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| Monday, July 23 Updated: July 24, 5:43 PM ET |
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| Armstrong addresses doping questions Reuters | |||
PAU, France -- Tour de France leader Lance
Armstrong defended his relationship with controversial
Italian doctor Michele Ferrari and said he would continue to
work with him unless Ferrari was convicted of doping offenses.
During an hour-long grilling from reporters on Monday's
rest day, the race leader also backed the efforts made by
cycling and the Tour de France in the fight against drugs.
Armstrong, who is firmly on course for a third
successive Tour victory, stressed he had never given a positive
test for any banned substance and said his clean record spoke
for itself.
"I'm confident in the relationship," he said when asked
about Ferrari. "I've never denied the relationship.
"I believe he's an honest man, I believe he's a fair man
and I believe he's an innocent man.
"I've never seen anything to lead me to believe otherwise."
Ferrari goes on trial on Sept. 21 in Bologna on two
charges -- the administration of products dangerous to health
and sporting fraud.
In March, a chemist who worked with Ferrari went to trial
and was found guilty. He was given a two-year suspended
sentence.
Armstrong revealed earlier in the Tour that he had been
working with Ferrari on an occasional basis.
He said then he had never discussed the use of EPO, the
drug at the center of the doping scandal that hit the race in
1998, with the doctor, much less used it.
On Monday, Armstrong conceded his relationship with
Ferrari might be regarded as questionable.
"People are not stupid. People will look at the facts. They
will say, OK, here's Lance Armstrong, here's the
relationship. Is that questionable? Perhaps.
"But people are smart. They say has Lance Armstrong ever
tested positive? No. Has Lance Armstrong been tested? A lot.
"Was Lance Armstrong's team put under investigation and
their urine from the 2000 Tour de France, where there was no
EPO control, was it tested for EPO? Yes it was.
"Was it clean? Absolutely.
"Did he declare cortisone in any of his drug controls in
the Tour de France? No, he did not.
"Now, that brings us to 2001. Is there an EPO test?
Absolutely. Will he pass every test because he does not take
EPO? Yes, he will.
"Did he declare cortisone? Did he use cortisone in the 2001
Tour de France? No, he did not.
"I think the people believe in that."
He added: "I have a questionable reputation because I'm a
cyclist. Everybody in this sport has a questionable reputation.
"...An investigation that was launched here in France
brings my reputation into doubt. We're all under investigation
so until there's a conviction, until someone's proven guilty I
can't view them as guilty because I view them as innocent."
Asked about cycling's image in the eye of the public, he
said the sport had done more than any other to combat the use
of drugs.
"Granted, cycling has made some big mistakes," he said.
"(But) these problems are not exclusive to cycling, or the Tour
de France or Lance Armstrong. These are global problems, sports
problems."
Armstrong encouraged the development of further tests for
performance enhancing products.
"There's always going to be an evolution in the world of
medicine and there will always be speculation that athletes are
using those drugs," he said.
"But I encourage the scientists to pursue the tests to
combat that. I cannot prove a negative so it's always going to
be a tricky situation.
"When they find a test for one thing then somebody stands
up there and says you must be doing the next thing. When they
find a test for that they say you must be doing the next thing.
It goes on and on and on. There's only so much you can do."
Armstrong conceded that questions regarding cycling's murky
past may continue until he retires.
"I'm prepared to live with it," he said. It's unfortunate.
It might last the rest of my career.
"But I can get up in the morning and look myself in the
mirror and my family can look at me too and that's all that
matters."
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ALSO SEE Armstrong protects lead in last mountain stage AUDIO/VIDEO   American Lance Armstrong speaks out about drug use in cycling and the Tour de France.wav: 262 k RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 | |
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