Seven-time Tour de France winner, cyclist Lance Armstrong, claims he is unconcerned about a high-level US government investigation into doping allegations made against him by teammates.
Federal investigators recently stepped up a criminal investigation after receiving detailed claims from cyclists and former Armstrong associates backing up the story of disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis, who previously accused Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs.
Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour crown after testing positive to testosterone, claims doping was endemic by riders on the US Postal Service team, including Armstrong, who he said used performance-enhancing drugs, including blood transfusions, during his reign at the top of cycling.
Armstrong has never failed a drugs test, but has been hounded by doping accusations through much of his career. Doping and possible fraud claims are now being investigated by a US grand jury.
If Armstrong is determined to have been using drugs, he could be stripped of his Tour de France titles. The bigger stake, however, is his world famous legacy as the man who defeated cancer and then became the most dominant athlete his sport had ever seen.
Armstrong’s attorney Timothy Herman said in a statement he made last month that stories based on leaks “fundamentally undermine our justice system.”
He discarded the accusations as “inaccurate, extraordinarily unfair, and used for publicity and advancing personal agendas.”
Federal investigators recently stepped up a criminal investigation after receiving detailed claims from cyclists and former Armstrong associates backing up the story of disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis, who previously accused Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs.
Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour crown after testing positive to testosterone, claims doping was endemic by riders on the US Postal Service team, including Armstrong, who he said used performance-enhancing drugs, including blood transfusions, during his reign at the top of cycling.
Armstrong has never failed a drugs test, but has been hounded by doping accusations through much of his career. Doping and possible fraud claims are now being investigated by a US grand jury.
If Armstrong is determined to have been using drugs, he could be stripped of his Tour de France titles. The bigger stake, however, is his world famous legacy as the man who defeated cancer and then became the most dominant athlete his sport had ever seen.
Armstrong’s attorney Timothy Herman said in a statement he made last month that stories based on leaks “fundamentally undermine our justice system.”
He discarded the accusations as “inaccurate, extraordinarily unfair, and used for publicity and advancing personal agendas.”
