News

Wed 11 Feb, 10:50 pm UTC

News archive

Don Catlin and Lance Armstrong part ways

By Gary Boulanger, US editor

Lance Armstrong has been tested 16 times by anti-doping officials since announcing his comeback to professional cycling last September, but the relationship with UCLA anti-doping expert Don Catlin has officially ended, according to a story in today's New York Times.

Armstrong and Catlin presented a plan during a press conference at last year's Interbike trade show in Las Vegas, where three-time Tour de France winner and fellow American Greg LeMond asked a succession of questions to both Armstrong and Catlin.

The original plan was for Catlin to test Armstrong and publish the results online for all to see. Fellow cyclists Ivan Basso and Patrick Sinkewitz have already begun publishing their test results online.

Catlin oversees the Anti-Doping Sciences Institute, a for-profit research and analytical laboratory based near Los Angeles. He's been retained by Garmin-Slipstream and Columbia-Highroad to run their internal anti-doping efforts.

Armstrong's 16 tests were collected and processed by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and United States Anti-Doping Agency, which use laboratories accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

“In the real world, when you try to implement a program as grandiose as what you had in mind, it just becomes so complicated that it’s better not to try,” Catlin said to Times reporter Juliet Macur, adding that a contract with Armstrong had never been signed. “We’re all disappointed, but it’s just not going to be possible.”

No official statement has been offered by Armstrong. Stay tuned for more details.

User Comments

There are 10 comments on this post

Showing 1 - 10 of 10 comments

  • Ha ha ha ! What a crack up ! Love this ! This is Armstrong/Bruyneel's work... sucked in an legion of fans buying the "all for the foundation" krap. He's doing very well now Mr.A... 1 Mill for the TDU & now doesn't have to pay Catlin. Nice work.

  • When Armstrong came up with this idea of independent testing he probably didn't anticipate the number of official tests he would subjected too. With the new biological passport even Team Saxo Bank is dropping their independent program. Sure there are going to be all the haters that will say he is trying to get away with something, but I'd like to know of any other athletes in an sport that have been tested more than 16 times out of competition since September.

  • It's up to cycling's governing body to catch Lance if he is taking prohibited drugs. They should however come clean about what they can detect and what they can't. Drugs that can't be detected might as well be declared legal.

    Maybe Lance has built up his fitness on drugs over the 3 years he was temporarily retired and is now clean. Maybe Lance retired because the drug testers were catching up with him. Maybe Lance came out of retirement because he found a new supply of drugs that can't be detected...Welcome back Lance!

  • Lance does not need drugs on the banned list. Experimental oxygen transports made for cancer patients perhaps.

    Your own red blood cells are technically not a drug.

    Why wouldnt lance post his blood values heading into the Tour down Under? Or afterwards? There is a 5 week gap.

  • This is typical of the way Armstrong’s PR machine works. First make a grandiose announcement ('I will sue', ' I will be tested by Don Catlin' etc.) then once all the uncritical fan-boys and media have swallowed his BS hook, line and sinker, let the whole thing slip away without any real action being taken.

  • On the question of the gap, VeloNews said that the results posted ae from samples taken by Dr. Damsgaard & by the UCI, Lance has requested the results from the WADA and the USASA so that those can be posted as well.

    If people had said the Catlin testing was a good idea when it was announced, this would have happened. But people like Greg Lemond attacked it, and others weren't impressed. People obviously aren't impressed that he's posted the numbers, and still won't be once all of the results are online. So why pay money in this economy for something that won't quiet the critics anyway? And why waste the time of a man in his seventies when the World doesn't care about the results?

    Lance is being tested a lot. He'll continue to be tested a lot, by people who are highly motivated to find any hint of wrongdoing. The legal issues causing hesitation in the enforcement of the Biological Passport will be ironed out, and action will be taken against riders. If Lance is doing something wrong, it will come out. But I, and a lot of other people who pay attention to his training and preparation, will be able to sit back and enjoy watching him win the Giro d'Italia while others look for a reason to doubt him.

  • I get the feeling the doping bla bla is more interesting than the racing

  • Perhaps Catlin could have tested him for bullshit ?

  • The UCI DOES NOT want to catch Lance. They are a corrupt organization. Lance is money for the sport. The UCI has interest in growing the sport of cycling through Lance's popularity.

    Out of Competition blood testing us USELESS. Lance is not going to blood dope out of competition. He'll blood dope 30 minutes before the stages start. And he's using stuff thats not on the banned list that will be some day.

    Its all a PR Spin. THey are pushing the testing the wrong way on a one way street.

    I want to see some power profiles Lance, why wont you have somebody collect and post your power profiles Lance. Whats your FTP at right not Lance? 355? 360.....?

  • Maybe he isn`t doping anymore because he knows he`s not going to win anyway.

  • 1

Post comment:

You need to login or register to post comments.

Related links

Also on BikeRadar