No action by USA Cycling against Armstrong

By Mark Zalewski, North American editor

Gerard Bisceglia, CEO of USA Cycling, told Cyclingnews today that his organization will not be pursuing any action against Armstrong unless directed by the U.S. Anti-doping Agency (USADA) or the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA.) "We will perform our function as stated in the guidelines," said Bisceglia. "We are not taking a position as to guilt or innocence." Bisceglia continued saying he does not expect any further action. "I don't know how it can go forward. We don't take any action until notified by USADA, and I haven't been notified by anyone."

Earlier in the day, USAC issued a statement offering its complete support of Armstrong. “Preposterous is a strong word, but it is warranted in this case,” said Bisceglia. “Lance Armstrong is one of the most tested athletes in the history of sport and he has come up clean every single time. This kind of years-ago testing of a single sample with new technology is completely without credibility. What’s worse is that Lance cannot defend himself because there is no mechanism for final resolution.”

“We are appalled at the blatant violation of ethics associated with the release of these supposed results and will support Lance in whatever action he chooses to take in efforts to denounce these accusations,” Bisceglia added.