Lance Armstrong was horrified when previous US triple tour winner Greg Lemond questioned his relationship with controversial Italian ‘sports doctor’ Michele Ferrari.

He was qouted by Sports Illustrated and the Guardian as saying: “In the light of Lance’s relationship with Ferrari, I just don’t want to comment on this year’s Tour. This is not sour grapes. I’m just disappointed in Lance.”

Armstrong was gutted commenting; “That was harder for me to hear because I respect LeMond so much. What he did in 1989 and 1990 is the stuff that legends are made of. He did things that people thought were humanly impossible. The guy’s an idol of mine.”

Since then Lemond has been under a barrage of criticism for damning Lance without proof and he has now responded with the following statement;

“I sincerely regret that some of my remarks…seemed to question the veracity of Lance’s performances. I want to be clear that I believe Lance to be a great champion and I do not believe, in any way, that he has ever used any performance enhancing substances. I believe his performances are the result of the same hard work, dedication and focus that were mine 10 years ago,”

No doubt this will rumble on and on.

Thanks to Cyclingnews.com for this one.