• Tour Down Under

Armstrong's final race overshadowed by drugs claims

ESPN staff
January 20, 2011
Lance Armstrong is in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under © Getty Images
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Lance Armstrong's final international race before retirement has been overshadowed by Sports Illustrated's allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong, who is in Adelaide for the Tour Down Under, has been accused of doping offences by former team-mates.

His colleague at Motorola in 1995, Stephen Swart, claims that Armstrong encouraged members of the team to take the banned blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO). "He was the instigator," Swart says of Armstrong. "It was his words that pushed us towards doing it. It was his advice, his discussions."

Meanwhile, Floyd Landis, who rode with Armstrong for the US Postal Service team, told Sports Illustrated reporters how a private plane would help them evade customs officials.

The article goes on to state that, in the late 1990s, Armstrong had access to a blood-boosting drug that was in clinical trial called Hem-Assist, while a 2009 police search of long-time team-mate Yaroslav Popovych's house allegedly revealed documents attaching Armstrong's teams to Michele Ferrari. Ferrari, a sports doctor, has been linked closely to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong, who has never tested positive for drugs, swatted the allegations away. "I have nothing to say," he told reporters.

These accusations surface at a time when there is a federal grand jury inquiry investigating whether Armstrong was involved in an organised doping operation.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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