CYCLING: ARMSTRONG REPORTThe fallout from the damning judgment continued to spread, amid suggestions civil action could be taken against the American, writes OWEN GIBSON

LANCE ARMSTRONG, the seven-time Tour de France winner whose reputation was shredded by a US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) report labelling him a bully and a “serial drug cheat”, was last night under increasing pressure to respond to damning charges that included claims he committed perjury and intimidated witnesses.

World cycling’s governing body, which is also under pressure to justify its role in the scandal, said it wanted to take time to study the 1,000-plus pages of the Usada judgment that concluded Armstrong was at the heart of the “most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.

The UCI has 21 days to decide whether to comply with Usada’s attempt to strip Armstrong of his titles or attempt to fight its jurisdiction over the case. The rider has denied cheating, but he did not fight the Usada charges when they were made public in August.

Armstrong could face charges of perjury after the report highlighted a 2005 court case in which he repeatedly denied doping or having any professional relationship with Michele Ferrari, the Italian doctor accused of overseeing the US Postal team doping ring, after 2004. “As demonstrated by the testimony of numerous witnesses in this case, each of the above statements made under oath and subject to the penalties of perjury were materially false and misleading when made,” said the Usada report.

The assertions were made after Armstrong went to arbitration to recover a €3.9 million bonus from a company called SCA Promotions, which was reluctant to pay out in the wake of his sixth Tour de France win amid increasing rumours of drug use.

Meanwhile, the ripple effects of the damning judgment continued to spread, amid suggestions that civil action could be taken against Armstrong in the US to recover sponsorship and prize money and new criminal cases were mooted against some of those implicated: – Michele Ferrari, the Italian known by the nickname “Schumi” to whom Armstrong, according to the report, paid more than $1m (€625,000) over a decade to mastermind US Postal’s training and doping programme, could face criminal charges in Italy.

– The International Olympic Commission is investigating the possibility of stripping Armstrong of his 2000 bronze medal from Sydney

– Nike, the US sportswear giant that backs Armstrong’s Livestrong brand through a sponsorship deal and a line of almost 100 branded goods, vowed to stand by him.

– Leading British cyclists condemned Armstrong, with Chris Hoy saying the revelations were “so depressing”, but others were more equivocal.

Usada announced in August it was stripping Armstrong of all his career titles including his Tour de France victories due to his central involvement in a large scale doping ring. “It was not enough that his team-mates give maximum effort on the bike, he also required that they adhere to the doping program outlined for them or be replaced,” said Usada in its reasoned decision published on Wednesday.

“He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team, he enforced and re-enforced it. Armstrong’s use of drugs was extensive, and the doping program on his team, designed in large part to benefit Armstrong, was massive and pervasive.”

Ferrari, who is alleged to be Armstrong’s doping guru, was banned for life by the UCI in July, but responded then by issuing a statement protesting his innocence. Doping is a crime in Italy, and Ferrari was cleared on appeal in 2006 of criminal charges of distributing banned products. But he could face new criminal changes as an long-running investigation by Padua prosecutor Benedetto Roberti draws to a close.

In the US, government lawyers were also poring over the documents amid speculation about whether a criminal case will be reopened against Armstrong.

Armstrong last night tweeted: “Hanging @LIVESTRONGHQ w/ the team talking about next week’s events and plans for 2013. Can’t wait to see so many friends and supporters.”

Guardian Service

The case aginst Armstrong from his former team mates

CHRISTIAN VANDE VELDE

Joined the US Postal Service team in 1998 and began receiving injections of the banned substance EPO from Dr Michele Ferrari in the winter of 2000/2001.

In 2002 he says he felt increasingly uneasy about doping and wanted to stop.

“Armstrong told me that if I wanted to continue to ride for the Postal Service team, I would have to use what Dr Ferrari had been telling me to use . . . the conversation left me with no question that I was in the doghouse and the only way forward with Armstrong’s team was to get fully on Dr Ferrari’s doping program.”

DAVID ZABRISKIE

Was with the US Postal Service team from 2001 to ’04 and saw cycling as a way to have a cleaner lifestyle than his father, who died from recreational drug usage. The time trial specialist was in his third year on the team when he said pressure was put on him to take banned substances. He said manager Johan Bruyneel and Dr Luis Garcia del Moral told Zabriskie and team-mate Michael Barry they should take EPO. Zabriskie asked if using EPO would prevent him from having children or make his ears grow. He testified Bruyneel reassured him there would be no problems, and later that day was injected with the hormone.

TOM DANIELSON

Was the last to join the team structure, which by 2005 had changed its title sponsor to the Discovery Channel. It was Armstrong’s last year in the peloton and was the first season Danielson said he doped. Having received EPO from the Pepe Marti in January 2005, he said the team management had an active role in monitoring his usage. “Johan Bruyneel stayed on top of my haematocrit level and seemed to be communicating with Pepe and Dr Ferrari . . . Johan would ask me to go to the blood lab in Girona to get blood work done before nearly every race so he could keep track of my blood parameters.”

GEORGE HINCAPIE

He was the only rider to be on the US Postal Service team during all seven of Armstrong’s winning Tour de France campaigns. He was also a close personal friend of his, and so his testimony held the most weight for many people.

Hincapie said that Armstrong was upset in early 1995 that the team could not compete due to doping in the peloton. “This is bullshit, people are using stuff . . . we are getting killed,” he said. Armstrong said something needed to be done; Hincapie was clear what that meant. “I understood he meant the team needed to get on EPO,” he said.

FLOYD LANDIS

Best known for winning the 2006 Tour and then testing positive. He testified his introduction to doping also came on the US Postal Service team, which he joined at the start of 2002. Six months later, manager Johan Bruyneel told him to travel to Switzerland and that he would receive testosterone patches from Armstrong there. He would have half a litre of blood extracted by Dr Ferrari, which would be reinfused during the Tour de France. “I went to Armstrong’s apartment, where Mr Armstrong gave me a package of 2.5 ml testosterone patches in front of his wife at the time, Kristen Armstrong,” said Landis.

TYLER HAMILTON

Hamilton was, after Floyd Landis, the second major former team-mate to come forward in recent years. His testimony stated he began doping in February 1997 while with the US Postal Service team, one season before Armstrong signed up. He said Dr Pedro Celaya gave him testosterone then, and three months later gave him EPO. Two years later, Armstrong helped him out in that regard. “In May of 1999 I was in Nice at Lance and Kristin’s Villa. I asked Lance if he had any EPO I could borrow . . . Lance directed me to the refrigerator where the EPO was next to the milk. I helped myself to a vial.”

- Compiled by SHANE STOKES