LOS ANGELES — Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of Lance Armstrong on Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort aimed at determining whether the seven-time Tour de France winner and his teammates participated in a doping program.
Armstrong has steadfastly denied he doped during his unparalleled career, but the possibility of criminal charges threatened to stain his legacy as the world’s greatest cyclist and could have cast a shadow over his cancer charity work.
“I am gratified to learn that the U.S. Attorney’s Office is closing its investigation,” Armstrong said in a statement. “It is the right decision, and I commend them for reaching it.”
The hurdle for prosecutors wasn’t so much to prove whether any particular cyclist used drugs, but to determine if Armstrong and other team members violated federal conspiracy, fraud or racketeering charges.
Betsy Andreu, who with her husband and former Armstrong teammate, Frank, accused the cycling champion of doping, said she was shocked by the decision.
“Our legal system failed us,” she said. “This is what happens when you have a lot of money and you can buy attorneys who have people in high places in the Department of Justice.”
