Armstrong states his case

And he's certainly entitled to defend himself. He hasn't been found to have taken performance enhancing drugs, although there was one incident for which he had a valid medical certificate (that was the case, yes?). And he's right, during his amazing, astounding and incredible 7-year streak not one of his able domestiques was caught out in a drug test.

OTOH many of these teammates - admittedly not all - have fallen foul, some quite spectacularly, since. And there is reasonable wonder at the 1999 "questions" raised, and wonder again surrounding how almost all of his competitive contemporaries have variously been shown to have been "enhanced", yet remained unable to beat The Boss. We just have to trust the man, as he is sticking to his guns.

"The last time I checked I won the tour seven straight years and was never once found to be guilty of doping despite seven years of intense scrutiny," said Armstrong in response through his spokesperson Mark Higgins. "Not to mention that my team of 25 riders over those seven years was also never found to be positive. We won clean and fair. Also, according to industry standards, TV ratings, worldwide media impressions, spectators along the route, and global sponsorships were at an all time high. Where's the embarrassment in that?"