Disgraced American cyclist Floyd Landis has admitted to systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs and accused seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong of involvement in doping, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping but had always denied cheating, sent a series of e-mails to cycling officials and sponsors acknowledging and detailing his long-term use of banned drugs, the newspaper said. The report said Landis wrote in the e-mails that he started doping in 2002, his first year racing with the US Postal Service team led by Armstrong. Landis also admitted to doping in an interview with ESPN.com late Wednesday. Landis also accused American riders Levi Leipheimer and Dave Zabriskie and Armstrong's longtime coach, Johan Bruyneel, of involvement in doping, the Journal reported. International Cycling Union (UCI) President Pat McQuaid said Landis' allegations were “scandalous and mischievous.” “These guys coming out now with things like this from the past is only damaging the sport,” McQuaid told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday. “If they've any love for the sport they wouldn't do it.” The governing body said it regretted that Landis accused former teammates without allowing US cycling and anti-doping authorities time to investigate. McQuaid said it was up to USA Cycling and the US Anti-Doping Agency to look into the allegations. The Journal said it had seen copies of three e-mails sent by Landis between April 30 and May 6, and that he had copied in seven people on the messages, including officials with USA Cycling and international governing body UCI. Landis served a two-year ban after testing positive for elevated testosterone levels at the 2006 Tour. He was the first rider stripped of a Tour de France title. “I want to clear my conscience,” Landis told ESPN.com. “I don't want to be part of the problem any more.” He also said he was speaking out now in part because the World Anti-Doping Agency's eight-year statute of limitations was close to running out. “If I don't say something now then it's pointless to ever say it,” Landis said. He told ESPN.com that his most difficult phone call was to his mother to tell her the truth for the first time. In the ESPN.com interview, Landis detailed extensive use of the blood-boosting drug EPO, testosterone, human growth hormone and blood transfusions, as well as female hormones and a one-time experiment with insulin. In one of the e-mails seen by the Wall Street Journal, dated April 30, Landis said he flew to Girona, Spain, in 2003 and had two half-liter units of blood extracted from his body in a three-week interval to be used later during the Tour de France. According to the newspaper, Landis claimed the blood extractions took place in Armstrong's apartment. He said blood bags belonging to Armstrong and then-teammate George Hincapie were kept in a refrigerator in Armstrong's closet and Landis was asked to check the temperature of the blood daily. - AP Armstrong denies accusations MIAMI – Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong Thursday dismissed an accusation by Floyd Landis that Armstrong had schooled him in doping methods. “With regards to the specific allegations, the specific claims, they're not even worth getting into it,” Armstrong said. “I'm not going to waste my time or your time.” “If you said, ‘Give me one word to sum this all up,' credibility,” Armstrong said. “Floyd lost his credibility a long time ago. “We have nothing to hide. We have nothing to run from,” he said.
