Report: Lance Armstrong Kept Ties To Italian Doctor
NEW YORK (AP) -- A story in Sports Illustrated challenges Lance Armstrong's statements that he cut ties to a controverisal Italian doctor and training adviser who has long been accused of helping
cyclists cheat.
In a report posted Tuesday on its website, the magazine previewed a longer investigative piece that will appear in this week's issue.
Without naming its source, SI says that when Italian authorities raided the home of Armstrong teammate Yaroslav Popovych last November in Italy, they found texts and e-mails linking the Radio Shack team with Dr. Michele Ferrari as recently as 2009.
Armstrong severed his longtime connection with Ferrari in 2004, amid accusations the doctor aided another rider in using performance-enhancing drugs. Ferrari was convicted and then later cleared of criminal charges on appeal.
Armstrong spokesman Mark Fabiani calls the report "old news from the same old, discredited sources."
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