Lance Armstrong doping case findings revealed: live One thing that hits you straight between the eyes from the reasoned document and the testimony being revealed is the extensive co-operation now - and drug use in the past - of a number of Garmin-Sharp riders, not least their founder and guiding light Jonathan Vaughters. Vaughters set the team up five years ago with the expressed purpose of winning races riding clean and giving riders a second chance as long as they admitted to him and themselves as to their tainted past. Vaughters was the man who inspired Great Britain's David Millar, who was banned for two years between 2004 and 2006 for EPO use, to join him in the crusade. In the USADA document Tom Danielson, team leader Christian Vande Velde and David Zabriskie all give their evidence along with Vaughters and the ridres have just been speaking tonight: "I never set out thinking I would cross a line," said Danielson. I set out simply wanting to compete, to race my bike and do what I love. And that is exactly what I did, clean. Then, after years of doing things the right way, I was presented with a choice that to me, did not feel like a choice at all. In the environment that I was in, it felt like something I had to do in order to continue following my dream. I crossed the line and that is something I will always be sorry for. I accept responsibility for my choices and apologize to everyone in my life for them - in and out of the sport. When I heard about the team Jonathan Vaughters was creating, I knew that histeam was exactly what cycling needed - it was exactly what I needed and Iwanted to be a part of it. Even though I made the choice to compete clean before Slipstream's inception, I've seen both worlds, and I believe that today, cycling is in a good place, and that organizations like Slipstream have helped change the sport. I believe, too, that it's time to confront cycling's past, so that we can continue to build its future. That's what I've done, and I promise it's what I'll continue to do. Vande Velde says: "Today, I am proud of the steps that I and cycling have have made to improve the future of the sport that I love so much. I am proud to be a part of an organization that implemented a no-needle policy. I am proud that I published my blood values for all of the world to see after almost reaching the podium at the 2008 Tour de France; showing first and foremost myself that it was possible to and then, confirming it for the rest of the world. I continue to be proud of the strides the sport has taken to clean itself up, and the actions our organization has taken to help shape the sport that I love. We're in a good place now, young riders of the new generation have not had to face the choices that I did, and this needs to continue. By looking at the mistakes of cycling's history, we have an opportunity to continue to shape its future. I'm very sorry for the mistakes I made in my past and I know that forgiveness is a lot to ask for. I know that I have to earn it and I will try, every day, to deserve it - as I have, every day, since making the choice to compete clean. I will never give up on this sport, and I will never stop fighting for its future. Zabriske added that the pressure he felt as a young rider to risk everything and take performance enhancing drugs: " I questioned, I resisted, but in the end, I felt cornered and succumbed to the pressure. After one week I stopped. I subsequently succumbed in less than a handful of confined instances never making it a systematic part of my training practices or race routines. But it happened and I couldn't be sorrier. It was a violation - a violation not only of the code I was subject to, but my personal and moral compass that I had set out to follow. I accept full responsibility and was happy to come forward and tell USADA my whole story; I want to do my share to help bring this entire issue to the fore and ensure a safe, healthy, and clean future for cycling. 19.40: Christophe Bassons, one of the most outspoken anti-doping riders in an era that was riddled with EPO, wrote in a column French newspaper Le Parisien that he was "shocked" by a ride done by Armstrong during a particularly tough climb on Sestriéres during his first Tour win. The USADA report recalls the following day: Armstrong rode up to Christophe Bassons, and berated him, calling him a disgrace and telling him he should get out of cycling. Armstrong's verbal attack on Bassons in the 1999 Tour echoed Armstrong's anger after a Bassons stage win earlier in the year at the Dauphiné Libéré. Jonathan Vaughters recalled, "Lance did not like Basson's outspokenness about doping, and Lance frequently made fun of him in a very merciless and venomous fashion, much like a playground bully." In addition to reacting to Bassons" comments about Armstrong's dominant performance on the Sestriéres stage win, in attacking Bassons Armstrong acted in accordance with a consistent pattern he has demonstrated of attacking those who speak out against doping in cycling. 19.25 Some dynamite stuff here from the report that corroborates Landis and Hamilton who have both previously said that Armstrong, who has previously said he never failed a doping control, failed a test at the Tour of Switzerland. In Hamilton's recent autobiography, the snappily titled: The Secret Race: Inside the Hidden World of the Tour de France: Doping, Cover-ups, and Winning at All Costs, the former US Postal rider said that Armstrong organised a cover up of his positive test. A claim that appears to be backed up in today's report: The 2001 Tour du Suisse (Tour of Switzerland) was conducted from June 19-28, 2001 and was won by Lance Armstrong. Armstrong told both Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis that he had tested positive for EPO at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland and stated or implied that he had been able to make the EPO test result go away. Armstrong's conversation with Hamilton was in 2001, and he told Hamilton "his people had been in touch with UCI, they were going to have a meeting and everything was going to be ok." Armstrong's conversation with Landis was in 2002, and Landis recalled Armstrong saying that, "he and Mr. Bruyneel flew to the UCI headquarters and made a financial agreement to keep the positive test hidden." Consistent with the testimony of both Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Landis, Pat McQuaid, the current president of UCI, has acknowledged that during 2002, Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel visited the UCI headquarters in Aigle in May 2002 and offered at least $100,000 to help the development of cycling. UCI vehemently denies that this meeting or payment was, as Mr. Armstrong told Mr.Hamilton and Mr. Landis, tied to a cover-up of the 2001 Tour de Suisse sample. In any case, what is important for the case is that substantial parts of Mr. Hamilton's and Mr. Landis's recollections of Mr. Armstrong's statements have been corroborated. As discussed in more detail below, Dr. Martial Saugy, the Director of the WADA-accredited anti-doping laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland has confirmed to both USADA and the media that his laboratory detected a number of samples in the 2001 Tour de Suisse that were suspicious for the presence of EPO. Dr. Saugy also told USADA that he was advised by UCI that at least one of these samples belonged to Mr. Armstrong. Therefore, even without any consideration of the laboratory test results for these samples, as set forth above,Tyler Hamilton's and Floyd Landis's testimony regarding Mr. Armstrong's admission that he used EPO at the 2001 Tour of Switzerland finds substantial corroboration in the statements of both Dr. Martial Saugy and UCI President Pat McQuaid. 19.10 A cursory glance at the table of contents to the report would suggest EPO, cortisone and masking agents were used by Armstrong and his team-mates at the 1998 Vuelta a España and Road World Championships . . . By 1998 Armstrong had been working with Dr. Michele Ferrari for approximately four years. By this time his former Motorola team-mates George Hincapie and Frankie Andreu were aware of Armstrong's EPO use. Jonathan Vaughters also believed Armstrong was likely using EPO - there were some tell tale signs, such as Lance carrying around a thermos. However, prior to the 1998 Vuelta a España Vaughters could not be absolutely sure of Armstrong's EPO use. During this time frame several riders, in addition to Vaughters, saw Armstrong carrying a thermos and associated it with him using EPO. Late in the season Armstrong, Vaughters and Vande Velde all competed in the Vuelta a España. During the Vuelta Armstrong and Vaughters each confirmed that the other was using EPO. Armstrong made himself aware of the hematocrit readings of the other riders on the team and kidded Vaughters about how high Vaughters" hematocrit was. One evening while Vaugthers was in Armstrong's room borrowing Armstrong's laptop Armstrong injected himself in front of Vaughters with a syringe used for EPO injections, saying "now that you are doing EPO too, you can't go write a book about it." From that point forward Armstrong was open with Vaughters about Armstrong's use of EPO. Armstrong finished fourth at the Vuelta, a result which he described at the time as "pretty surprising." "It was the greatest and most amazing performance of my career," Armstrong said. During the Vuelta, and subsequently at the World Championships that year, there were two events demonstrating Armstrong's reliance on cortisone as a doping substance. In the Vuelta towards the end of a tough day of riding Armstrong asked Vaughters and Vande Velde to return to the team car and retrieve a cortisone pill for him. The teammates obliged, however, Jonny Weltz told Vaughters he did not have any cortisone in the car. Thinking quickly, Weltz came up with a placebo, whittling down an aspirin pill and wrapping it in tin foil to give to Armstrong. Later, at the World Championships at Valkenberg in the Netherlands the U.S. riders arrived at their tent near the start of the race to find that Armstrong had asked his wife Kristin to wrap cortisone tablets in tin foil for him and his teammates. Kristin obliged Armstrong's request by wrapping the pills and handing them to the riders. One of the riders remarked, "Lance's wife is rolling joints." Armstrong, Vande Velde, Vaughters and Celaya stayed at a bed and breakfast for the 1998 World Championships. Their bedrooms opened into a common area.58 One morning a UCI drug tester appeared and started setting up in the common area. This prompted Dr. Celaya to go outside to the car and retrieve a liter of saline which he put under his rain coat and smuggled right past the UCI tester and into Armstrong's bedroom. Celaya closed the bedroom door and administered the saline to Armstrong to lower his hematocrit, without alerting the UCI tester to their activities. Vaughters recalled that he and Dr. Celaya later "had a good laugh about how he had been able to smuggle in saline and administer it to Lance essentially under the UCI inspector's nose." 19.00 Various sources on Twitter have published a link to USADA's 'Reasoned Decision' on the on the case. Interestingly, other than the riders listed below, Emma O'Reilly - the team soigneur so viciously discredited by Armstrong, was used as a witness. Here's a link to the document. 18.30 Earlier on Wednesday the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced that they will release a 1,000 page dossier showing their findings into Lance Armstrong and his US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team following a two-year investigation. Their investigation followed repeated claims that Armstrong, who won the Tour de France a record seven times, had used performance enhancing drugs during his domination of the world's toughest bike race. A statement from the agency, who stripped Armstrong of his titles in August, claimed that they discovered the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen" while taking sworn testimonies from 26 witnesses including 11 of Armstrong's former US Postal team-mates. Despite having stripped Armstrong of his titles, the American still officially remains the most successful Tour rider in its history. For now. The final decision over Armstrong remains in the hands of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) who, today, took delivery of the explosive document. Armstrong, despite mounting pressure over the years, has persistently denied using performance enhancing drugs and has always claimed that he never failed a doping test. Former team-mates Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton have previously stated in print that the cancer survivor openly used the blood booster erythropoietin (EPO) in preparation for races and also had blood transfusions during the Tour. Both illegal processes are used to increase a riders' hematocrit levels - the number of red blood cells in their blood - which greatly assists in efforts of endurance. Both Landis and Hamilton, though, were easily discredited by Armstrong after the pair had themselves failed doping tests. However, the USADA have now named 11 of Armstrong's former team-mates who testified against him and includes George Hincapie, a rider he once described as a "brother." Frankie Andreu, Michael Barry, Tom Danielson, Tyler Hamilton, Floyd Landis, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie are the other 10 riders named in the report. Hincapie, who retired after the 2012 Tour, has today admitted to doping during his time at US Postal. In a statement released through his lawyer, Hincapie said: I deeply regret that choice and sincerely apologise to my family, team-mates and fans. Six of Armstrong's former team-mates have subsequently been banned by the US agency: Levi Leipheimer, Christian Vande Velde, David Zabriskie, Tom Danielson and Michael Barry and Hincapie who are both retired. Barry, who retired after two years at Team Sky, released a statement saying: After being encouraged by the team, pressured to perform and pushed to my physical limits I crossed a line I promised myself and others I would not: I doped. It was a decision I deeply regret. It caused me sleepless nights, took the fun out of cycling and racing, and tainted the success I achieved at the time. This was not how I wanted to live or race. After the summer of 2006, I never doped again and became a proponent of clean cycling through my writing and interviews. From 2006 until the end of my career in 2012, I chose to race for teams that took a strong stance against doping. Although I never confessed to my past, I wrote and spoke about the need for change. Cycling is now a cleaner sport, many teams have adopted anti-doping policies and most importantly I know a clean rider can now win at the highest level. I apologise to those I deceived. I will accept my suspension and any other consequences. I will work hard to regain people's trust. The lessons I learned through my experiences have been valuable. My goal now is to help turn the sport into a place where riders are not tempted to dope, have coaches who they can trust, race on teams that nurture talent and have doctors who are concerned for their health. From direct experience, I know there are already teams doing this but it needs to be universal throughout cycling. Progressive change is occurring. My hope is that this case will further that evolution. Thoughout the evening we will be following the reaction of the cycling world in what is the biggest doping scandal to have ever hit the sport. Yes, even bigger than the 1998 Festina Affair!