Armstrong Investigation Heating Up
Federal authorities investigating possible fraud and doping charges against Lance Armstrong and his associates have issued grand jury subpoenas to witnesses, according to several people briefed on the case.
The people spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to be identified discussing a federal investigation.
The grand jury subpoenas represent a significant step in the investigation into whether Armstrong and others on the United States Postal Service cycling team were involved in systematic doping in the early- to mid-2000s.
That federal investigation was kick-started this year when the riderFloyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, told investigators that he and other riders on the Postal Service team had engaged in doping together.
In particular, Landis said the team used its money to buy doping products and that Armstrong and the team manager, Johan Bruyneel, had encouraged doping on the team. Landis said that at one race the team bus came to a halt for the riders — including Armstrong and the United States road racing national champion George Hincapie — to conduct blood transfusions.
