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Bill Klinton's Cigar
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PARIS - Lance Armstrong denied a report Tuesday in the
French sports daily L'Equipe that said the seven-time Tour de France
champion used the performance-enhancing drug EPO to help win his
first Tour in 1999.
"Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's
article is nothing short of tabloid journalism," Armstrong
wrote on his Web site Monday night. "I will simply restate what
I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing
drugs."
L'Equipe devoted four pages to its allegations, with the
front-page headline "The Armstrong Lie." The paper said
that signs of EPO use were found in Armstrong's urine six times
during the 1999 race.
The governing body of world cycling did not begin using a
urine test for EPO until 2001. For years, it had been impossible to
detect the drug, called erythropoietin, which builds endurance by
boosting the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells.
The tests on 1999 urine samples were done last year to help
scientists improve their detection methods, the paper said.
L'Equipe said it matched anonymous urine samples from that
Tour with medical statements signed by doctors, claiming that there
were "characteristic, undeniable and consequent" signs of
EPO in Armstrong's urine tests.
The newspaper said the tests were carried out by the
national anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry. An official at
the lab declined to comment on the report.
L'Equipe, whose parent company is closely linked to the
Tour, has frequently raised questions about how Armstrong could have
made his spectacular comeback from testicular cancer without using
performance enhancers. L'Equipe is owned by the Amaury Group whose
subsidiary, Amaury Sport Organization, organizes the Tour de France
and other sporting events.
A former L'Equipe journalist, Pierre Ballester, was
co-author of a book published last year that contained doping
allegations against Armstrong. He wrote the book with Sunday Times
sportswriter David Walsh.
In the book, "L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance
Armstrong," one of the cyclist's former assistants claimed that
Armstrong once asked her to dispose of used syringes and give him
makeup to conceal needle marks on his arms.
Armstrong has taken libel action against The Sunday Times
after the British newspaper reprinted allegations in a review of the
book in June 2004. The case will go to trial in London's High Court
in November.
Armstrong retired from cycling after his record seventh
straight Tour victory last month.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Rafael "Stanozolol" Palmiero also denied taking performance enhancing
drugs just like Lance Armstrong.
As the old saying goes, "where there's smoke, there's fire."
French sports daily L'Equipe that said the seven-time Tour de France
champion used the performance-enhancing drug EPO to help win his
first Tour in 1999.
"Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's
article is nothing short of tabloid journalism," Armstrong
wrote on his Web site Monday night. "I will simply restate what
I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing
drugs."
L'Equipe devoted four pages to its allegations, with the
front-page headline "The Armstrong Lie." The paper said
that signs of EPO use were found in Armstrong's urine six times
during the 1999 race.
The governing body of world cycling did not begin using a
urine test for EPO until 2001. For years, it had been impossible to
detect the drug, called erythropoietin, which builds endurance by
boosting the production of oxygen-rich red blood cells.
The tests on 1999 urine samples were done last year to help
scientists improve their detection methods, the paper said.
L'Equipe said it matched anonymous urine samples from that
Tour with medical statements signed by doctors, claiming that there
were "characteristic, undeniable and consequent" signs of
EPO in Armstrong's urine tests.
The newspaper said the tests were carried out by the
national anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry. An official at
the lab declined to comment on the report.
L'Equipe, whose parent company is closely linked to the
Tour, has frequently raised questions about how Armstrong could have
made his spectacular comeback from testicular cancer without using
performance enhancers. L'Equipe is owned by the Amaury Group whose
subsidiary, Amaury Sport Organization, organizes the Tour de France
and other sporting events.
A former L'Equipe journalist, Pierre Ballester, was
co-author of a book published last year that contained doping
allegations against Armstrong. He wrote the book with Sunday Times
sportswriter David Walsh.
In the book, "L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance
Armstrong," one of the cyclist's former assistants claimed that
Armstrong once asked her to dispose of used syringes and give him
makeup to conceal needle marks on his arms.
Armstrong has taken libel action against The Sunday Times
after the British newspaper reprinted allegations in a review of the
book in June 2004. The case will go to trial in London's High Court
in November.
Armstrong retired from cycling after his record seventh
straight Tour victory last month.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Rafael "Stanozolol" Palmiero also denied taking performance enhancing
drugs just like Lance Armstrong.
As the old saying goes, "where there's smoke, there's fire."