Denies he was an owner of team while sponsored by U.S. Postal
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Lance Armstrong (RadioShack) speaks to the press after the stage to Morzine-Avoriaz(Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Teammates try to take care of Lance Armstrong (RadioShack)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Lance Armstrong (RadioShack) rides to the sign-in stage.(Image credit: Elmar Krings)
Lance Armstrong has said that he will be glad to co-operate with investigators looking into Floyd Landis' claims of doping on the U.S. Postal Service team in the early 2000s.
"As long as we have a legitimate and credible and fair investigation I will be happy to co-operate but I'm not going to participate in any kind of witch hunt," he said, according to the New York Times.
He added that he had never been an owner of the team in any way during the U.S. Postal years. "It was not my company, I didn't have a position, I didn't have an equity stake, I didn't have a profit stake, I didn't have a seat on the board. I was a rider on the team. I can't be any clearer than that," Armstrong said.
The investigation is said to be concentrating on the team's finances during the period in which it was sponsored by U.S. Postal Services and owned by Tailwind Sports.
"When the Postal Services were sponsors of the team I was a rider on the team," Armstrong said before Wednesday's Tour de France stage.
"I was a rider on the team that was contracted to Tailwind Sports. I never had any dealing, any dealings with the Postal Services. Zero."
"There is a lot of information out there and being somebody that knows the situation probably better than anybody else, it's not very accurate," the added. "I think the most glaring thing is this misperception that I was the owner of the team. That's completely untrue."
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In November, 2005, when called to testify as part of an arbitration into his dispute with SCA promotions over a bonus payment for his Tour victories, Armstrong stated under oath that he thought he had a small ownership stake in Tailwind Sports, but he was not sure of the date he acquired it.
The New York Times also reported on Wednesday that grand jury subpoenas have been issued as part of a federal government investigation into Landis' doping claims.
