More riders tested positive
2005-09-11 15:08
Paris - Three other riders on the 1999 Tour de France apart from Lance Armstrong tested positive for the illegal blood booster EPO (erythropoeitin), the Journal du Dimanche newspaper said on Sunday.
The paper said that six urine samples taken in 1999 from Spain's Manuel Beltran, Colombian Jose Joachim Castelblanco and Bo Hamburger of Denmark and tested recently all showed traces of EPO.
France's L'Equipe newspaper last month carried a front page story headlined "Armstrong's Lie" suggesting the Texan seven-time Tour winner had used EPO during his first Tour win in 1999.
The sports daily based its accusation on tests carried out by a French laboratory on frozen urine samples taken during the race six years ago.
Armstrong this week had his denials of taking EPO strongly bolstered when the International Cycling Union (UCI) said no action would be taken against him over the claims by L'Equipe.
Cycling's world governing body found nothing that could be used as proof of wrongdoing by Armstrong and no reason to condemn him, wondering instead who leaked Armstrong's identity and motivations for testing his sample.
- AFP