Lance Armstrong has stated that his 'personal' drug-testing program will be in place by the time of his first race at the Tour Down Under in January - but no sooner.
When seven-times Tour de France winner Armstrong announced his comeback to professional cycling in September, he also announced that he would be part of a rigorous drug-testing program carried out by US anti-doping expert Don Catlin and that the results would be published online. The idea was to silence critics and create complete transparency.
So far, no results have been published and according to the Associated Press (AP), Catlin has admitted that he hasn't yet tested Armstrong.
When asked about the lack of visible test results, Armstrong told AP: "It's a tough thing to organize, but we will make it happen."
"We're working as quickly as we can to get everyone coordinated, but it's not that simple."
"The program we want to do is going to be intensive," Catlin said. "And he's a moving target. He's very busy. Keeping up with him, testing him, takes a lot of planning and it hasn't all come together yet."
Despite the stalling of his own testing program, Armstrong has so far been tested seven times by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) officials.
Armstrong is currently in Tenerife with his Astana team-mates on the squad's first training camp since the Texan joined. He is scheduled to race in the Tour Down Under, South Australia, from January 20-25.
Lance Armstrong gives candid interviews in the current issues of Cycle Sport and Cycling Weekly magazines.
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