Armstrong denies doping allegations

It was supposed to be an upbeat press conference, in which five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong would introduce the new sponsor of his cycling team. And indeed, Armstrong flew in from Europe Monday night for yesterday's conference in Silver Spring, Md., where he said that Discovery Communications will replace the US Postal Service as the team's underwriter.

But the smiles quickly turned to grimaces as Armstrong was grilled about drug allegations in the soon-to-be-released book, "L.A. Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong," by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester. Walsh, a columnist for the Sunday Times in London, wrote four years ago about Armstrong's relationship with Italian physician Michele Ferrari, who was charged with administering banned substances. Ballester is a former writer for the French sports newspaper L'Equipe, which called Armstrong's feats "superhuman" after his first Tour win, which followed his bout with testicular cancer.

The first question at the press conference dealt not with sponsorship, but the "other issue," and Armstrong was ready for it.

"I can absolutely confirm that we don't use doping," Armstrong said. "This is not the first time this has happened. Every other time we chose to let it pass, but we're not going to do it now. We've filed suits in England and in France. Enough is enough. I personally am very frustrated. It's very distracting."

According to excerpts of the book published in the French magazine L'Express, a former aide on the Postal Service team claimed she was asked by Armstrong to dispose of a bag containing used syringes after the Tour of the Netherlands in 1998 -- though she did not know what was in the syringes. The aide, Emma O'Reilly, also said she lent Armstrong makeup to conceal needle marks and bruises.

Armstrong's lawyers said they were beginning libel proceedings against the book's authors and publishers, plus the publications that printed excerpts.

Armstrong, 32, will try to become the first man to win six straight Tours when the three-week race starts next month.

He said last year's was his hardest win, but the competition will be tough this year, too. Armstrong cited former Tour winner Jan Ullrich and Tyler Hamilton of Marblehead, who finished fourth in last year's Tour despite racing with a broken collarbone.

Hamilton, who was a teammate of Armstrong's until two years ago, finished second in the Dauphine-Libere stage race that finished last Sunday. Armstrong, who finished fourth, said he was impressed with Hamilton and his new Phonak team.

"Tyler's definitely the biggest competition," he said.

Armstrong said the new sponsor -- the corporate entity behind the Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and TLC -- gives him the security to keep competing.

"A lot people in cycling thought maybe I would make history, win a sixth Tour and go away forever," he said. "But I didn't want to go away."