USA Cycling officially informed the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that it can't act on its behalf to investigate charges against Lance Armstrong, according to a brief filed in federal court Friday.
The letter, written by USA Cycling general counsel Stephen Hess, was sent to USADA Friday and then included in a 20-page filing by Armstrong's attorneys in the court of U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks.
It's a potential sticking point in USADA's pursuit of Armstrong, the seven-time winner of the Tour de France.
Sparks, who received briefs from both sides Friday afternoon, has yet to make a ruling in the case. On Aug. 10, he'd asked both sides to send him any additional information they thought would be relevant. He then promised a quick ruling, meaning it could come early next week.
Back in July, Armstrong asked for a permanent injunction to keep USADA from proceeding with its plans to strip the retired cyclist of his seven Tour titles and a permanent ban from all competition. USADA sent a charging letter to Armstrong and five others, none of whom were cyclists or from the United States, stating that based on the testimony of 10 anonymous riders and other associates, Armstrong had been a ringleader of a doping conspiracy dating back to at least 1998.
Armstrong said the investigation violates his constitutional rights to due process because he can't properly mount a defense against charges that offer no detail as to what he had done.
Plus, his lawyers wrote to the judge Friday stating that USADA has "no authority to bring charges against a retired cyclist."
Meanwhile, USADA has asked Sparks to dismiss the case, telling the judge that it will give Armstrong a fair hearing through arbitration, where it plans to identity those testifying against him. USADA, a quasi-governmental agency, is part of the World Anti-Doping Agency, charged with keeping Olympic-level sports free of drugs.
USA Cycling now says it is deferring to its international federation, the International Cycling Union (UCI) based in Switzerland, which has asked to investigate.
Contact Suzanne Halliburton at 445-3954 Twitter: @suzhalliburton
