Cycling group blasts doping allegations

AIGLE, Switzerland, May 23 (UPI) -- International cycling's governing body Monday blasted an allegation it helped make a positive doping test against U.S. cyclist Lance Armstrong "go away."

Former Armstrong teammate Tyler Hamilton told CBS News' "60 Minutes" Armstrong tested positive for the blood-boosting drug EPO during the 2001 Tour of Switzerland. But, he claimed, the International Cycling Union, or UCI, "figured out a way for it to go away."

The group reacted angrily Monday to Hamilton's comments, issuing a statement saying it "categorically rejects the allegations."

"The UCI is deeply shocked by the seriousness of the allegations made on the '60 Minutes' program … and by the extent of the media interest in the case, and wishes to state once again that it has never altered or hidden the results of a positive test," the statement said.

"60 Minutes" reported three former Armstrong teammates have testified to a U.S. grand jury the cycling star took performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong, who has never tested positive for PEDs, also denounced the report.

"CBS's reporting on this subject has been replete with broken promises, false assurances and selective reliance on witnesses upon whom no reputable journalist would rely," he wrote on his publicist's Web site Monday.