Five former team-mates of Lance Armstrong; Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, George Hincapie and Jonathan Vaughters, have made a deal with USADA to admit they doped in exchange for damning testimony against the seven-time Tour winner, according to a report by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.
The deal offered by USADA will slap a six-month sentence on Levi Leipheimer, Dave Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, George Hincapie and Jonathan Vaughters, and presumably the other as yet unnamed riders involved in the investigation against Armstrong.
De Telegraaf's report claims the bans will not begin until as late as October of this year, meaning all four active riders will in theory be able to complete the current Tour de France, as well potentially the Vuelta a Espana, the last grand tour of the season.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme denied knowledge of the story when contacted by Cyclingnews.
All five named by De Telegraaf were called before the FDA grand jury last year when the investigation into potential fraud at Armstrong's former team, US Postal, was still underway.
That investigation was shelved in February, but USADA went on with the case. USADA filed its own case on 14 June, naming a long list of serious allegations against the former US Postal, Discovery Channel, Astana, and RadioShack rider as well as RadioShack-Nissan's team manager Johan Bruyneel, three doctors, and a trainer.
Among the accusations listed were a conspiracy by all involved in covering up doping at the team, blood doping, use of human growth hormone (HGH), EPO, testosterone, and other methods.
Armstrong fired back his own response in the days that followed, and added recently via Twitter that he refused to be distracted by the antics of USADA.
"I refuse to be distracted by @usantidoping's antics," the seven-time Tour de France champion posted on Twitter, a day after USADA announced it had filed the charges that could cost him his seven titles in the world's most prestigious cycling race.
Armstrong tweeted: "It's 2012, I'm gonna continue to lead @LIVESTRONG, raise my 5 kids, and stay fit!" The case will next be brought to an arbitration panel which will hear the case.
If the allegations prove to be true, the American could be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles as well as receiving a lifetime ban from cycling.
It's unknown as to whether Tour de France race organiser ASO will move to eject the riders involved from this year's race on the basis of the charges. Leipheimer, Zabriskie, Vande Velde and Hincapie are all currently riding the Tour, while Vaughters is overseeing the efforts of Garmin-Sharp.
