Drugs testers shadowing Armstrong

Eurosport - Sat, 20 Dec 00:55:00 2008

International drug testers are keeping a watchful eye on Lance Armstrong during his probation period, according to the seven-times Tour de France winner.

CYCLING 2008 Astana Armstrong - 0

Armstrong claims to have been drug tested 11 times in the past 18 weeks and two times in the past four days. The latest test was conducted by officials from the International Cycling Union on Thursday at his Texas home.

"UCI control. They flew a guy from Germany for it. That makes a ton of sense," Armstrong wrote on Twitter, a social networking website.

Twitter allows users to send short messages which are then posted on subscribers' cell phones and the Internet.

Armstrong even let his Twitter readers know that he was on his way to meet with the drug testers.

"I am back from the shop after riding four hours. I hear the drug testers are waiting at the house," he wrote.

Armstrong, who plans to resume his cycling career next year, was placed under a six-month probation period by the United States Anti-doping Agency at the beginning of August.

Armstrong needs to pass USADA's out-of-competition testing pool before his cycling comeback can become official.

News of his return has drawn mixed reviews in cycling circles.

Armstrong has been accused of doping practices on several occasions, most notably in an article in French sports newspaper L'Equipe in 2005, claiming six urine samples from his 1999 Tour victory contained the blood-boosting drug EPO.

The rider himself has always denied doping and the UCI cleared him in 2006.

AFP

Comment 1 - 20 of 40

Sort comments by: Most recent
  1. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Proof???...Look at the evidence...Its a stone-wall case­ against LA...Ask Simeoni...Ask Frankie and Betsy­ Andreu...Dr Ferrari...The 1999 TDF test...Journalist­ blacklist....mmmmmm...Wake up..

    From johnpaulbaxter, on Sat 20 Dec 1:26AM

  2. gd luck lance i never thought your were on drugs, all­ his performences were consistaint meaning doping is­ very unlikely as if he doped for 7 years it would­ proberly have killed him like it did kill back in the­ 50s and 60s. Also he was tested so many times and never­ tested positive, how can you say he is guilty without­ any proof. go lance

    From hamishhore, on Sat 20 Dec 1:13AM

  3. just being hounded for being good at what he does good­ luck lance in 09'.

    From BiC, on Fri 19 Dec 11:22PM

  4. A super super athlete,single minded in the search for­ excellence,very much admired.Theni read Breaking the­ Chain by Willy Voet,maybe one day it will all make­ sense.

    From klodge91, on Fri 19 Dec 10:29PM
  5. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    His blood from year one was full of EPO, but the test­ for it was only available years later, so he escaped.­ his Doctor has criminal convictions for doping. All his­ major team mates got caught. He got lucky.

    From Martin Butcher, on Fri 19 Dec 9:43PM

  6. Some people are just superhuman athletes who don't­ need anything to enhance their performance.Sroll­ up,there's one in the picture!!

    Good Luck in­ '09,Lance!!

    From jhr881, on Fri 19 Dec 9:40PM

  7. Fella, keep your piss nice and clean and win the yellow­ jersey again...then there can be no doubt!

    From GSter, on Fri 19 Dec 9:31PM

  8. why is it when someone wins on a regular basis the­ "drug cheat" lobby always has to have its­ say. Cycling has not always been the cleanest of sports­ but now has the most stringent testing of any sport.
    LA­ is just one of a handfull of sportsmaen who excel is­ his chosen sport (look at steve redgrave/michael­ johnson/ed moses etc) can't people accept the fact­ that he might just be a rather special athlete

    From blackbird, on Fri 19 Dec 9:06PM

  9. French media are lucky for having Lance rides the TDF!­ This means more spectators and more money because more­ people to watch TV, hear radio, and buy newspapers and­ magazines. Lance is such a great athlete who can draw­ crowds, like Pacquiao who can build up more crowd to­ make money. That is professional sports is all about.

    From jovitomanuel, on Fri 19 Dec 9:01PM

  10. Good luck to him, he is competing again to give hope to­ fellow cancer victims, if the French are not willing to­ see that then it says a lot for a nation who can't­ take defeat, but if if he feels hard done to by the­ French he should thank his lucky stars he's not­ English then they would be out to get him.

    Remember a­ village in Belgium

    From A H, on Fri 19 Dec 8:20PM

  11. All of you, you are only a cheat if you win by doing­ something that no one else is doing or willing to do!!!­ If everyone in the field is using performance enhancing­ drugs then they are competing against each other­ because no one really has an advantage.
    A history of­ performance enhaning drugs in the sport and world wide­ acknowledgement of a doping problem would indictate­ that there isn't a single cyclist who is not doing­ it. This is a cynical view of course but no one in­ cycling is giving me or the sporting public any reason­ to believe otherwise.
    It goes against everything that­ we all believe sports should be. However, it is a fact­ and as a long time Armstrong supporter I have accepted­ that if he has to compete with a field of people who­ are using science to very advantageous effect then­ thats the way it is.
    I hope that the sport can be­ cleaned up but I don't believe the will power is­ there.
    Here's to hoping Lance beats all the­ "cheaters" in this years tour!!

    From maildarc, on Fri 19 Dec 7:49PM
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    OK you want proof. All of his main rivels from his 7­ TDF wins, with the exception of Kloden, got caught­ blood doping -fact-. Ex-team mates got caught after­ leaving USP: Hamalton, Hearas, Beltran, Landis, do you­ remeber them? How much did Lance pay off the­ independent drug testers not to test himself or USP? Or­ maybe Johan payed them off?

    From simon, on Fri 19 Dec 7:35PM

  13. Re the comment from sunwukong78. What proof do you­ have or are you French? As stated by robin.gravestock­ Lance has never tested positive - deal with it.

    From w431r, on Fri 19 Dec 7:28PM

  14. Very easy to decide someone is a cheat if you dont like­ them, but I think facts are very important, and Lance­ has never tested positive. Please please please stick­ to facts

    From robin.gravestock, on Fri 19 Dec 7:05PM

  15. No way, he's not going to win another TDF, no­ chance. He used EPO in 1999, then used blood­ transfusions for all of his other TDF wins. He was just­ very clever, almost fox-like.

    From simon, on Fri 19 Dec 6:48PM

  16. I have been to the tour twice now and the French people­ have been as excited about seeing Lance as I have. He­ is a hero of all real sports fans

    From robin.gravestock, on Fri 19 Dec 6:46PM

  17. it´s always the same story.Lance was a cheater, his 7­ Tour wins was always made by drugs and so on.But what­ about proves? You know, the point is: lance always had­ a lot of enemies, namely in French people. And nothing­ can be done about it. In my own opinion, Lance is a­ very clever man and it´s inconceivable that a guy like­ him who had cancer and have won this horrible battle­ (surely the most important of his life), can use drugs­ to win other battles, much less important(e.g. sports).

    From jujuveralufi, on Fri 19 Dec 6:14PM

  18. the other riders are just scared cos they know he is a­ good rider and could well win the tour hope he does ive­ got a lot off respect for the guy

    From , on Fri 19 Dec 6:12PM

  19. w t f ??

    From ceko0oo, on Fri 19 Dec 5:57PM

  20. Hes innocent!!! you will see.

    From djwiners, on Fri 19 Dec 5:46PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account