Hincapie keeps Armstrong silence

George Hincapie has moved to distance himself from reports linking him and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong with the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

CBS programme "60 Minutes" is claiming Hincapie has told a federal investigation both he and former US Postal team-mate Armstrong used banned substances. The accusations come 24 hours after another ex-US Postal riders Tyler Hamilton admitted to drug use and said he had seen Armstrong take EPO more than once.

"It's just unfortunate that that's all people want to talk about now," said Hincapie, who refused to respond to "60 Minutes". "I'm not going to partake in any cycling-bashing. I have done everything to be the best I can be. I want the focus on the future of the sport, what it's done to clean itself up. I believe in cycling and want to support it."

Another former team-mate Frankie Andreu, who in 2006 admitted to drug use in the 1990s, also spoke out in support of Hamilton and Hincapie in what was a torrid 24 hours for Armstrong. Hincapie then released a statement through his attorney: "I can confirm to you that I never spoke with '60 Minutes.' I have no idea where they got their information.

"As I've said in the past, I continue to be disappointed that people are talking about the past in cycling instead of the future. As for the substance of anything in the '60 Minutes' story, I cannot comment on anything relating to the ongoing investigation."

Hamilton, a team-mate between 1998 and 2001, admitted he had taken EPO "many, many times" and said he saw Armstrong take the drug.

"I saw (EPO) in his refrigerator," the 40-year-old from Massachusetts said. "I saw him inject it more than one time like we all did. Like I did, many, many times." (Armstrong) took what we all took, the majority of the peloton," he added. "There was EPO, testosterone, a blood transfusion."

In 2009, Hamilton retired after receiving an eight-year ban for a second doping offence.

The revelations come a year after Floyd Landis, who had his 2006 Tour title stripped for using steroids, turned the focus of the cycling investigation on to Armstrong, claiming they had both used drugs.

Armstrong, though, hit back through his attorney Mark Fabiani while using Twitter to dismiss Hamilton. He tweeted: "20+ year career. 500 drug controls worldwide, in and out of competition. Never a failed test. I rest my case."