Armstrong’s team issues strongly worded rebuttal to doping report

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s new report detailing its case against Lance Armstrong is as good as a spy novel. The cyclist has called it a ‘hatchet job.’

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The report was posted in its entirety on The New York Times website, and it was heralded as “the most extensive, groundbreaking layout of Armstrong’s alleged doping, bolstered by new interviews, financial statements and laboratory results.”

Within the first 25 pages, the investigation details Lance Armstrong’s alleged rendezvous with drug suppliers on Europe’s back roads, and saline IVs used before a drug test to mask results. It’s juicy stuff, regardless of your pro- or anti-Lance views. It includes sworn statements from more than 24 witnesses, 15 professional cyclists, including 11 former Armstrong teammates and, adding more intrigue, an interview with a masseuse.

The USADA is the latest government agency to come after Armstrong, who has so far successfully fought off any claims about drug use during the time he won seven consecutive Tour de France races. Instead of fighting the claims in arbitration, Armstrong and his lawyers decided to back off and let the agency present the results of its several year investigation without any counterpoint.

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