Acclaimed champion and accused cheat, Lance Armstrong still hasn't distanced himself from all those chasing after him.
By Bryn Lennon, Getty Images
Lance Armstrong attends the 2012 Paris Roubaix cycle race from Compiegne to Roubaix on April 8 in Paris.
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The seven-time Tour de France winner who in February saw a two-year federal investigation into his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs dropped without charges being filed, is back in the spotlight of doping suspicions.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has accused Armstrong and five former members of his support staff — three doctors, a trainer and a team manager — of engaging in a massive doping conspiracy from 1998 to 2011. Armstrong, 40, who retired from cycling last year, could see his Tour titles get stripped as a result.
USADA's letter to Armstrong dated June 12 includes previously unpublicized allegations against him, saying blood samples taken in 2009 and 2010 were "consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions."
Armstrong: Key recent events
Allegations of performance-enhancing drug use followed Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong throughout his career and even after. A look at some of the recent developments:
May 2010: Floyd Landis, who won the Tour in 2006 but was stripped of the title for drug use, admits to cheating and accuses Armstrong of doping in a series of emails to sponsors and sports officials.
Summer-Fall 2010: Federal investigators call several prominent cyclists and others with Armstrong ties to testify before a Los Angeles-based grand jury probe into pro cycling. Armstrong’s lawyers complain about leaks to the media regarding witnesses.
November 2010: An American delegation including lead federal investigator Jeff Novitzky, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart, and prosecutor Doug Miller holds secret meetings in France with European authorities as part of the probe.
February 2011: Armstrong retires from cycling for the second and final time.
May 2011: Former Armstrong teammate Tyler Hamilton, a cyclist with a record of doping, tells “60 Minutes” that Armstrong took blood-booster EPO in the 1999 Tour and before the race in 2000 and 2001.
Feb. 4: Federal prosecutors announce they are closing their investigation of Armstrong without pressing charges. Tygart says USADA will continue to investigate.
June 13: USADA accuses Armstrong of doping, and charges his team manager, a team trainer and three doctors with being involved. Armstrong has until June 29 to respond.
Source: The Associated Press
But they are not positive tests. As it did with disgraced Olympic champion sprinter Marion Jones, USADA has built a non-analytical case, based on evidence such as testimony.
The letter, first reported by The Washington Post, says riders with firsthand knowledge will testify that Armstrong used EPO, blood transfusions and testosterone and that he administered them to other cyclists from 1998 to 2005. Witnesses also will testify, the letter says, that Armstrong used human growth hormone before 1996.
Armstrong fired back with a defiant denial of the charges, as has become his custom. In a statement Wednesday posted on Twitter, he said, "These charges are baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity."
He repeated his denial of doping and said he has passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed.
The USADA, which oversees anti-doping in U.S. Olympic sports, can issue bans but cannot bring criminal charges. It will forward the case to a review board, which recommends whether to proceed with a hearing before an arbitration panel.
The letter to Armstrong says that if a hearing is held, it should take place by Nov. 1 but could occur before then, a person familiar with the case told USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the letter was not released.
Travis Tygart, CEO of USADA, would not comment but said in a statement that it is the agency's duty "to fairly and thoroughly evaluate all the evidence available and when there is credible evidence of doping, take action."
David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, declined to assess the strength of the evidence but told USA TODAY Sports, "I think it's significant that it's not an athlete alone being charged. It's an athlete/entourage. I think the charge is significant."
When asked about non-analytical cases and the fact that Armstrong hasn't tested positive, Howman pointed to the sanctions against Jones. "There have been a lot of athletes who have faced sanctions through non-analytical evidence," Howman said. "We do not rely on science only nowadays. You cannot accept that science alone will find those who might be breaching the rules. So this is not unusual. It's something that's becoming more normal and accepted."
The USADA's letter and an earlier letter from one of Armstrong's attorneys details the level of animosity that exists — and has for years — between the two.
The USADA letter alleges that Armstrong's team engaged in an organized conspiracy to conceal and cover up doping conduct dating to 1999. It says it has witnesses who will testify that "Lance Armstrong and other co-conspirators engaged in activities to conceal their conduct and mislead anti-doping authorities including … attempts to intimidate, discredit, silence and retaliate against witnesses."
Last week, Armstrong's attorney, Robert Luskin, sent a letter to USADA declining the agency's invitation to meet with Armstrong to discuss the allegations in person.
The June 8 letter, a copy of which was obtained by USA TODAY Sports, accuses the USADA of conducting not an investigation but "a vendetta, which has nothing to do with learning the truth and everything to do with settling a score and garnering publicity at Lance's expense."
As part of the process set into motion by the USADA's letter, Armstrong is banned from competing in triathlon, a sport that he focused on after retiring from cycling competition.
Contributing: Vicki Michaelis
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