(Newser)
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Lance Armstrong's oft-repeated claim that he'd never tested positive for doping was the result of some elaborate masking techniques—and some less-sophisticated methods, like hiding from testers, according to a US Anti-Doping Agency report. Cyclists have to keep national anti-doping groups updated on their whereabouts. But if they simply don't answer the door when testers come to call, they can avoid getting a warning from officials. Armstrong also frequently holed himself up in a remote Spanish hotel, making it "virtually certain" he wouldn't face tests, the agency says.
Armstrong's masking techniques included using saline smuggled by a doctor to make blood values appear normal. In other cases, the cyclist used hormones and blood doping techniques that were untraceable at the time. Later, more advanced retesting offered "resoundingly positive values," the report said, according to the New York Times. Of course, Armstrong wasn't the only one doping, and the report adds that team members' wives and girlfriends were aware of it, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some tried to reveal the cyclists' illicit activities, but Armstrong's ex-wife, Kristin, was complicit in the scheme, the report says. She called it a "necessary evil," Betsy Andreu, wife of cyclist Frankie, said in an affidavit.
