The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is bringing doping charges against seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, questioning his victories in those storied cycling races.
Armstrong, who retired from the sport last year, could face a lifetime ban from cycling if he is found to have used performance-enhancing drugs.
In a letter obtained by the Washington Post, the USADA alleged that it collected blood samples from Armstrong in 2009 and ’10 that were “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.”
The letter also alleges that three doctors, one trainer and team manager Johan Bruyneel took part in a massive doping conspiracy from 1998-2011. All face competition bans.
The charges from USADA come just months after federal prosecutors closed a two-year criminal investigation of Armstrong without indicting him.
Armstrong denied the allegations Wednesday.
“These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation,” he said in a statement released on his website. “These charges are baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity. … USADA’s malice, its methods, its star-chamber practices, and its decision to punish first and adjudicate later all are at odds with our ideals of fairness and fair play.
“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. 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. Any fair consideration of these allegations has and will continue to vindicate me.”
The formal charges would keep Armstrong from competing in triathlons, a sport he became involved with after retiring from cycling in 2011.
–ESPN
