Calls for investigation into alleged corruption involving UCI, lab and rider
Daniel Benson CN...
Dr. Michael Ashenden, an independent member of the UCI's panel of experts that reviews the blood passport data of professional cyclists, has welcomed possible investigations into alleged corruption within the sport’s governing body. These surround allegations in which the UCI is accused of covering up a positive EPO test from Lance Armstrong during the 2001 Tour de Suisse.
The allegations were first made by Floyd Landis in 2010 but resurfaced last week when Tyler Hamilton, another ex-teammate of Armstrong, backed Landis' allegations. The UCI is currently taking legal proceedings against Landis and have called his allegations "scandalous and mischievous."
However, last week Hamilton talked to "60 Minutes" reporter Scott Pelley and said, "I know he's [Armstrong] had a positive test before...for EPO [at the] Tour of Switzerland, 2001."
Asked how he knew of the incident, Hamilton said "He [Lance Armstrong] told me. He was so relaxed about it and he kind of said it off the cuff and laughed it off."
"People took care of it," Hamilton told "60 Minutes". "I don't know all the exact details but I know that Lance's people and the people from the other side, the governing body of the sport (UCI), figured out a way to make it go away.
"I was told this...by Lance.”
Hamilton has testified in front of a grand jury in the US, and could face imprisonment if it’s found that he has lied about any of the information he has provided them with during his career.
Armstrong has denied both using performance enhancing drugs and being involved in a covered up dope test at the Tour de Suisse. He has claimed that Landis and Hamilton are both discredited and have tarnished reputations having lied about their doping practices until recently. Landis and Hamilton have both lied about their past drug use but admitted their guilt at different points since May 2010.
Ashenden, who has gone on the record in the past with claims that Armstrong used EPO in the 1999 Tour de France, believes that a thorough investigation must be carried out in order for full transparency to be respected.
"The 60 Minutes story suggests that investigations are under way. So it’s reasonable to conclude that there is at least some basis for them to investigate whether it happened. Is it feasible or possible that a cover up could ever happen? If nothing else, the fact that there’s an investigation suggests that it is,” Ashenden told Cyclingnews.
Lance Armstrong made two donations to the UCI during his racing career. The seven-time Tour de France winner signed a personal cheque for $25,000 in 2002 and then his management company Capital Sports and Entertainment made a second payment of $100,000 in 2005.
The "60 Minutes" exposé also brought to light a letter reportedly from USADA which purports the Swiss lab which tested Armstrong at the 2001 Tour de Suisse considered Armstrong's sample "suspicious" and "consistent with EPO use". The CBS news program learned that the director of the Swiss lab had met with both Lance Armstrong and team director Johan Bruyneel concerning the test from the Tour de Suisse at the time.
...fyi - Refer to this prior post...http://red-pill-blue-pill.blogspot.com/2011/02/la-and-epo.html
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