Tyler Hamilton joined Floyd Landis on the list of cyclists who once worked for Lance Armstrong, but now say the winner of the France Tour seven times used products improving performance.
In an interview with "60 Minutes", Hamilton admitted that he doped and said Armstrong did, as well - using the EPO blood booster in the turn of 1999 and before the race in 2000 and 2001. String of seven consecutive wins Armstrong lasted from 1999 to 2005.
"I saw (EPO) in his refrigerator." ... I have seen him inject more than once, as we did. "Like me, many, many times," Hamilton said in the interview of "60 Minutes" which was broadcast Thursday on the "CBS Evening News".
He said Armstrong "has taken that we all have... the majority of the platoon," referring to the riders in the race. "There was EPO... testosterone... a blood transfusion.".
Armstrong immediately refuted the Hamilton interview, launching a website which dismissed the claims. He also has tweeted: "+ 20 years of career." 500 controls of drugs in the world of competition. Never a test failed. I rest my case. ?
But Hamilton interview keeps news of Armstrong and its program of doping in the titles.
Last week, the Associated Press reported that a federal investigation into whether Armstrong and his former US Postal team ran a systematic doping program is growing in its second year, and that the Federal Government recently asked French authorities for evidence before an application which mentions Armstrong by name.
As he did in his accusations, Landis, Armstrong camp was quick to undermine the credibility of the accuser.
"Hamilton is actively seeking to make money writing a book, and now he has completely changed the story always told him before so that it can be done on a ' 60 Minutes and increase its chances with the publishers," Attorney Armstrong said Mark Fabiani. "But the lure of gain and a thirst for publicity may not change the facts: Lance Armstrong is the most tested in the history of the sport: he spent almost 500 tests more than twenty years of competition.".
A report by ESPN said that Hamilton had sent a letter to your friends apologizing for lying about his past drug use. He said he testified before the jury of the great Los Angeles investigating Armstrong of six hours.
It is up to the members of the grand jury to decide if they believe the Hamilton firmly refusing doping for years - sometimes concocted an apology for his positive tests - or one who testified under oath about the Armstrong case.
Landis, meanwhile, is a witness unlikely in this case, even if it were his revelations a year more early this week that poured fuel on the investigation.
He was stripped of his 2006 Tour of France title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone, refused to take medication improving performance for years, and then finally admitted he doped for much of his career - a mea culpa which also involved Armstrong.
Asked to comment on the interview of Hamilton, Landis said in an e-mail sent to the AP: "the only comment I have is that I wish the best for Tyler."
Hamilton, 40, cycling gold medal in the games in Athens 2004, but failed a test later. He was allowed to keep his medal, however, because a laboratory problems meant that his "B" backup sample could not be tested.
Months later, he was caught blood doping and a two-year ban ended in 2007.
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