New urine test suggested to Lance Armstrong

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Lance Armstrong. File Photo: EFE

France's anti-doping chief has proposed that Lance Armstrong agree to a retesting of urine samples from his first Tour de France win to determine whether they show traces of EPO.

The samples, which date from 1999, are frozen in France's drug testing laboratory in the suburbs of Paris. They've been a source of controversy since French sports newspaper 'L'Equipe' reported in 2005 that a new round of tests on the samples found EPO, a blood-boosting hormone that enhances endurance.

Armstrong, now making a return to cycling after retiring in 2005, has always insisted that he never doped. He said he was the victim of a "witch hunt'' when L'Equipe's story came out in 2005, a month after the last of his record seven Tour wins.