Armstrong says smear campaign means he'll stay retired
(AP)
Updated: 2005-09-16 11:27

CHICAGO (AP) _ The nasty tug of war between the bosses of the International Cycling Union and World Anti-Doping Agency over who leaked documents to a French newspaper accusing Lance Armstrong of doping claimed its first casualty on Thursday: Any chance of a comeback by the seven-time Tour de France champion.

Armstrong, who said just days ago that this latest fight to clear his name had stoked his competitive desires, made clear on Thursday he wasn't interested in returning to the sport he dominated.

"Sitting here today, dealing with all this stuff again, knowing if I were to go back, there's no way I could get a fair shake _ on the roadside, in doping control, or the labs," Armstrong said on a late-afternoon conference call.

"I think it's better that way. I'm happy with the way my career went and ended and I'm not coming back."

Armstrong and his handlers spent most of the remaining 45 minutes with reporters criticizing WADA chief Dick Pound. It was Pound who set off another round of charges and counter-charges in the doping controversy earlier Thursday by accusing cycling union boss Hein Verbruggen of supplying documents used by L'Equipe, France's leading sports daily, to charge that Armstrong used the blood-boosting drug EPO during his first tour win in 1999.

Armstrong, who has repeatedly denied ever using banned drugs, said he was the victim of a "witch hunt" after the report came out last month.

Arsmtrong said he was concerned Pound might be seeking revenge for an open letter he sent to newspapers and the WADA chief several years ago, defending his sport against the widely held notion that cycling was rife with competitors using performance-enhancing drugs.

"I was not trying to say that Dick was a bad guy or a crook," Armstrong said of his letter, "but I might want to say that today. ... He's trying to divert attention from the serious ethical issues involving WADA and himself."

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