LOS ANGELES — US Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart said Wednesday that Lance Armstrong wants to help clean up cycling, and the agency has extended its deadline for the confessed cheat to cooperate to do so. Armstrong had initially been set a Feb. 6 deadline by USADA to answer questions under oath. “We have been in communication with Mr. Armstrong and his representatives and we understand that he does want to be part of the solution and assist in the effort to clean up the sport of cycling,” Tygart said in a statement. “We have agreed to his request for an additional two weeks to work on details to hopefully allow for this to happen.” After Armstrong admitted last month in a televised interview to using banned drugs during all of his record seven Tour de France triumphs, Tygart had given the 41-year-old Texan until Wednesday to “cooperate fully” with anti-doping authorities if he really wanted a chance to reduce his lifetime ban. Armstrong had said he wouldn't be able to meet the deadline. He did voice a willingness to take part in any “truth and reconciliation” commission that might be put together by the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). However, Armstrong attorney Tim Herman had told USA Today this week that Armstrong didn't believe USADA was the best-placed agency to lead the battle against doping in cycling because of the sport's long European history. Even though he had welcomed Armstrong's confession, which came after years of steadfast denials, Tygart had insisted that if Armstrong really wanted to correct his past mistakes he had to testify under oath about the full extent of his doping activities. Tygart has also taken issue with some of Armstrong's statements to interviewer Oprah Winfrey, saying Armstrong lied when he insisted that he didn't use performance-enhancing drugs when he came out of retirement to race in 2009 and 2010. US federal agents are, meanwhile, investigating Armstrong for crimes including obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation, ABC News reported Wednesday. Citing an anonymous source, ABC News said the current probe is focused on different charges from those previously investigated in a federal probe that was dropped last year. US Attorney Andre Birotte, who led the prior investigation, said he had no plans to press charges despite Armstrong's recent doping admissions, but he did not definitively rule out such action. Birotte's investigation was centered on doping, fraud, conspiracy and Armstrong's denials of such crimes when he was the lead rider in the extremely successful government-funded US Postal Service Team. The ABC News source, quoted on condition of anonymity, said: “Birotte does not speak for the federal government as a whole. Agents are actively investigating Armstrong for obstruction, witness tampering and intimidation.” It's not, however, being done by FDA agents, who were prime among those who gathered evidence in the prior case against Armstrong. — Agencies
