An alleged new doping conspiracy has cropped up against the seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong!

According to a letter sent to Armstrong from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that he and five fellow cyclists conspired together to use and also distribute illegal substances between 1998 and 2011. The USDA took blood samples from Armstrong in 2009 and 2010 that were tested and proved to be “fully consistent with blood ma­nipu­la­tion including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.”

In accordance with these charges, Armstrong is currently barred from triathlon competition, a sport he took up not long after retiring from cycling in 2011.

In a statement released by his publicist, Armstrong says:

“I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one. That USADA ignores this fundamental distinction and charges me instead of the admitted dopers says far more about USADA, its lack of fairness and this vendetta than it does about my guilt or innocence. Any fair consideration of these allegations has and will continue to vindicate me.”

The USADA has also said that they will pursue charges against Armstrong if and when federal criminal investigators close their case.