WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has brought formal doping charges against U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong and he has been immediately banned from competition in triathlons as a result, the Washington Post reported today.
Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, denied the charges in a statement: “I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one.”
The Post cited a 15-page charging letter by the USADA.
It said the agency, which oversees anti-doping in Olympic sports in the United States, was empowered to bring charges that could lead to suspension from competition and the rescinding of awards but did have not authority to bring criminal charges.
A spokesman for the USADA was not immediately available to comment.
Armstrong said: “These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation.”
In February, the U.S. Justice Department dropped an investigation centered on whether Armstrong and his teammates cheated the sponsor of their bike racing team with a secret doping program.
That decision meant that Armstrong, a cancer survivor and one of his sport’s greatest champions who has always vehemently denied using performance-enhancing drugs, would not face criminal charges from the two-year-long probe.
