American Lance Armstrong has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD) over a random test conducted last month, the AFLD said in a statement.
“The AFLD has decided to take into account the athlete’s written explanations and, consequently, not to open a disciplinary action against him,” the statement read.
Seven times Tour de France winner Armstrong also said he had been cleared, writing on his Twitter feed: “Just got the word from the French agency AFLD on the shower-gate incident. Case closed, no penalty, all samples clean. Onward.”
PHOTO: EPA
The AFLD had said earlier this month that Armstrong could face disciplinary action because he “did not respect the obligation to stay under [the] direct and permanent observation” of a drugs tester who came to his southern France residence last month.
Armstrong said he took a shower while Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel was checking the tester’s credentials with the International Cycling Union (UCI).
The Texan was asked to provide urine, blood and hair samples when returning from a training ride around Beaulieu-sur-Mer.
“The analysis of the urine and blood samples from Mr Lance Armstrong did not reveal any abnormality. His hair sample has not been tested,” the AFLD said.
Armstrong broke his collarbone during the Tour of Castilla y Leon last month but expects to be fit for the Giro d’Italia on May 9.
Armstrong has had a difficult relationship with the Tour’s organizers, the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO), who said last year the 37-year-old’s return to the race would be “embarrassing.”
In 2005, the French sports daily L’Equipe, owned by ASO’s parent company EPA, said samples of Armstrong’s urine from the 1999 race showed traces of the banned blood-boosting substance erythropoietin.
However, Armstrong, who has never tested positive, was cleared by a Dutch investigator appointed by the UCI.
AFLD president Pierre Bordry last year invited Armstrong to have his 1999 samples re-tested but the rider declined, arguing they could have been compromised.
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