Armstrong hits back over drug claims

Scott Dougal

The French sports daily claim to have uncovered evidence showing that six blood samples taken from the Texan when he won the first of seven Tour titles contained traces of erythropoetin, which boosts the blood's capacity to carry oxygen.

EPO tests have recently come under fire over returning false positives.

Armstrong's response, describing the article as part of a "witch hunt", hit the internet before copies of the newspaper reached the streets of Paris.

The American, who retired after winning his seventh Tour this summer, said: "Yet again, a European newspaper has reported that I have tested positive for performance- enhancing drugs.

"Tomorrow's L'Equipe is reporting that my 1999 samples were positive. Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism.

"The paper even admits in its own article that the science in question here is faulty and that I have no way to defend myself.

"They state: 'There will therefore be no counter-exam nor regulatory prosecutions, in a strict sense, since defendant's rights cannot be respected.' "I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs."

The International Cycling Union did not introduce a test for EPO until 2001.

The tests were carried out last year on 1999 samples at the French national anti-doping laboratory to help testers improve their EPO detection methods.

It is unlikely that any action will be taken against Armstrong retrospectively or otherwise because there is no second sample to corroborate the results.

But Jacques de Ceaurriz, the director of the laboratory, said: "There is no doubt possible on the validity of the results even if the analysis was carried out five years after the blood sample was made."

Jean-Marie Leblanc, director of the Tour de France, raised the possibility the result from the 1999 Tour could be overturned. "We are very unsettled and shocked by the revelations in L'Equipe," he said.

"We must wait for the answer from Lance Armstrong, his doctors and advisers before making a judgement. But indisputably I feel disconcerted and disappointed like many other sports people.

"I guess if there was a sanction from the UCI, somehow the Tour directors could work with the ruling body to sanction Armstrong and ask for a downgrading."

Armstrong has consistently denied taking any banned performance-enhancing substances in the face of allegations his unmatched success since recovering from testicular cancer has been built on illegal means. His seventh Tour win this July saw him hailed as one of the greatest figures in sporting history and in his victory speech he addressed his critics, saying: "I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles."

He enjoys fame and influence beyond all but a few sportsmen.

This week, for example, he went mountain biking with President George W Bush. He is also the figurehead of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a multi-million pound charity devoted to helping cancer sufferers.

Armstrong defends his reputation as jealously and he has not hesitated to take legal action against his detractors including former L'Equipe journalist Pierre Ballester, who is being sued for libel, along with Sunday Times sportswriter David Walsh, for their book LA Confidential.

The case will go to trial at the High Court in November.

L'Equipe spread their story over four pages yesterday, under the headline 'Armstrong's Lie'.

The newspaper is owned by the Amaury Group whose subsidiary, Amaury Sport Organisation, organise the Tour de France and other sporting events.

The report was produced by L'Equipe journalists who matched the numbers given to the samples at the time they were taken with the unnamed results of the retrospective tests. Every 'B' sample from the 1999 Tour was tested and 12 positive samples were found six of which are reported to belong to Armstrong.