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Armstrong cleared of 1999 Tour de France doping

Posted on: Wednesday, 31 May 2006, 11:34 CDT

By Alexandra Hudson

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - An independent investigation has cleared Lance Armstrong of doping during the 1999 Tour de France and strongly criticised the World Anti-Doping Agency

(WADA).

Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman, assigned by the International Cycling Union (UCI) to investigate doping allegations surrounding Armstrong, said on Wednesday testing procedures had been insufficient to label the American's sample positive.

WADA and the French national doping laboratory LNDD had effectively pronounced him guilty of a doping violation without sufficient basis, Vrijman said.

"The report confirms my innocence," said Armstrong, who first won the Tour in 1999 and retired after his record seventh consecutive victory last July.

The findings supported what he had been saying since the "witch-hunt" began, Armstrong said, namely that WADA, the French laboratory, the French Ministry of Sport, newspaper L'Equipe, and the Tour de France organizers (ASO) had been out to discredit him.

French sports daily L'Equipe reported last August that it had access to laboratory documents, and six of Armstrong's urine samples collected on the 1999 Tour showed "indisputable" traces of the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO).

Vrijman, a former director of the Netherlands national anti-doping agency, told Reuters the LNDD lab had analyzed 1998 and 1999 Tour de France samples only as part of a wider research program for the detection of EPO, hence there were no confirmation tests or B samples.

GENERATE RESULTS

The report said on learning some of the samples were found to be positive WADA told the lab to generate results with bottle code numbers, allowing links to be made between the samples and individuals -- in contravention of rules governing research.

"If you look at how the result was obtained it was so different from the analysis procedure required by WADA ... it doesn't even qualify as a finding," Vrijman said.

"It may suffice for research purposes but for as a valid doping result - no way.."

He outlined a list of errors in how the sample was handled. "Sometimes with doping cases you can say it was a technicality. These are not technicalities, these are fundamental issues which should have been done completely differently."

WADA, the French laboratory and the ministry in charge of it had all failed to provide documents and fully co-operate in his investigation, Vrijman said.

However, the report stated investigators found no evidence to suggest the decision to analyze those samples was part of a deliberate effort to discredit Armstrong.

WADA expressed "grave concern and strong disappointment" after media reports of Vrijman's criticisms. It said it would comment more fully when it had read the report.

"WADA continues to stress its concern that an investigation into the matter must consider all aspects - not limited to how the damaging information regarding athletes' urine samples became public, but also addressing the question of whether anti-doping rules were violated by athletes," a statement said.

CONTROL FORMS

In February the UCI revealed its chief medical officer Mario Zorzoli had unwittingly provided the newspaper with a number of documents, rather than just one copy of a doping control form.

Zorzoli said he had provided documentation only so the journalist could write an article proving Armstrong never asked to use drugs after successfully overcoming testicular cancer.

Zorzoli was suspended for a month but reinstated in March.

The UCI said on Wednesday it deplored the release of Vrijman's findings before it had had a chance to study them.

"The UCI strongly deplores the behavior of Mr Vrijman, who expressed himself in a premature manner, contravening the agreements that all parties implicated would be informed before any public comment was made on contents of the report," it said in a statement.

The UCI was still waiting to receive the final report and "underlines its deep displeasure with regards to the regrettable development of this case."

Source: REUTERS

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