- RadioShack's Lance Armstrong on the Patesberg."/>
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Anti-doping agencies could take action
Despite the US Attorney closing an investigation into the US Postal Service team and Lance Armstrong, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) head still expects that evidence gathered in the case will be shared with anti-doping authorities.
The agency today issued a statement from its president, John Fahey, who noted that the federal government's interest in the case centered around allegations of fraud - that sponsor money coming from the government agency was used for doping - but that any evidence of anti-doping rule violations by the team and its riders would be the domain of the anti-doping agency.
"...A large amount of the evidence gathered is likely to be highly pertinent to doping and WADA expects that this evidence will be shared with relevant anti-doping authorities for them to determine whether any breaches of the anti-doping rules have occurred," Fahey said.
Now that the federal government's investigation has concluded, Fahey said that WADA anticipates any evidence "can be handed over quickly for the anti-doping agencies to take appropriate action".
While doping for performance gain is not against the law in the US, Fahey noted that the country is a signatory to the WADA code, and it has also ratified a UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport.
Because the WADA code is a non-government document which only applies to members of sports organisations, the UNESCO convention was created to give governments a legal framework to address doping in sport, presumably paving the way for such cooperation between the federal investigators and the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
USADA CEO Travis Tygart indicated yesterday that his agency is prepared to obtain evidence from the government toward its own investigation "of doping in cycling".
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Lance Armstrong
Lance Amstrong retired in 2011. Before that he had one of the most successful but controversial careers in professional cycling. He won 7 Tour de France from 1999 to 2005, after coming back from cancer.
Lance Armstrong retired from the sport in 2005 only to announce a comeback in 2008. He rode for Astana in 2009, finishing third in the Tour de France. The following season he again rode the Tour but failed to challenge for the yellow jersey. He made his last professional outing at the 2011 Tour Down Under.
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