Armstrong says he's victim of setup

Lance Armstrong

GDO Report

L'Equipe has caused a storm after reporting that six samples given by Armstrong on the 1999 tour were found to contain traces of red-blood cell booster EPO.

But in an interview with CNN's Larry King Live show, Armstrong denied ever taking drugs, adding that he had been through enough in his life when battling back from testicular cancer. "I have never doped. I can say it again, but I have said it for seven years. It doesn't help," he said.

He added: "If you consider my situation, a guy who comes back from arguably a death sentence, why would I then enter into a sport and dope myself up and risk my life again? That's crazy. I would never do that, no way."

Armstrong claimed the French laboratory involved could not be trusted, and strongly criticised the way they had handled the situation.

"A guy in a Parisian laboratory opens up your sample, you know, Jean Francois so-and-so, and he tests it - nobody's there to observe, no protocol was followed - and then you get a call from a newspaper that says 'We found you to be positive six times for EPO.' Well, since when did newspapers start governing sports?

"Somebody violated all the rules of drug testing here. There is no way that I could be suspended or stripped. You have to have a confirmation sample and we don't have that. I wish we did, I really wish we did."

The 33-year-old, now retired, said he had always been a target of doping allegations because of his success.

"This is not the first time somebody has come along and said 'he's doped', 'he rode too fast', 'his story's too miraculous', this has been going on for seven years and I suspect it will continue," he said.