June 20, 2006 – Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to force World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Dick Pound to resign over Pound’s handling of doping allegations against Armstrong.

“Dick Pound has always been quick to admonish others and to call for officials accused of misconduct to be sanctioned and removed from involvement in the Olympic movement,” Armstrong said in an eight-page letter dated June 9 and addressed to IOC president Jacques Rogge and the IOC executive board, and also published on Armstrong’s website. “In my view, it is essential that the IOC executive committee and the IOC president recognize this is a critical situation that requires decisive action.”

Armstrong, who has denied using any form of performance-enhancing drugs, acted after Dutch lawyer, Emile Vrijman’s investigation cleared Armstrong of any wrongdoing and was critical of WADA’s role in the process.

WADA fired back releasing a 12-pg statement refuting the Vrijman report’s accusations, claiming it had only been involved tangentially in the retroactive blood testing from the 1999 Tour de France. Pound was critical of the Dutch report saying it was prepared by a lawyer with no expertise in doping, that Vrijman had not contacted him once, and that WADA was considering legal action against him. As for Armstrong’s letter Pound was not fazed saying that Armstrong should be complaining about what was in L’Equipe not going after him.