Armstrong's anti-doping testing program pending

Lance Armstrong's personal anti-doping controls with expert Don Catlin have not yet started. The American and seven-time Tour de France champion expects to have the programme in place with the results online by the time he starts the Tour Down Under in January.

"It's a tough thing to organize, but we will make it happen. All the stuff we said we were going to do will happen," Armstrong said in an interview with the Associated Press this weekend.

When he announced in September that he would ride for Team Astana in the coming season, Armstrong said that Doctor Don Catlin would run a personal programme for him. Catlin founded the University of California, Los Angeles, anti-doping laboratory and is now CEO of Anti-Doping Research Inc. The cyclist explained that he would be available "whenever and wherever" for testing purposes and that Catlin would post all results the internet.

Catlin acknowledged that he has not yet tested Armstrong and that there is not yet any signed agreement to place the results online. "We're interested in getting it going," Catlin said. "We have been chatting and are in negotiations."

According to Armstrong, he only received the testing proposal two weeks ago, and it has been difficult to find the time to organise all the planning and testing. "We're working as quickly as we can to get everyone coordinated, but it's not that simple," Catlin said.

"The programme we want to do is going to be intensive. And he's a moving target. He's very busy. Keeping up with him, testing him, takes a lot of planning and it hasn't all come together yet."

Armstrong is currently attending his first training camp with Team Astana on the Spanish island of Tenerife. (SW)

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