Lance Armstrong case involves 26 witnesses and 1000 pages of 'supporting evidence'

LANCE Armstrong has tweeted his first words since the US Anti-Doping Agency's release of a report detailing his systemic doping.
Armstrong finally posted on Twitter, hours after the USADA released a 1000-page report into the disgraced seven-time Tour de France winner's doping conspiracy.

But his post offered nothing to explain his endemic use of banned substances while he was a professional rider with US Postal Service.

"What am I doing tonight? Hanging with my family, unaffected, and thinking about this (a link to a page detailing the 15th anniversary of the Lance Armstrong Foundation)," Armstrong tweeted.

He then posted a link to a music video for the Elliot Smith song "Coming Up Roses".

The legendary cyclist engaged in the biggest doping conspiracy in sports history to win the Tour de France seven times, according to the USADA.

USADA chief executive Travis T Tygart said the agency had submitted to the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency a report on why in August it banned Armstrong for life.

USADA released more than 1000 pages of supporting evidence gathered in a probe of Armstrong and the US Postal Service team.

"The evidence of the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team-run scheme is overwhelming," Tygart said.

"The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

That includes testimony from 26 people, 15 of them with knowledge of US Postal riders and doping activities, including George Hincapie, who admitted in a statement he took performance-enhancing drugs.

"It's extremely difficult today to acknowledge that during a part of my career I used banned substances," he said.

"Early in my professional career, it became clear to me that, given the widespread use of performance enhancing drugs by cyclists at the top of the profession, it was not possible to compete at the highest level without them.

"I deeply regret that choice and sincerely apologise to my family, teammates and fans.

"Quietly, and in the way I know best, I have been trying to rectify that decision.

"I have competed clean and have not used any performance enhancing drugs or processes for the past six years. Since 2006, I have been working hard within the sport of cycling to rid it of banned substances.

"During this time, I continued to successfully compete at the highest level of cycling while mentoring young professional riders on the right choices to make to ensure that the culture of cycling had changed."

Hincapie tried to bolster cycling's already doping-stained reputation.

"Cycling has made remarkable gains over the past several years and can serve as a good example for other sports," he said.

"Thankfully, the use of performance enhancing drugs is no longer embedded in the culture of our sport and younger riders are not faced with the same choice we had.

"I am proud to be part of the cycling community, and believe we continue to make positive changes to our sport."

Other former Armstrong teammates who testified include Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.

Full artcle here....
http://www.news.com.au/news/lance-armstrong-case-involves-26-witnesses-and-1000-...

hawil wrote on Oct 11^th, 2012 at 8:52pm:



It would be pretty interesting to see how far the human body could be enhanced, but with no limits on what ends you can go to, it's open to all sorts of ethical dilemmas.  You could see freaks like this being engineered to crush the competition.

I suppose the unjust thing is the riders who where 2nd and 3rd where more than likely also taking some sort of drugs who knows.....The sport has made it impossible to compete without taking drugs.....If Lance Armstrong is a victim or the reason for this is something that should be answered???

Sports do not build character. They reveal it.
Heywood Broun (1888 - 1939)

A few interesting points came out of a tv current affairs prog on lance armstrong .

1/ When Lance set up the team he said "The europeans are doping, if we want to have a chance of competing, we have to do it too."

2/ the dope enforcing agency accepted donations from lance to "further their work". That was unethical of them.

3/ an administrator of the tour said "spectators want to see cyclists racing through france at 40 km/h, not 27 km/h."

people have been caught doping in cycling for decades before lance.

it's a bigger issue than lance armstrong.