Cycling: Doping evidence unveiled against Lance Armstrong

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Lance Armstrong was at the heart of the biggest doping conspiracy in sports history when he won the Tour de France seven years in a row, a US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report said Wednesday.

A medical expert said changes in Armstrong's red blood cell count between samples taken at the 2009 and 2010 Tour de France races and during his earlier run of victories would naturally occur in less than one person in a million.

USADA submitted a report to the International Cycling Union (UCI) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on why it banned Armstrong for life in August and released more than 1,000 pages of evidence from its probe of doping in cycling.

"Lance Armstrong did not merely use performance-enhancing drugs. He supplied them to his teammates," the report said. "He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team. He enforced and re-enforced it."

Evidence included testimony from 11 of Armstrong's former US Postal cycling teammates, an expert's finding that Armstrong blood changes indicated doping and documents showing a payment to doping-linked doctor Michele Ferrari.

"The evidence of the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team-run scheme is overwhelming," USADA chief executive Travis T. Tygart said.

"The evidence shows beyond any doubt that the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen."