Lance Armstrong paid a doctor banned for doping through a Swiss front company, a mainstream newspaper based in Milan reports, according to the Associated Press. The seven-time Tour de France winner has repeatedly denied doping allegations, including from his former teammate Tyler Hamilton. Armstrong has never tested positive for doping, but he's being investigated by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles looking at illegal drug use in cycling.
The doctor in question is Michele Ferrari, who was banned for life in 2002 by the Italian Cycling Federation in for giving athletes doping products, though he was cleared of criminal charges in 2006. Ferrari was behind a company called Health and Performance, "anonymous company now in liquidation," the paper, Corriere della Sera, reportedly says.
The Associated Press explains that Armstrong has admitted knowing Ferrari:
The American has acknowledged meeting Ferrari nonprofessionally since publicly severing their working relationship in 2004. A spokesman for Armstrong did return a message seeking comment.
But the paper, the Associated Press says, does not indicate when, exactly, payments were made.
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Elspeth Reeve
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