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Anti-doping body sent Lance tests
 Armstrong questions the science behind testing years-old samples, with no controls in place. RELATEDYOUR E-MAIL ALERTSPARIS, France (CNN) -- The director of the French national laboratory that performed urine testing for the 1999 Tour de France said Friday all details on the testing had been forwarded as of Monday to the World Anti-Doping Agency. A French daily sports newspaper reported Tuesday that retesting of some samples has shown Lance Armstrong used a banned substance in 1999, when he won the first of his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong remained steadfast Thursday that he has never used performance-enhancing drugs. Jacques de Ceaurriz, the lab director, said the anti-doping agency's request came in four months ago in light of articles in scientific publications, including one saying there had been usage of EPO, a red-cell booster. The French newspaper, L'Equipe, reported that a four-month investigation found six of Armstrong's urine samples given during the 1999 race tested positive for EPO. The article was headlined: "The Armstrong Lie." On CNN's "Larry King Live" Thursday, Armstrong -- who survived testicular cancer that spread through his body and into his brain to become the greatest cyclist in the sport's history -- said he did use EPO as part of his chemotherapy treatment in late 1996, but never as part of his cycling training regimen. EPO is a drug that boosts red blood cell counts, allowing endurance athletes to increase their oxygen-carrying capacity to enable them to go farther and faster. It is often given to patients suffering from blood-related cancers and other forms of the disease. Armstrong also questioned the science behind years-old samples. He said he had provided a total of 17 "B" samples in 1999. "So why are six of them positive and the other 11 aren't? I'm saying there were 17 samples. So, if the drug would stay around for two, three, four weeks, we have 17 samples given, and only six of them positive. What happened to the other 11?" The "B" samples upon which L'Equipe's investigation was based are a second set of samples provided during the drug-testing procedure in 1999. The "A" samples no longer exist and Tour officials have said they cannot enforce any punishment without them. According to the paper, the allegations took six years to surface because EPO was undetectable in the 1999 tests. Last year, the French laboratory at Chatenay-Malabry -- one of the best in the world -- began conducting experiments to improve its banned-substance detection capabilities, according to L'Equipe. The lab conducted its tests randomly on anonymous samples, with only six-digit numbers to identify the riders. L'Equipe said it was able to confirm the positive tests were on Armstrong's samples by matching his medical certificates with the numbers on the samples. Another 15 samples from other riders from the 1999 race also have reportedly tested positive. Armstrong blasted the protocol used in the testing, saying he has a problem trusting a French person in a laboratory where no one else was present to observe the testing method. "If you considered the science, if you consider the protocol involved in drug testing, if you consider the standards that have been set over dozens of years, you know that none of that was followed here," he told CNN. And he asked, "Since when did newspapers start governing sports?" 
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