Armstrong says urine retest would be meaningless

CYCLING NEWS ROUND-UP:THE SEVEN-TIME Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has dismissed as irrelevant an offer by an anti-doping authority to test his urine samples from the 1999 race.

France's national anti-doping agency (AFLD) yesterday offered Armstrong an analysis of his samples from the 1999 Tour "to prove his good faith", the French sports newspaper L'Équipereported.

But Armstrong, who is coming out of retirement to race with Team Astana next year, argues any such test would be pointless.

"In 2005, some research was conducted on urine samples left over from the 1998 and 1999 Tours de France," the 37-year-old American said.

"That research was the subject of an independent investigation and the conclusions of the investigation were that the 1998 and 1999 Tour de France samples have not been maintained properly, have been compromised in many ways and even three years ago could not be tested to provide any meaningful results. There is simply nothing that I can agree to that would provide any relevant evidence about 1999."

Pierre Bordry, president of AFLD, had raised the possibility of asking the American to undergo a new analysis of the samples taken from the 1999 Tour.

The 2005 report, conducted by a Dutch lawyer, Emile Vrijman, failed to satisfy everybody - World Anti-Doping president Dick Pound being a notable detractor - and Bordry has rejected Armstrong's claim that tests on the samples could not be trusted.

"Scientifically there is no problem to analyse these samples," he said. "They have been kept in good condition and we have enough quantity to do (the tests). Everything is correct."

Meanwhile, Waterford professional Ciarán Power has decided to retire from racing, citing disillusionment with Cycling Ireland as a major part of his decision.

The 32-year-old had been aiming for Olympic and world championship selection this year but was passed over for both.

He also cited carding issues and lack of communication from the governing body as big factors.

"The driving influence of my decision is due in part to the ridiculous decisions, selections and lack of communication by Cycling Ireland staff over the current season," he told The Irish Times.

"For example, there were no criteria available for Olympic selection until May despite requests on numerous occasions. My carding grant had been denied and there was no reasonable recourse for appeal."

Power stated he believed a "closed-shop" system was in place, with funding and selection going to favoured riders.

Responding, Cycling Ireland (CI) president Miceal Concannon dismissed the criticism, saying the governing body followed strict Sports Council guidelines in relation to carding.

He also said the CI board had no input into the selection of riders.

"The board has no influence whatsoever with regard to who goes on teams," he said.

"Selection decisions are completely independent; we have paid staff who are responsible for that."

Power's dissatisfaction follows recent criticism by another top international, David McCann, in relation to non-selection for last week's World Championships.

McCann said that he was in better form than when he placed 15th in the time trial in 2004, but that CI did not consider him for this year's worlds.

Power has been one of Ireland's top professionals in recent years, performing especially well in bunch sprints.

He highlighted his class in 2000 when he finished fifth and sixth on stages of the Giro d'Italia, his first Grand Tour, then went on to place an excellent 13th in the 2004 Olympic Games.