By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT and JULIET MACUR
Published: May 25, 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/sports/cycling/26cycling.html?ref=sports
Federal authorities investigating allegations that Lance Armstrong and other top cyclists engaged in doping are considering whether they can expand the investigation beyond traditional drug distribution charges to include ones involving fraud and conspiracy, according to two people briefed on the investigation.
The authorities, who are in the early stages of their investigation, are seeking to determine whether Armstrong, the owners and managers of his former cycling teams and his teammates conspired to defraud their sponsors by doping to improve their performances and garner more money and prizes, one of the people said.
In particular, the authorities want to know whether money from the United States Postal Service, the main sponsor of Armstrong’s team from 1996 to 2004, was used to buy performance-enhancing drugs, one of the people said. Fraud charges can carry longer sentences than charges of drug distribution.
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At this point, if Floyd Landis is their ace in the hole, they don’t have much going for them. What are they going to uncover at this point?
I”m a lifelong fan and cyclist. I’ve been up and down the doping rollercoaster since the Festina Affair.
At this point, I’m apt to say that limited EPO usage is okay, up to a certain hemocrit level; say, 52%. I’m convinced they all do it with such precision now as to stay at their max hemocrit level allowed by their bio passports. So it’s an even playing field.
Add to that the fact that you can raise red blood cell levels via altitude training and/or Oxygen tenting, resulting in the same improved efficiencies. I’d wager almolst all endurance athletes are doing the same.
So yes, keep all the steroids, testosterones and that crap illegal. CERA and EPO and self transfusions may become a necessary part of riding 2000+ miles over mountains and cobblestones every few weeks for 10 months/year.
(I don’t really believe all this, but I’m getting there.)
Let the truth come out whatever it is and then move forward.