Lance Armstrong fired back at former teammate Floyd Landis, who has publicly accused him of using performance enhancing drugs, following reports he was now working with law enforcement agencies.
Armstrong’s lawyers issued a statement on the cyclist’s team’s Web site countering Landis’ claims that Armstrong cheated during his seven Tour de France wins.
In the statement, Armstrong’s lawyers posted a series of private e-mails that they said were between Landis, his personal doctor and cycling officials and sponsors.
“Even a superficial review reveals a troubling, angry and misplaced effort at retribution by Landis for his perceived slights,” the statement said.
The posting of the e-mails came a day after Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win, confessed to using blood-boosting drugs after pleading his innocence for years.
Landis also pointed the finger at Armstrong in e-mails he sent to media organizations, saying he had witnessed him using illegal drugs.
LEMOND
Greg Lemond, the first American to win the Tour de France, said he believed “most of Floyd Landis’ statements” charging systematic doping in cycling.
“I imagine from my own experiences that today he is paying a heavy price for his honesty and I support Floyd in his attempt to free himself from his past,” the 48-year-old Lemond said on his Web site after Landis, despite years of denials, admitted doping throughout his career.
Armstrong and others in cycling have been quick to attack Landis’ credibility, but Lemond, who has long been a critic of Armstrong, said Landis’ claims should not be dismissed wholesale.
“To be clear, Floyd Landis may have changed his version of the story, and while his own doping and subsequent lying have caused many to doubt him, my position, for which I have spoken long and loud, is to advocate for deep and systemic change in the sport to eliminate the scourge of dope,” Lemond wrote.
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