Armstrong unaffected by USADA claims
Source: Agencies |
October 12, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
LANCE Armstrong gave off an air of indifference to claims that he was at the center of the biggest doping scandal in sporting history, saying that he was concentrating on his charitable work.
"What am I doing tonight? Hanging with my family, unaffected, and thinking about this," he wrote on his Twitter account @lancearmstrong, linking to his Livestrong foundation website and a series of fund-raising events for cancer research.
The US Anti-Doping Agency on Wednesday gave its reasons into why it banned him for life in August, accusing his US Postal Service team of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Eleven former teammates gave evidence, accusing Armstrong of taking banned substances and enforcing a doping culture within the team. Hotel rooms were transformed into blood banks as riders were given late-night transfusions, doctors were paid off and competitors were warned about tests in advance, the USADA said.
Armstrong's lawyer called the investigation a "hatchet job" and "witch hunt." The champion cyclist has denied cheating and has never failed a doping test. But he did not fight the charges.
There were few new revelations in the 1,000-page report, but the weight of testimony was greater than any of the previous investigations into his conduct.
His accusers said Armstrong was not only a willing participant, but the ringleaders, ordering teammates to cheat.
In addition to financial payments, emails and laboratory test results that the agency says proves the use of performance enhancing drugs by Armstrong and the USPS Team, 26 people gave sworn testimony, including 11 former teammates.
Of the 11, the most surprising was George Hincapie, who rode alongside Armstrong when he won each of his Tour de France titles and was one of his most loyal and trusted friends.
"I would have been much more comfortable talking only about myself, but understood that I was obligated to tell the truth about everything I knew. So that is what I did," he said.
The dossier was the most comprehensive report detailing his alleged transgressions. "His goal led him to depend on EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions but also, more ruthlessly, to expect and to require that his teammates would likewise use drugs to support his goals if not their own," the report said. "The evidence is overwhelming that Lance Armstrong did not just use performance enhancing drugs, he supplied them to his teammates."
"What am I doing tonight? Hanging with my family, unaffected, and thinking about this," he wrote on his Twitter account @lancearmstrong, linking to his Livestrong foundation website and a series of fund-raising events for cancer research.
The US Anti-Doping Agency on Wednesday gave its reasons into why it banned him for life in August, accusing his US Postal Service team of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".
Eleven former teammates gave evidence, accusing Armstrong of taking banned substances and enforcing a doping culture within the team. Hotel rooms were transformed into blood banks as riders were given late-night transfusions, doctors were paid off and competitors were warned about tests in advance, the USADA said.
Armstrong's lawyer called the investigation a "hatchet job" and "witch hunt." The champion cyclist has denied cheating and has never failed a doping test. But he did not fight the charges.
There were few new revelations in the 1,000-page report, but the weight of testimony was greater than any of the previous investigations into his conduct.
His accusers said Armstrong was not only a willing participant, but the ringleaders, ordering teammates to cheat.
In addition to financial payments, emails and laboratory test results that the agency says proves the use of performance enhancing drugs by Armstrong and the USPS Team, 26 people gave sworn testimony, including 11 former teammates.
Of the 11, the most surprising was George Hincapie, who rode alongside Armstrong when he won each of his Tour de France titles and was one of his most loyal and trusted friends.
"I would have been much more comfortable talking only about myself, but understood that I was obligated to tell the truth about everything I knew. So that is what I did," he said.
The dossier was the most comprehensive report detailing his alleged transgressions. "His goal led him to depend on EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions but also, more ruthlessly, to expect and to require that his teammates would likewise use drugs to support his goals if not their own," the report said. "The evidence is overwhelming that Lance Armstrong did not just use performance enhancing drugs, he supplied them to his teammates."
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