Lance Armstrong facing new doping charges (UPDATED with repsonse)

Lance Armstrong

((ht: washingtonpost.com))

We aren't saying that the man is guilty, but we really are wondering if he is not, why so many charges continue being filed against him saying that he is?

Former Tour de France champ and current triathlete Lance Armstrong is facing formal doping charges by the US Anti-Doping Agency. The charges have led to his ban from triathlons, at least until they are resolved.

They allege that blood samples taken from Armstrong in 2009 and 2010 were consistent with "blood doping". Though Armstrong has never tested positive.

They also go after old Armstrong charges, alleging in a letter that he and other cycling team associates engaged in a "massive doping conspiracty from 1998-2011 and they have multiple witnesses to back it up.

And they want to take away his Tour de France titles.

Oh boy.

Read the full story in the Washington Post RIGHT HERE

Armstrong's attorney called the allegations "Malice and Spite", but apparently didn't not elaborate any further.

We wonder if this will actually be enough to get Armstrong in trouble.

As you know, there have been multiple attempts at doing so. And quite a few cyclists have also either accused him or say they witnessed him doing illicit things to his blood.

Without getting into innocence...or guilt, we just, like so many others, question how many times can it be "People with an Agenda" and people trying to "Make Lance look bad"?

The same thing keeps coming up...over and over and over again.

You just have to wonder if eventually there are some truth to the allegations...

Here's Lance Armstrong's official response...

I have been notified that USADA, an organization largely funded by taxpayer dollars but governed only by self-written rules, intends to again dredge up discredited allegations dating back more than 16 years to prevent me from competing as a triathlete and try and strip me of the seven Tour de France victories I earned. These are the very same charges and the same witnesses that the Justice Department chose not to pursue after a two-year investigation. These charges are baseless, motivated by spite and advanced through testimony bought and paid for by promises of anonymity and immunity. Although USADA alleges a wide-ranging conspiracy extended over more than 16 years, I am the only athlete it has chosen to charge. USADA’s malice, its methods, its star-chamber practices, and its decision to punish first and adjudicate later all are at odds with our ideals of fairness and fair play.

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. That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence.

Here's TJ Quinn discussing...
((HT: ESPN))


And here's analysis on AC360
((HT: CNN))