Armstrong rages at NYT

Frankie Andreu, as well as one other rider from the US Postal team admitted to the New York Times to have used the banned performance-enhancing substance EPO in the 1999 Tour de France, when Armstrong won the first of his seven titles.

The newspaper reported that the other rider refused to give his name, as he was still involved in the sport.

Although both riders confirmed they never saw Armstrong taking banned substances, Andreu testified in 2005 along with his wife Betsy that Amstrong admitted to using EPO, growth hormones, testosterone and cortisone.

"I think it's a pretty nasty attempt by The New York Times to link me to doping through somebody else's admission," Armstrong told The Associated Press.

"You have to read way down in the article until Frankie says, 'I never saw Lance do anything.'

"To me, this is a story about Frankie Andreu. The fact he took drugs has nothing to do with me."

Armstrong has never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and denies all allegations made against him, saying any implication that he used performance-enhancers was "ludicrous."

"I can't prove a negative. All I can say is what I said a million times: I was tested at races, in my house, in hotel rooms, airports - you name it.

"I had a lot of pressure on me. My performances never did anything but get better and stronger amid all the pressure and the improved testing."