Today the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced that it will release the evidence totalling over 1,000 pages that it has compiled in the investigation against Lance Armstrong in a case that it calls "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."
Simultaneously the USADA is handing this evidence over to international cycling's governing body, the UCI, which can then either uphold the recommended lifetime ban and removal of career wins imposed by the USADA or appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. This appeal is unlikely as Armstrong said in August that he would no longer contest the USADA charges against him.
The most powerful and compelling pieces of the testimony will likely be the sworn statements provided by eleven former teammates of Armstrong on the U.S. Postal squad. According to the USADA, those riders are: Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie. Each has been suspended for their own doping activities, though the length of those suspensions has not been announced at the time of this writing. George Hincapie acknowledged his participation in doping in a statement posted on his website.
Neither Armstrong nor his representatives have responded to these most recent developments, though in his August announcement that he was no longer contesting the USADA allegations, he called the investigation an "unconstitutional witch hunt."
- Lance Armstrong's Statement Announcing Decision to No Longer Contest USADA Charges
- Report: Former teammates testify against Armstrong, receive suspensions themselves
- Lance targeted again: USADA brings doping charges
- Met Lance Armstrong (and he was a little stiff)
- Nothing Sticks to Lance in U.S. Justice Department investigation
- Former teammate Tyler Hamilton says Lance was a Doper
- Is there anything Lance can't do?
- Drugs and Doping in Professional Cycling
- All About Lance Armstrong
- Lance Armstrong: a photo gallery of a life in cycling
- Books by and about Lance Armstrong
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Comments
For years the USADA has been attempting to impose their values on the world, this is not a valid or recognized federal organization. Their actions appear to be more personal than legal, and there are many questions about the methods they use to get their ‘so called’ proof.
You would think the organizers of the various races Mr. Armstrong has be involved with would have conducted ample fair and legal tests to see if any of their participants were ‘doping’.
I’m sorry, I doubt I’ll ever believe their claims until Mr. Armstrong comes out and admits to any use of illegal drugs in order to win his record races.
I will always hold Lance at a very high level in my mind. I don’t know if all this is true or not. That said,I do not doubt that it all happened. The thing is advantages are taken in sport, business, and personal lives. Even my own life has been subjected to these issues. I have learned as I have aged that being truthful, honest, and ethical just plain makes me feel better to myself. I also know that it has been expensive, but to me money is not everything. One person knows exactly what has happened and he (Lance) has to look at himself everyday in the mirror. I know I do!