Apr 12 2009
Did Lance Armstrong Break AFLD’s Anti-Doping Protocols?
The French Anti Doping Agency has accused all American hero Lance Armstrong of violating protocol during a scheduled out of competition doping test last month. The story, carried by the Associated Press tells how Armstrong supposedly made the French anti doping agency tester wait for quite some time before turning in the required urine, blood and hair samples. This has led some people to believe that the seven-time Tour de France champion has something to hide. The submitted samples tested negative for steroids, banned substances or performance enhancing drugs…but people are still wondering why Armstrong made the French doctor wait when he in fact is an advocate of anti doping tests.
The AFLD issued a statement on Thursday which quoted the assigned physician as having said that Armstrong “did not respect the obligation to remain under the direct and permanent observation” of the person assigned to administer the drug test. According to the French agency, Armstrong may be meted with sanctions for violating protocol, but failed to go into specifics as of press time. The American cyclist is deep in training for this year’s Tour de France. But this isn’t the first brush off Armstrong has had with French doping authorities.
Earlier last week, reports of Armstrong’s bad behavior about submitting a hair sample fast circulated in the cycling world. The report was even supposedly sent to the World Anti Doping Agency and the International Cycling Union. WADA and the UCI do not honor the results of doping tests coming from hair samples, but the French anti doping agency does and Armstrong was subjected to an out of competition hair sample test in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, located in southern France.
The much decorated American cyclist is training for the July Tour De France when he was requested to submit the usual blood and urine samples, plus a hair sample. Armstrong, being his first time to be subjected to such a test, said the AFLD inspector butchered his hair while taking the sample. As a result, he said, he had to get an extra short haircut to compensate for the ugly cut.
AFLD officials said they submitted the report to WADA and UCI not to make a big deal out of the issue, but only to ask for an opinion. The AFLD uses data extracted from hair samples to test them for anabolic steriods or presence of performance enhancing drugs and other banned substances. Armstrong, for his part, is currently at home in Austin, Texas. He is recuperating from a collarbone surgery which he sustained during the first leg of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon in Spain in March.
The cyclist is known to be an advocate of anti doping tests, having set up his own testing center in the hopes of keeping the cycling world dope-free. Armstrong holds the record of being the only cyclist to win the Tour de France for seven straight years - from 1995 to 2005. He is making a comeback in the cycling world after successfully beating the big C.
[...] to join the Tour de France in July but worried that the French doping officials may ban him for his alleged violation of protocols during a recent drug [...]
[...] French anti-doping agency will not press any charges against Lance Armstrong, American star cyclist, for disagreements between him and a drug tester. They decided not to take [...]