Armstrong Seemingly Readies for New Doping Fight Earlier this spring, Lance Armstrong said he would not fight any more doping charges that cropped up against him because he was tired of it. But now that the United States Anti-Doping Agency is set to bring formal charges against him, it appears that he has changed his mind. Nathalie Magniez/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images Lance Armstrong has been barred from a triathlon in France by the race's organizer. One of Armstrong's lawyers, Robert D. Luskin, sent a letter to the antidoping agency late Wednesday, aggressively questioning its evidence that Armstrong violated antidoping rules. He said the agency had an obsession with Armstrong and had "lost any semblance of independence, neutrality or fair play." He criticized it for saying Armstrong refused to meet with antidoping officials to discuss the case, when, he said, Armstrong was actually ready to cooperate. "I can't say any of this - this ridiculous acceptance of allegations unsupported by evidence, your rush to punish first and adjudicate later, or your egregious mischaracterization of our interactions last week - surprises us," Luskin wrote. Armstrong, who retired from cycling last year and has taken up triathlons, told Men's Journal earlier this spring that he was "truly done" with battling the doping accusations that have followed him for more than a decade. "I'm not contesting anything," he said. Case closed. But on Wednesday, Armstrong, who was barred from competing in an Ironman triathlon in France on June 24 by the race organizer, did not act like a man giving up, telling The Associated Press that he was "exploring all my options." "They're not limited only to arbitration with Usada," said Armstrong, who has always said that he has never used performance-enhancing drugs. I think there are other questions that need to be answered with regard to their behavior and tactics. They are well known to move the goal line on you. Armstrong, 40, learned Tuesday that the antidoping agency planned to formally charge him with doping violations that include use and distribution of a cocktail of banned performance-enhancing drugs, including the blood booster EPO, testosterone and human growth hormone. In a letter it sent to him and five officials on his former cycling teams, the agency also accused Armstrong of participating in a doping conspiracy while with the United States Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams in the 1990s and early 2000s. As part of that supposed conspiracy, Armstrong and the others are accused of covering up the doping scheme by giving false statements under oath and trying to intimidate, discredit, silence and retaliate against witnesses. Multiple witnesses, including 10 unnamed cyclists, will testify to Armstrong's involvement, the letter said. Armstrong has until June 22 to file a written submission to an independent review board that will consider if the charges are solid enough for Armstrong and the others to be formally charged. If the case moves forward, punishment could include a lifetime ban from cycling and all other Olympic sports and the loss of his seven Tour de France titles. But Armstrong's lawyers said they want more information on the allegations so they can better address the review board. They want to know more about the agency's claim that data from Armstrong's blood tests in 2009 and 2010 show evidence of EPO use. They also want the names of the witnesses who detailed the doping practices in which Armstrong was supposedly involved. By late afternoon Thursday, the agency had not yet responded, they said. Travis Tygart, chief executive of the organization, said he would not comment on the requests because the case was still open. Luskin said he did not expect the rules to be simple, calling them "North Korean rules." "You and I don't want a parking ticket adjudicated under these rules," he said.