Lance Armstrong said he has "nothing to hide" as he hit back yesterday at the strongest doping allegations against him yet, which surfaced this week when Floyd Landis, the disgraced rider and his former teammate, finally confessed to cheating. In a series of e-mails sent to sponsors and sport officials, Landis alleged Armstrong not only joined him in doping but taught others how to beat the system and paid a former president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) to keep a failed test quiet.
"We have nothing to hide," Armstrong said at an impromptu news conference before the fifth stage of the Tour of California. "Floyd lost his credibility a long time ago. "At the end of the day, he pointed the finger at everybody still involved in cycling, everybody that's still enjoying the sport, everybody that still believes in the sport, everybody that's still working in the sport, was in the crosshairs," Armstrong said.
In two e-mails obtained by The Associated Press, Landis admitted for the first time what had long been suspected - that he was guilty of doping for several years before being stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title. "I want to clear my conscience," Landis told ESPN.com. "I don't want to be part of the problem any more." The Wall Street Journal first reported the details of the e-mails on its website early on Thursday. It also reported that Landis was cooperating with the US Food and Drug Administration's criminal investigations unit.
Landis alleged that Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel, his long-time coach, paid Hein Verbruggen, the former UCI president, to cover up a test in 2002 after Armstrong purportedly tested positive for the blood-boosting drug EPO. The UCI denied changing or concealing a positive test result. Landis said he was asked at one point to stay in an apartment where Armstrong was living in 2003 and check the temperature in a refrigerator where blood was being stored for future transfusions.
"Mr Armstrong was planning on being gone for a few weeks to train. He asked me to stay in his place and make sure the electricity didn't turn off or something go wrong with the refrigerator," Landis wrote. Armstrong, meanwhile, was relieved yesterday when x-rays on his elbow showed there were no breaks after a crash at the Tour of California had put his participation in the Tour de France - which he has won seven times - in doubt. Soon after the start of Thursday's leg, a rider in the main group skidded on some gravel and fell causing a number of riders, including Armstrong, to crash.
* AP