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For much of the second phase of his career, cyclist Lance Armstrong faced constant allegations of doping. Armstrong consistently denied allegations of doping until a partial confession during a broadcast interview with Oprah Winfrey in January 2013. ==Background== Armstrong has been criticized for his disagreements with outspoken opponents of doping such as Paul Kimmage and Christophe Bassons. Bassons wrote a number of articles for a French newspaper during the 1999 Tour de France which made references to doping in the peloton. Subsequently, Armstrong had an altercation with Bassons during the 1999 Tour de France where Bassons said Armstrong rode up alongside on the Alpe d'Huez stage to tell him "it was a mistake to speak out the way I (Bassons) do and he (Armstrong) asked why I was doing it. I told him that I'm thinking of the next generation of riders. Then he said 'Why don't you leave, then?'" Armstrong later confirmed Bassons's story. On the main evening news on TF1, a national television station, Armstrong said: "His accusations aren't good for cycling, for his team, for me, for anybody. If he thinks cycling works like that, he's wrong and he would be better off going home".〔Cited, ''L'Équipe'', July 17, 1999.〕 Kimmage, a professional cyclist in the 1980s who later became a sports journalist, referred to Armstrong as a "cancer in cycling".〔 He also asked Armstrong questions in relation to his "admiration for dopers" at a press conference at the Tour of California in 2009, provoking a scathing reaction from Armstrong.〔 This spat continued and is exemplified by Kimmage's articles in ''The Sunday Times''.〔Kimmage, Paul. ("Tour gears up for return of Lance Armstrong" ), ''The Sunday Times'', July 5, 2009. 〕 However it can be argued that of a sparse band of disbelievers of the legitimacy behind Armstrong's success in the 1999 Tour de France, Armstrong's eventual confession to Doping in January 2013 on the Oprah Winfrey show can in no small part be attributed to journalist David Walsh and his 13 year quest to expose the truth. Referred to as the 'Little Troll' by Lance Armstrong,() Walsh along with fellow Irishman and Sunday Times journalist Paul Kimmage, led the way in exposing the systematic doping rife within cycling, in particular the US Postal Team and its leader Lance Armstrong. Walsh revealed in the Sunday Times in 2001 after a two-year investigation that Armstrong was working with the controversial Italian doctor Michele Ferrari. Under the headline "Champ of Cheat?" The Sunday Times asked in 2001 why a clean rider would work with a dirty doctor.() Walsh's books on Armstrong include L.A. Confidentiel (2003 with Pierre Ballester), in which Armstrong's soigneur Emma O'Reilly revealed that she has taken clandestine trips to pick up and drop off what she concluded were doping products, From Lance to Landis: Inside the American Doping Controversy at the Tour de France, and Seven Deadly Sins: My Pursuit of Lance Armstrong (2012). Until his 2013 admission, Armstrong continually denied using illegal performance-enhancing drugs and has described himself as the most tested athlete in the world. A 1999 urine sample showed traces of corticosteroid. A medical certificate showed he used an approved cream for saddle sores which contained the substance. Emma O' Reilly, Armstrong's masseuse, said she heard team officials worrying about Armstrong's positive test for steroids during the Tour. She said: "They were in a panic, saying: 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?'" According to O'Reilly the solution to the positive drug test was to get one of their compliant doctors to issue a pre-dated prescription for a steroid-based ointment to combat saddle sores. O'Reilly said she would have known if Armstrong had saddle sores, as she would have administered any treatment for it. O'Reilly said that Armstrong told her: "Now, Emma, you know enough to bring me down." O'Reilly said that on other occasions she was asked to dispose of used syringes for Armstrong and pick up strange parcels for the team. From his return to cycling in the fall of 2008 through March 2009, Armstrong submitted to 24 unannounced drug tests by various anti-doping authorities. All of the tests were negative for performance-enhancing drugs. U.S. federal prosecutors pursued allegations of doping by Armstrong from 2010–2012. The effort convened a grand jury to investigate doping charges, including taking statements under oath from Armstrong's former team members and other associates; met with officials from France, Belgium, Spain, and Italy; and requested samples from the French anti-doping agency. The investigation was led by federal agent Jeff Novitzky, who also investigated suspicions of steroid use by baseball players Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. The probe was terminated on February 3, 2012 with no charges filed.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Prosecutors close Armstrong inquiry, no charges )〕 Tyler Hamilton, a professional cyclist who rode as Lance Armstrong's principal Domestique on the U.S. Postal Cycling team from 1999 through 2001, has extensively documented the history and methods of doping by Armstrong, himself, and others in "The Secret Race", a book co-authored with Daniel Coyle and published in 2012. The book also describes the investigation by Jeff Novitzky and the Food and Drug Administration and Hamilton's befuddlement that the investigation was dropped. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Lance Armstrong doping allegations」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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