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Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has avoided criminal charges after he was cleared following a 20-month federal investigation. But the doping question marks remain.
The investigation focused on alleged doping by Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service when it was receiving sponsorship from a government department, the postal service, during his Tour de France reign from 1999 to 2005.
Last week U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte Jr. said in a press release that he’s “closing an investigation into allegations of federal criminal conduct by members and associates of a professional bicycle racing team owned in part by Lance Armstrong.”
Exact reasons were not given for the case being closed.
However, the decision doesn’t totally absolve Armstrong. Key to this decision is the fact that the investigation focused on fraud charges, rather than solely on whether Armstrong had doped, which isn’t a federal crime.
As Selena Roberts, co-author of the Sports Illustrated expose on Armstrong told Cyclingnews, “It was always going to be a very difficult road for the feds for several reasons. This wasn’t going to be just a doping case, this was going to be about fraud against the United States government. So it’s not about whether he did or didn’t [dope], it’s did he commit fraud against the government? That’s a high threshold.”
By avoiding questioning from a grand jury, Armstrong won’t suffer a similar fate to the likes of Marion Jones and Barry Bonds, who lied to investigators and were found guilty, should he eventually be found to have doped.
But whether he did or didn’t remains in doubt, particularly given the lack of detail from the federal investigation.
Allegations of systematic doping by Floyd Landis, Tyler Hamilton amongst others remain. Although Armstrong has never failed a drug test, the doping clouds that hang over professional cycling, particularly in the late nineties era, have clouded his career.
Now the baton falls to U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, who has declared its intention to continue investigating the case.
USADA’s investigation will naturally take a different approach to the federal investigation, as it focuses strictly on doping allegations without having to prove fraud.
USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said: “Unlike the U.S. Attorney, USADA’s job is to protect clean sport rather than enforce specific criminal laws. Our investigation into doping in the sport of cycling is continuing and we look forward to obtaining the information developed during the federal investigation.”
Is the greatest sporting story of our generation founded on cheating?
We still don’t know. Armstrong’s legacy remains in limbo.