Like a true cycling champion breaking away from the pack, Lance Armstrong has finally outlasted investigations into an alleged doping scheme and emerged more or less unscathed.
According to the Associated Press, federal prosecutors closed the book Friday on allegations involving the seven-time Tour de France winner and the use of performance-enhancing drugs, without charging Armstrong for any wrongdoing. The announcement brings to an end a two-year investigation into whether or not there was a concerted, illegal effort to keep Armstrong and his teammates atop the cycling hierarchy, in France and elsewhere.
Armstrong has firmly dismissed any and every accusation of doping that has been tossed his way over the past decade, though the mere mention of foul play has tainted his legacy as the greatest cyclist of all time to some degree.
Armstrong won the Tour de France every year between 1999 and 2005 after enduring a long and arduous battle with testicular cancer.
The investigation had been led by Jeff Novitzky, the same federal agent who lodged largely unsuccessful cases against MLB stars Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens. Armstrong's case was complicated by his team's previous sponsorship deal with the U.S. Postal Service, as the use of federal funds for illegal doping activities would have fostered an entirely different snafu for Armstrong and his fellow cyclists.
The probe, based out of Los Angeles, came to include a number of high-profile riders, including Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive for PEDs, and former teammates George Hincapie and Tyler Hamilton, all of whom testified to Armstrong's illicit behaviors in some form or another.
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