August 24, 2005 -- USA Today
August 24, 2005 -- Sports Illustrated
In case you've missed it, a French magazine with close ties to the Tour de France has alleged Lance Armstrong tested positive for EPO (a banned, performance enhancing drug) at the time he won his first (1999) Tour de France. They've gone so far as to say his first Tour win should be stripped from him, and that he's "duped fans and the Tour".
Lance reaffirms that he has never used performance enhancing drugs. However, it's also public knowledge (he wrote it in his first book) that as part of his cancer treatment he had to take EPO to boost his red blood cell count (that's what the drug does) just to survive. He made that clear when he returned to competitive cycling. At first, I thought, "Well, so they found EPO, it's probably residual from his treatment." But further reading indicates that EPO doesn't remain detectible in urine for very long, and these new tests weren't performed until 2004 on frozen urine samples Lance provided during the 1999 Tour. Something smells, here.... It's a huge blow to cycling that the world body of cycling would so freely try to topple and disgrace it's #1 star athlete, but that appears to be exactly what they're intently trying to do by talking to the press before talking to Lance Armstrong, other laboratories who also do EPO testing, etc.
PS: Lance will be on Larry King Live at 9-10 p.m. ET tonight.