French lab cannot confirm tests were Armstrong's

[MaineDem]

Has this been reported already???

PARIS (Reuters) - A French specialist doping laboratory said on Tuesday it could not confirm that tests it had conducted for the blood-boosting drug EPO belonged to Lance Armstrong.

L'Equipe newspaper, saying it had access to laboratory documents, reported on Tuesday that six of Armstrong's urine samples collected on the 1999 Tour de France showed "indisputable" traces of EPO (erythropoietin).

In response seven-times Tour de France winner Armstrong has denied ever taking performance-enhancing drugs.

http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=sportsNews&storyID=9448500&src=rss/sportsNews

On edit...I thought these results were from this year. I guess these are the old claims.

[MaineDem]

1. Another from the BBC: Armstrong denies drug allegations

Lance Armstrong has denied claims he used blood-boosting drugs in 1999.

French newspaper L'Equipe has claimed signs of EPO were detected in samples of the seven-time Tour de France winner's urine during the 1999 race.

Tests on the samples were carried out in 2004 because cycling's governing body did not start using a urine test for EPO until 2001, the paper said.

Armstrong insisted he had never taken performance-enhancing drugs, and said the article was part of a "witch hunt".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/4175650.stm

[Squatch]

2. From Cycling News...

Link

Lance Armstrong has been quick to issue a statement refuting the claims. "Yet again, a European newspaper has reported that I have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs," said the seven-time Tour winner. "Today's L'Equipe, a French sports daily, is reporting that my 1999 samples were positive. Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and the article is nothing short of tabloid journalism.

"The paper even admits in its own article that the science in question here is faulty and that I have no way to defend myself. They state: 'There will therefore be no counter-exam nor regulatory prosecutions, in a strict sense, since defendant's rights cannot be respected.'

[geek tragedy]

3. It looks like they've got Armstrong nailed. Unless there's something

that the reporters missed . . .