JOHANNESBURG, (Reuters) – Lance Armstrong’s promise to come clean about doping is “a little late”, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said yesterday, accusing the disgraced cyclist of trying to use events to “gain advantage”.
Travis Tygart said Armstrong had been pushed into saying he would co-operate with a new inquiry into doping in cycling because of legal proceedings in the U.S.
“He is going for a deposition in the United States in November where he is going to go under oath in a lawsuit and have to answer questions and I think that he is now being forced essentially through that process (to come clean) and that he is trying to gain an advantage,” Tygart told Reuters.
“It’s a little late but we are still hopeful he will come and answer everything we have to ask him under oath but until he decides to do that, it is entirely premature to determine or speculate on any sort of reduction (of his life ban).”
Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping, told the BBC this week that he would testify with “100 percent transparency and honesty” if asked to appear at an inquiry.
