Armstrong criticises French
doping probe

Lance Armstrong has said the French police investigation into doping in his US Postal Service team is "a joke" and will never discover anything.

"I think the case has been a joke from the beginning," Armstrong said in a press conference with English language journalists at the Tour de France.

"Nowhere would have a case been started on those grounds but in Paris they did. They knew the evidence was clean but kept the case open and so it continued to be a joke," Armstrong said.

"As I said a few weeks ago, the case is not finished yet, they can keep it open but there is nothing there."

Asked if he felt vindicated by the investigation, Armstrong said there was a growing group of cynics who do not believe that the best athletes in the world are clean.

"I don't know if our sport will ever be vindicated. I think it's a much bigger than me," he said.

"It's a question of cycling, of endurance sports and of Olympics sports and of professional sports. It's an epidemic.

"They're going to question when somebody breaks the 5000m record on the track, they're going to question things when somebody does something in the swimming pool.

"It's going to grow and grow and have a lot of cynics who say that is just not possible. In that sense the champions, the best and the record breakers will never be vindicated. There will always be someone who does not believe it.

"I don't know if other sports are like cycling but unfortunately it's very damaging to people, to teams, to sponsors and reputations but it never stops and I don't think it ever will."