US officials ask French to co-operate in Lance Armstrong investigation
The US government has asked French judicial authorities to co-operate in an investigation into claims by Floyd Landis that the seven-times Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, used banned substances, a source close has revealed.
"A few days ago, the US federal government officially asked the French judicial authorities to co-operate in the investigation," said the source.
He added that a meeting between Jeff Novitzky, the Food and Drugs Administration special investigator, Doug Miller, the US federal prosecutor, Travis Tygart, the US Anti-Doping Agency chief executive officer and French anti-doping officials took place in France. The American trio also met members of Interpol in Lyon.
Armstrong, who has always denied taking performance enhancing drugs and has never tested positive, quit top-level competitive cycling in Europe after this year's Tour de France.
Landis, the disgraced 2006 Tour winner and a former team‑mate of Armstrong, said in May that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.
Landis was handed a two-year suspension and stripped of the Tour title after he tested positive for high levels of testosterone during the race.