The U.S Anti-Doping Agency brought up charges against former cyclist Lance Armstrong that could cost him his seven Tour de France titles, according to the Washington Post.
Armstrong retired from cycling and has since returned to triathlons but as a result of the new charges he is banned from competitions, effective immediately. The Post obtained a 15-page letter in which USADA made previously unpublicized allegations against Armstrong, alleging it collected blood samples from Armstrong in 2009 and 2010 that were “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.”
In response to the allegations “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,” Armstrong said in a statement released by his publicist. “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.”
They have gone after Armstrong for many years and recently ended a two-year investigation into doping allegations. They have become relentless in their pursuit to find him guilty. “These charges are a product of malice and spite and not evidence,” Robert D. Luskin, Armstrong’s Washington-based attorney, said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “Nothing else explains the fact . . . they allege an overarching doping conspiracy among four teams over 14 years and Lance is the only rider that gets charged.”
This time they claim to have much more evidence as well as multiple riders, doctors and witnesses to testify. As stated before Armstrong has never tested positive and hopefully he is able to overcome these charges as well. For a man who battled and beat testicular cancer it would be a major blow to his supporters and those that look up to him if he was found guilty and stripped of all his titles.
Shaina (@Shay_Marie)
