Lance Armstrong continued his attack this week against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), after a report came out that several cyclists were given reduced doping suspensions and were permitted to compete in this year's Tour de France in exchange for testimony against the 7-time Tour champion (via Twitter)...
So let me get this straight...come in and tell [USADA] exactly what they wanted to hear......in exchange for immunity, anonymity, and the opportunity to continue to race the biggest event in cycling...This isn't about [USADA] wanting to clean up cycling - rather it's just plain ol' selective prosecution that reeks of vendetta.
This comes after a Dutch newspaper reported that five of Armstrong's former teammates have admitted to doping and will receive reduced suspensions in exchange for testifying against Armstrong (via the L.A. Times). Four of those cyclists are currently competing in this year's Tour de France as the suspensions would reportedly not begin until September.
Levi Leipheimer is the closest to the lead of this group. He is in 22nd place 0:45 off the lead.
John Henderson of the Denver Post reports that one of those former teammates, Jonathan Vaughters, who is now the director of Team Garmin-Sharp, "vehemently denied" the Dutch report and stated that he and two of the riders who are now on his team (David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde) "are not targets of any investigation."
However, that does not explain why Zabriskie and Vande Velde both pulled their names out of consideration for the U.S. Olympic team at the last moment.
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