Armstrong’s doping confessions ‘full of lies’: USADA chief Tygart

Washington: The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief executive, Travis Tygart has said Lance Armstrong’s doping confession in Oprah Winfrey’s chat show is full of lies, adding the American cyclist didn’t come out clean from the interview. Tygart claimed one of the lies Armstrong told Winfrey was that he did not dope for his 2009-2010 return to the Tour, which is a claim blood tests solidly refute.

Tygart said in a letter to Armstrong, he offered him a deadline of February 6 to cooperate fully and truthfully in exchange for a possible lessening of his lifetime ban from sports, the paper reported. Tygart said contrary to the evidence Armstrong’s blood tests in 2009, 2010, expert reports based on the variation of his blood values from those tests, one to a million chances that it was due to something other than doping. He added there is further evidence in emails between Armstrong and Dr. Michele Ferrari in those years, whom the banned cyclist claimed to have shunned due to Ferrari`s known doping activities. Tygart further said Armstrong also wasn`t telling the truth when he said he used only small amounts of the blood booster EPO. Armstrong also denied to Winfrey that he offered USADA a donation of about 250,000 dollars, which Tygart had accused him of. Tygart elaborated on the allegation, saying he took the call himself from an Armstrong lieutenant. Armstrong in the interview also denied intimidating his team`s riders into doping, but Tygart claimed several of American’s former teammates revealed that Armstrong, as part team owner and its head, monitored their blood chemistry and made it clear that doping was a mandatory part of the program. ANI