Hamilton says Armstrong used doping substances

Lance Armstrong used the blood booster EPO and and other doping substances, his former team-mate Tyler Hamilton said in a CBS television interview, DPA reported.

The 2004 Olympic champion Hamilton said that he and Armstrong used EPO at races including the 1999 Tour de France.

Armstrong, 39, won a record seven straight Tour titles 1999-2005. He returned to the race 2009 and 2010 after initial retirement, coming third and 23rd, respectively, before quitting the sport for good early this year.

Armstrong has never failed a doping test but is under a federal US investigation in connection with doping allegations.

Hamilton rode with Armstrong at the US Postal team and is the second former team-mate, following Flody Landis, to implicate Armstrong.

He made his allegations in the 60 Minutes programme to be aired on Sunday, with excerpts broadcast in Thursday's Evening News.

Hamilton said that Armstrong "took what we all took" and spoke of EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions. He said he saw Armstrong "inject it (EPO) more than one time."

Hamilton failed a doping test at the 2004 Olympics but could keep his gold because the b-sample could not be examined because of problems in the laboratory. He was caught later for blood doping, banned for two years, and then retired in 2010 over another doping issue which later earned him an eight-year ban.

Last year, Landis made similar accusations against Armstrong. Landis, who rode for US Postal 2002-2004, tested positive for testosterone at the 2006 Tour and was stripped of the title. He later admitted to regular doping.

Armstrong dismissed the latest accusations via Twitter where he also announced the launching of a website to plead his case.

"20+ year career. 500 drug controls worldwide, in and out of competition. Never a failed test. I rest my case," Armstrong tweeted in response to Hamilton's statements.

Armstrong's spokesman Mark Fabiani dismissed the latest report and accused Hamilton of being "a confessed liar in search of a book deal.

"Greed and a hunger for publicity cannot change the facts: Lance Armstrong is the most tested athlete in the history of sports: He has passed nearly 500 tests over twenty years of competition," Fabiani said.