Lance Armstrong Will Not Be Charged Over Swiss Lab Doping Allegations

The nearly two-year investigation into alleged doping by Lance Armstrong has finally been dropped, and the seven-time Tour de France winner is understandably relieved. Despite testimony from former teammates alleging that Armstrong took illegal PEDs, prosecutors dropped the case last week.

Speaking to the Associated Press on Thursday, Armstrong said that he believes that the dropping of the case by federal prosecutors should end questions about whether or not he engaged the use of illegal performance enhancing substances during his competitive cycling career. He also said that he was always confident that charges would not be brought against him in the case.

Federal prosecutors are about to end a criminal investigation into seven-time Tour De France winner Lance Armstrong and will not charge him over allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs.

United States Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. says the case has been closed but didn’t disclose the reason for the decision.

May 22nd’s episode of “60 Minutes” showcased a six-month investigation on Lance Armstrong and the various doping allegations he faces. Armstrong’s lawyers are demanding an on-air apology for the report, though they’re unlikely to get it. Just like they’re unlikely to squash the ongoing release of further rumors, like the latest one out of the Swiss anti-doping laboratory.

Armstrong has always denied doping, pointing to the fact that he has never tested positive. A ‘suspicious’ test isn’t a positive one, but it is just one more in a very long list of incriminating hearsay against Armstrong’s word.

Lance Armstrong’s attorneys demanded an on-air apology from “60 Minutes” for their May 22 report on allegations that the cyclist was a long-time doper during his career. CBS News has refused to do so and stands by the accuracy of its reporting.

In the investigation, Armstrong’s teammate Tyler Hamilton told “60 Minutes” that Armstrong had provided him with banned substances and that Armstrong had positive drug tests disappear from his record. Armstrong’s lawyers contend that the report only shows one side of the story and that producers were informed of all the allegations being false.

On Sunday night, “60 Minutes” aired its six-month investigation piece on Lance Armstrong and the various doping allegations he faces. Most of the interview dealt with Armstrong’s former teammate, Tyler Hamilton, who alleges that Armstrong and others had long promoted doping, as far back as 1999.

Hamilton alleges that Armstrong and his people were able to make positive tests go away once they learned of them. A Swiss testing agency that oversees the tests alerted the International Cyclists Union about the results, which eventually led to a meeting between Armstrong’s people and the UCI. Some of the talk surrounded test procedures, which could help other learn how to beat future tests. As was pointed out, Marion Jones, who eventually admitted to doping, was able to fool drug tests for years, making it possible for Armstrong to do the same.

Lance Armstrong may want to go ahead and skip 60 Minutes on Sunday. In addition to the previously reported accusations levied by Tyler Hamilton, the show will also feature comments from Armstrong sidekick George Hincapie. While Hamilton’s credibility can be attacked, and has been by Armstrong, the same cannot be said for Hincapie, who spent years by Armstrong’s side with the United States Postal Service cycling team.

As noted earlier, Armstrong maintains he’s clean and has never tested positive for a banned substance. Armstrong has been in damage control since Hamilton’s interview began to leak and will have to face another wave of criticism thanks to the Hincapie report. More on the case can be seen on Sunday during the Armstrong segment on 60 Minutes.

On Sunday night’s episode of 60 Minutes, Tyler Hamilton, a former professional cyclist and Olympic gold medalist, will say that his former teammate, Lance Armstrong, used endurance-boosting EPO to prepare for the Tour de France in 1999-2001. Hamilton adds that he saw Armstrong “inject more than one time,” saying, “We all did.”

Here’s a short preview of that interview:

Lance Armstrong has taken his defense against Tyler Hamilton’s 60 Minutes cheating allegations to another level, producing a long and detailed takedown of Hamilton on a site called Facts4Lance.com. On the page it’s claimed Hamilton is lying to make money off a book deal, sold out Armstrong so that the government will let him keep his Olympic gold medal and so on.

A history of Hamilton’s own doping denials is presented, which aims to show that he’s finally telling the truth now that money’s on the line. Though, of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s still a liar.

Lance Armstrong has asserted his innocence after former U.S. Postal Service cycling teammate Tyler Hamilton accused him of repeatedly cheating. Armstrong took to Twitter, using a defense that’s grown familiar by now: his history of hundreds of passed drug tests.

Of course, the interesting wrinkle this time is that Hamilton is claiming Armstrong did fail one drug test. While surely there are records of that particular test just a-sittin’ around somewhere, Hamilton’s charge preemptively dug into Armstrong’s retort itself.

The story of whether Lance Armstrong cheated by doping during his cycling days: it is not over. Tyler Hamilton, Armstrong’s former teammate on the U.S. Postal Service team, told CBS News’ Scott Pelley that he saw Armstrong using testosterone, EPO and other banned substances, multiple times and along with other teammates. CBS reports the feds are now investigating the charge.

Hamilton includes himself among those team members who he says cheated.

Lance Armstrong has been subject to doping allegations for years, and on Tuesday, Sports Illustrated published yet another report incriminating the seven-time Tour de France winner. Armstrong, for his part, continues to vehemently deny the allegations. From the Washington Post:

Even as the body of evidence continues to grow, Armstrong steadfastly refuses to concede an inch. Upon being pressed further, he said:

Lance Armstrong has long faced allegations of blood doping and steroid use from international cycling officials and a skeptical foreign press. The seven-time Tour de France champion is the subject of a federal grand jury inquiry, and Sports Illustrated reporters Selena Roberts and David Epstein have pored over documents in the case to uncover alleged evidence that Armstrong indeed flouted performance-enhancing drug rules during his career.

The full SI report will appears in the next edition of the magazine, which hits newsstands on Wednesday.

When Floyd Landis’ made accusations back in April of endemic doping in cycling, federal prosecutors launched a probe into cheating in the sport and specifically into Lance Armstrong. Armstrong denied any wrongdoing, as he always has, noting that no proof or admissions by his teammates have ever surfaced.

But now, according to the New York Times, former teammates of Armstrong’s are coming forward with detailed claims that Armstrong and his former United States Postal Service team participated in systematic doping.

Lance Armstrong is once again on the defensive about whether he used performance-enhancing drugs -- except this time he’s dealing with federal prosecutors. After Floyd Landis’ accusations back in April of still-endemic doping in cycling, federal prosecutors launched a probe into cheating in the sport. And now, they have subpoenaed documents from a previous arbitration case against Armstrong that had tried to prove that the seven-time Tour de France winner had doped, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The arbitration case prosecutors have subpoenaed dates back to 2004, when SCA Promotions, Inc. refused to pay Armstong the $5 million bonus he was owed for winning the Tour de France due to published reports that he had cheated. While SCA did not have any eyewitnesses who said that Armstrong had doped, they did have testimony from two former teammates who indicated that Armstrong had told them that he either planned to or had previously used performance-enhancing drugs, primarily endurance-enhancing EPO. Armstrong denied these allegations and said he had “no idea” why two former teammates (and one of their wives) would claim otherwise. SCA eventually settled with Armstrong for $7.5 million, a figure that not only included the bonus figure, but also restitution for legal fees.