Progress in Armstrong doping probe

PARIS -- A U.S. federal probe into doping in cycling, including whether Lance Armstrong cheated, appears to have made significant headway and is getting closer to its end, say officials who attended or were briefed on meetings between European and American agents this week at Interpol headquarters.

The size of the U.S. delegation, larger than previously known, and the fact that it traveled all the way to France for two days of talks with police officers and other officials from at least three European countries where Armstrong and some of his teammates have competed, trained and lived, was in itself an indication of the importance of the snowballing probe, European officials said.

One European participant said he'd been expecting to meet no more than two or three people at Interpol's high-security compound in the south-central French city of Lyon. He was surprised to be ushered into a conference room where at least a half-dozen American officials were arrayed across the table.

This official said he told himself: “This is no joke. This is serious, this is hard-nose. It was not a sightseeing trip.”

The official and other participants at the talks or those briefed on them spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity in part because the U.S. delegation requested that the meetings not be discussed publicly. Several European officials said they were concerned that leaks could jeopardize the judicial process and do not want to endanger the probe by talking about it openly and in detail.

“This is a very complex procedure and it can only work within a judicial frame,” said one European who met with the Americans.

While federal authorities have not disclosed who they are scrutinizing, dozens of interviews by the AP with people involved in the case have pointed to a broad investigation that began with cyclists who had records of doping. It then turned toward Armstrong, who won the Tour de France a record seven times and has consistently denied using performance-enhancing drugs. He has hundreds of clean doping tests as evidence.