These are the same samples that I blogged about last fall in discussing Dr. Michael Ashenden's statement that "there is no doubt in my mind he (Lance Armstrong) took EPO during the '99 Tour."
An article in CyclingWeekly states:
"The AFLD will meet America's request for legal assistance," AFLD boss Bruno Genevois told Le Monde, according to the AFP. "The process has only just begun."
French newspaper L'Equipe alleged in 2005 that Armstrong's 1999 samples contained blood booster erythropoietin (EPO). It reported that six of the samples revealed EPO, from anti-doping tests following the prologue and stages 1, 9, 10, 12 and 14.VeloNation also has an article on the topic and states, as I understand it, that this news came from an interview with French anti-doping officials that is scheduled for publication tomorrow in a French news source, Le Monde. VeloNation reports:
The Le Monde interview was an excerpt of a much longer piece to feature in the paper tomorrow. The paper makes it clear that Genevois is talking about Lance Armstrong’s 1999 Tour de France samples, which L’Equipe alleged in 2005 contained traces of EPO. No sanction was ultimately taken against the rider, as there was no corresponding A sample to back up the results of the B test.The VeloNation article also commented that:
It remains to be seen if the US federal investigators have also requested samples from Armstrong and other US Postal Service riders after 1999.I'm also wondering if Novitzky is looking at samples from 2000-2005. Why not? Check them for plasticizers and the other doping methods that Floyd Landis has alleged.
In any case, it sounds like Novitzky's investigation is still moving along, albeit slowly. My guess is that Lance will be taking the Fifth on any questions about these samples...
Lucky for Armstrong, upon his return to Europe after fighting Cancer he moved to Spain...I'm sure whatever they find in his blood was a result of the 'beef' he was eating.
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