COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says 11 of Lance
Armstrong's former teammates testified against him in its investigation
of the cyclist, revealing "the most sophisticated, professionalized and
successful doping program that sport has ever seen."

USADA will
deliver its reasoned decision against Armstrong later Wednesday, a
summary of the facts it used to hand him a lifetime suspension and erase
his seven Tour de France titles.

In a news release previewing
the decision, USADA CEO Travis Tygart said it would include more than
1,000 pages of evidence. He listed 11 of Armstrong's former teammates,
including George Hincapie, Floyd Landis and Tyler Hamilton, as among
those providing evidence that led to the sanction.

Armstrong
spokesman Mark Fabiani declined immediate comment, referring to a letter
the cyclist's attorney sent to USADA on Tuesday.

The letter
accused USADA of acting as "prosecutor, judge, jury, appellate court and
executioner" in issuing a "biased, one-sided and untested version of
events." It also renewed Armstrong's assertion that witnesses,
particularly riders, were offered deals of reduced punishments in
exchange for their testimony against him.

Aware of the criticism
it has faced from Armstrong and his legion of followers, Tygart insisted
USADA handled this case under the same rules as any other.

"We
focused solely on finding the truth without being influenced by
celebrity or non-celebrity, threats, personal attacks or political
pressure because that is what clean athletes deserve and demand," he
said.

In delivering the report to the International Cycling Union
(UCI), Tygart called for the federation to create a meaningful program
to help clean up the sport.

Tygart said the evidence shows the code of silence that dominated cycling has been shattered.

He
said evidence from 26 people, including 15 riders with knowledge of the
U.S. Postal Service Team's doping activities, provided material for the
report. It was with the USPS team that Armstrong won all but one of his
Tour titles from 1999-2005.

Other cyclists named in the news release were Toronto cyclist Michael Barry, Frankie Andreu, Tom Danielson, Levi Leipheimer, Stephen Swart, Christian Vande Velde, Jonathan Vaughters and David Zabriskie.

In
the letter to USADA lawyers, Armstrong's lawyer dismissed any evidence
provided by Landis and Hamilton, calling them "serial perjurers and have
told diametrically contradictory stories under oath."

Hincapie's
role in the investigation could be more damaging, as he was one of
Armstrong's closest and most loyal teammates through the years.

"Two
years ago, I was approached by U.S. federal investigators, and more
recently by USADA, and asked to tell of my personal experience in these
matters," the cyclist said in a statement published shortly after
USADA's release. "I would have been much more comfortable talking only
about myself, but understood that I was obligated to tell the truth
about everything I knew. So that is what I did."

Tygart said all
the facts in the Armstrong case and the cases of six other riders
targeted in USADA's investigation would be made available on the
agency's website later Wednesday.

Two other players in the Postal
team's circle, Dr. Michele Ferrari and Dr. Garcia del Moral, also
received lifetime bans as part of the case.

Three other members
of the USPS team will take their cases to arbitration. They are team
director Johan Bruyneel, team doctor Pedro Celaya and team trainer Jose
"Pepe" Marti.

Armstrong chose not to pursue the case and instead
accepted the sanction, though he has persistently argued that the USADA
system was rigged against him, calling the agency's effort a "witch
hunt" that used special rules it doesn't follow in all its other cases.

The
UCI has asked for details of the case before it decides whether to sign
off on the sanctions. The federation has 21 days to appeal the case to
the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

USADA has said it doesn't need UCI's approval and Armstrong's penalties already are in place.

The
report also will go to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which also has the
right to appeal, but so far has supported USADA's position in the
Armstrong case.



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