Six former teammates of Lance Armstrong have been suspended for six months by the US Anti-doping Agency (USADA) after they all admitted doping. Five Americans - Levi Leipheimer, 38 (of the Omega Pharma-Quickstep team), Christian Vande Velde, 36, David Zabriskie, 33, and Tom Danielson, 34, (all of Garmin-Sharp), George Hincapie, 39, (BMC) - and one Canadian, 36-year-old Michael Barry (Sky) all received six-month bans which will run from September 1 this year.
They were suspended after admitting to blood transfusions and taking substances including the banned blood-booster EPO, human growth hormone, cortisone and testosterone. Their bans were announced by the USADA on Wednesday alongside the organisation's detailed reasons why it banned Armstrong for life in August. In their 1,000 page report USADA accused Armstrong's US Postal Service team of "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen". Eleven former teammates gave evidence against Armstrong - who battled back from life-threatening cancer to win the Tour de France seven times - accusing him of taking banned substances and enforcing a doping culture within the team.
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