Seven years after Lance Armstrong won his first Tour de France title -- and a month after he won his seventh -- the doping allegations have returned.
According to the French sports daily L'Equipe, six urine samples provided by Armstrong during the 1999 Tour tested positive for the red blood cell-booster EPO.
``Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism,'' Armstrong wrote on his Web site. ``I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs.''
The allegations surfaced seven years later because EPO tests on the 1999 samples were carried out only last year -- when scientists at a lab outside Paris used them for research to perfect EPO testing. The national anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry said it promised to hand its finding to the World Anti-Doping Agency, provided they were never used to penalize riders.
L'Equipe's investigation was based on urine B samples -- the second of two samples used in doping tests. The A batch was used in 1999 for analysis at the time. Without those samples, any disciplinary action against Armstrong would be impossible, French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour said.
Nothing like a little xenophobia to start a post, right?scottyz said:http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-armstrong-doping&prov=ap&type=lgns
You really need to read the whole thing... a new low for the French imo.
scottyz said:Who is to say the French didn't tamper with those blood samples? There is conveniently no sample A for comparison.
What a bunch of bullshit this post is!scottyz said:Who is to say the French didn't tamper with those blood samples? There is conveniently no sample A for comparison.
scottyz said:Who is to say the French didn't tamper with those blood samples? There is conveniently no sample A for comparison.
26 X World Champs said:Nothing like a little xenophobia to start a post, right?
Here are the facts, let's see if you want to blame the French or Lance Armstrong?
His urine test from 1999 was frozen. He passed that test in 1999 coming up negative for a steroid EPO that increases one's red blood count and gives you more stamina.
Now his frozen urine is retested, and now there are more sophisiticated tests that are able to detect EPO in urine. More modern tests, different result. he failed the test. What about this has to do with as you so nastily put it "a new low for the French, imo"?
ludahai said:L'Equipe, the newspaper reporting the allegations had printed such allegations before. Several of Lance's contemporaries as well as cycling legend Miguel Indurain also have expressed doubts as to the veracity of the reports.
I find the timing of the reports rather interesting and rather troubling. I also haven't seen their evidence.
Funny how the fan of the Evil Empire is so ready to pounce and pronounce Lance guilty. Have you taken a look at HIS side of the story?
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050825/ap_on_sp_ot/cyc_armstrong_doping_35
26 X World Champs said:Nothing like a little xenophobia to start a post, right?
Here are the facts, let's see if you want to blame the French or Lance Armstrong?
His urine test from 1999 was frozen. He passed that test in 1999 coming up negative for a steroid EPO that increases one's red blood count and gives you more stamina.
Now his frozen urine is retested, and now there are more sophisiticated tests that are able to detect EPO in urine. More modern tests, different result. he failed the test. What about this has to do with as you so nastily put it "a new low for the French, imo"?
I can answer it for you NOTHING! Armstrong is a hero in France, beloved, adored, considered the "Babe Ruth" of cycling.
Writing posts that are ill informed and chock full of hate for an entire nation is pretty damn ugly.
The truth is that Armstrong, like Rafael Palmierro, was busted, and now he must live with the consequences of his behavior. Do you have a problem with the truth if it's exposed by "the French"?
Armstrong noted that earlier this year, when he announced his retirement, that the same paper wrote, "Never has an athlete's retirement been so welcome."
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