Evidence From the Investigation Into Alleged Doping by Lance Armstrong
To start what was deemed a new and better doping strategy, Lance Armstrong and two of his teammates on the United States Postal Service cycling squad flew on a private jet to Valencia, Spain, in June 2000, to have blood extracted. In a hotel room there, two doctors and the team’s manager stood by to see their plan unfold, watching the blood of their best riders drip into plastic bags.
The next month, during the Tour de France, the cyclists lay on beds with those blood bags affixed to the wall. They shivered as the cool blood re-entered their bodies. The reinfused blood would boost the riders’ oxygen-carrying capacity and improve stamina during the second of Armstrong’s seven Tour wins.
The following day, Armstrong extended his overall lead with a swift ascent of the unforgiving and seemingly unending route up Mont Ventoux.
At a race in Spain that same year, Armstrong told a teammate that he had taken testosterone, a banned substance he called “oil.” The teammate warned Armstrong that drug-testing officials were at the team hotel, prompting Armstrong to drop out of the race to avoid being caught.
In 2002, Armstrong summoned a teammate to his apartment in Girona, Spain. He told his teammate that if he wanted to continue riding for the team he would have to follow the doping program outlined by Armstrong’s doctor, a known proponent of doping.
The rider said that the conversation confirmed that “Lance called the shots on the team,” and that “what Lance said went.
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Lance Armstrong Ends Fight Against Doping Charges
Lance Armstrong said Thursday he would not fight doping charges brought by United States authorities, which means he is likely to lose his seven Tour de France titles.
Top Finishers of the Tour de France Tainted by Doping
Since 1998, more than a third of the top finishers of the Tour de France have admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs at some point in their careers or have been officially linked to doping. The grid below shows the original top-10 placements in each of the past 15 years. Riders pictured have either tested positive, admitted to doping or been sanctioned by an official cycling or antidoping agency. Cyclists whose sanctions were later overturned are not included.
