May 31, 2006 – The Armstrong affair should be over, one would think, following the news that independent Dutch investigators cleared the 7-time Tour winner from accusations of EPO use at the 1999 edition of the Tour – but nothing is as it seems in this sport these days.

According to the French sports newspaper L’Equipe, Armstrong’s samples at the 1999 Tour later tested positive.

Today however, AP reported that investigators exonerated him in a 132-page report on Wednesday and blamed WADA for gross misconduct in the entire affair.

Meanwhile, the UCI reacted with a statement condemning leaks of the news, saying all parties had agreed to be fully informed before anything was released to the public. The UCI says they will now examine everything internally before issuing any further public statements on the matter.