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UCI concern over Lance timings

Image: Lance Armstrong: Stripped of Tour de France titles as world awaits USADA findings

The UCI are concerned over the time taken by the US Anti-Doping Agency to release their written judgment on Lance Armstrong.

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Awaiting USADA judgement

Cycling's world governing body the UCI have expressed their concern over the time taken by the US Anti-Doping Agency to release their written judgment on Lance Armstrong, who has already been banned for life and stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. USADA issued the sanctions against Armstrong on August 24 after the American elected not to contest doping charges brought against him, but the agency confirmed on Wednesday it was "in the process of finalising" the written reasoned decision in the case and that the report would be submitted to the UCI no later than October 15. UCI president Pat McQuaid said in a statement on Thursday: "The UCI had no reason to assume that a full case file did not exist but USADA's continued failure to produce the decision is now a cause for concern. "It is over a month since USADA sanctioned Lance Armstrong. We thought that USADA were better prepared before initiating these proceedings."

Lengthy process

The UCI statement continued: "It seems that it would have been more useful for USADA to have used the time of the Tour de France, the Olympic Games and the Road World Championships to prepare their case in full rather than to make announcements. "It is at the very least unusual that USADA would still be gathering evidence against a person after it has found that person guilty. "The UCI assumes that the reasons for any difficulty in putting the evidence together will be explained in USADA's decision. "The UCI has requested USADA to provide its decision and case file and has learnt of the reported delays through the media and not by any official communication from USADA. The sooner UCI receives the decision and case file the sooner UCI can provide its response." USADA chief executive Travis Tygart later released the following statement which read: "It is not surprising that UCI would send a press release out attempting to undermine and question the substance of our case. "It is also troubling that they would claim to have had no contact with us which is inaccurate. "As they know we will be providing them the 'reasoned decision' no later than October 15 through the process and at that time the questions contained in their publicly released statement today will be answered."
Sanctions
USADA confirmed its sanctions against Armstrong last month after the 41-year-old Texan rider said he would no longer fight its action against him. Armstrong said last month: "If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA's process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and - once and for all - put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. "But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. "Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. "The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colours. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?"

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