Armstrong admitted to taking EPO - paper

Lance Armstrong admitted he has taken the performance-enhancing drug EPO at the time he was treating his cancer, French daily Le Monde reported yesterday. "According to new testimonies gathered from October 2005 to January 2006 by a court in Dallas,...

Lance Armstrong admitted he has taken the performance-enhancing drug EPO at the time he was treating his cancer, French daily Le Monde reported yesterday.

"According to new testimonies gathered from October 2005 to January 2006 by a court in Dallas, Armstrong told an Indiana University Hospital doctor on October 28, 1996 he has taken performance-enhancing drugs," Le Monde said.

"The doctor questioned him on a possible use of doping products in order to prescribe his post-surgery treatment.

"In front of (former team-mate) Frankie Andreu and his wife, who have testified under oath in Dallas, Armstrong said he had taken 'EPO, testosterone, growth hormones and cortisone'," Le Monde added.

Armstrong, who retired after his record seventh consecutive victory last July, has always denied taking banned substances.

French sports daily L'Equipe reported last August that it had access to laboratory documents and that six of Armstrong's urine samples collected on the 1999 Tour showed "indisputable" traces of the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin.

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