworthiness of some of the sports and political authorities active in the anti-doping fight,'' the UCI said. The UCI also said it had received no evidence of doping despite requests. ``The UCI has not to date received any official information or document'' from anti-doping authorities or the laboratory reportedly involved in the testing of urine samples from the 1999 Tour de France, the cycling federation said. UCI president Hein Verbruggen has asked for harsh sanctions against dopers and suggested Armstrong should face sanctions if he were shown to be guilty. He also told Friday's Le Figaro that Armstrong had proposed before the Tour that all of his urine samples be kept for tests over the next 10 years. UCI said it was still ``awaiting plausible answers'' to its requests to WADA and the laboratory. ``We deplore the fact that the long-established and entrenched confidentiality principle could be violated in such a flagrant way without any respect for fair play and the rider's privacy,'' it said. UCI singled out WADA president Dick Pound for making ``public statements about the likely guilt of an athlete on the basis of a newspaper article and without all the facts being known.'' It also criticized the article in L'Equipe as ``targeting a particular athlete.'' L'Equipe said it would react of UCI's criticism in Saturday editions. Tour de France organizers had no immediate reaction, spokesman Matthieu Desplats said. Claude Droussent, the editor of L'Equipe, denied his newspaper targeted Armstrong because he is American, and said it would have treated a French rider the same. Armstrong retired after winning his seventh straight Tour title in July, but said this week he is considering a comeback. He plans to attend the Discovery Channel team training camp this winter.
Lance is cleared: http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=2464102 Report clears Armstrong of '99 doping allegations Associated Press AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Independent Dutch investigators cleared Lance Armstrong of doping in the 1999 Tour de France on Wednesday, and blamed anti-doping authorities for misconduct in dealing with the Austin, Texas, cyclist. Lance Armstrong A 132-page report recommended convening a tribunal to discuss possible legal and ethical violations by the World Anti-Doping Agency and to consider "appropriate sanctions to remedy the violations." The French sports daily L'Equipe reported in August that six of Armstrong's urine samples from 1999, when he won the first of his record seven straight Tour titles, came back positive for the endurance-boosting hormone EPO when they were retested in 2004. Armstrong has repeatedly denied using banned substances. The International Cycling Union appointed Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman last October to investigate the handling of urine tests from the 1999 Tour by the French national anti-doping laboratory, known by its French acronym LNDD. Vrijman said Wednesday his report "exonerates Lance Armstrong completely with respect to alleged use of doping in the 1999 Tour de France." The report also said the UCI had not damaged Armstrong by releasing doping control forms to the French newspaper. The report said WADA and the LNDD may have "behaved in ways that are completely inconsistent with the rules and regulations of international anti-doping control testing," and may also have been against the law. Vrijman, who headed the Dutch anti-doping agency for 10 years and later defended athletes accused of doping, worked on the report with Adriaan van der Veen, a scientist with the Dutch Metrology Laboratory. EPO, or erythropoietin, is a synthetic hormone that boosts the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Testing for EPO only began in 2001. Armstrong had challenged the validity of testing samples frozen six years ago, and how they were handled. Vrijman said a further investigation was needed regarding the leaking of the results to the French paper. He said a tribunal should be created to "provide a fair hearing" to the people and organizations suspected of misconduct and to decide on sanctions if warranted. World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound accused former ICU president Hein Verbruggen of leaking documents about the alleged positive tests to a reporter from L'Equipe. Pound also questioned the union's willingness to fully investigate the allegations. The anti-doping lab at Chatenay-Malabry has been accused of violating confidentiality regulations. Mario Zorzoli, the doctor who gave copies of Armstrong's doping control forms to L'Equipe, was suspended by the UCI for one month earlier this year. He has since been reinstated. The full report was sent to the UCI, the LNDD, the French sports ministry, WADA and Armstrong's lawyer. The International Olympic Committee also had requested a copy. The accusations against Armstrong raised questions about how frozen samples, routinely held for eight years, should be used. IOC president Jacques Rogge has said he was willing to have urine samples checked retroactively, but with clear procedures that would have to be set up by WADA.
Does SJC even post anymore? He hasn't been in any of the recent soccer threads, which he used to frequent.
SJC! Where are you, buddy? What's up? Haven't had a stroke or anything from the good news regarding Lance, have you? Wouldn't want you to choke on that crow you're chowing down on right now. Ha. Ha. Ha.
