AP Wire: PARIS -- The director of the Tour de France claims Lance Armstrong has "fooled" the sports world and that the seven-time champion owes fans an explanation over new allegations he used a performance-boosting drug.

Tour director Jean-Marie Leblanc's comments appeared in the French sports daily L'Equipe on Wednesday, a day after the newspaper reported that six urine samples provided by Armstrong during the '99 Tour tested positive for the red blood cell-booster EPO.

"For the first time -- and these are no longer rumors, or insinuations, these are proven scientific facts -- someone has shown me that in 1999, Armstrong had a banned substance called EPO in his body," Leblanc told L'Equipe.

"The ball is now in his court. Why, how, by whom? He owes explanations to us and to everyone who follows the Tour. Today, what L'Equipe revealed shows me that I was fooled. We were all fooled."

On Tuesday, Leblanc called the latest accusations against Armstrong shocking and troubling.

Armstrong, a frequent target of L'Equipe, vehemently denied the allegations Tuesday, calling the article "tabloid journalism."

"I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs," he said on his website.

Armstrong, who retired from professional cycling after winning the Tour a month ago, was not immediately available for comment regarding Leblanc's latest remarks.

EPO, formally known as erythropoietin, was on the list of banned substances at the time Armstrong won the first of his seven Tour's, but there was no effective test then to detect it.

The allegations surfaced six years later because EPO tests on the 1999 samples were carried out only last year -- when scientists at a lab outside Paris used them for research to perfect EPO testing. The national anti-doping laboratory in Chatenay-Malabry said it promised to hand its finding to the World Anti-Doping Agency, provided it was never used to penalize riders.

Five-time cycling champion Miguel Indurain said he couldn't understand why scientists would use samples from the 1999 Tour for their tests.

"That seems bizarre, and I don't know who would have the authorization to do it," he told L'Equipe. "I don't even know if it's legal to keep these samples."

The L'Equipe investigation was based on the second set of two samples used in doping tests. The first set were used in 1999 for analysis at the time. Without those samples, any disciplinary action against Armstrong would be impossible, French Sports Minister Jean-Francois Lamour said.

• He said he doesn't miss marijuana. "I can't do that anymore. I get tested twice a week."
  
• He owes the Dolphins $8.6 million for breaching his contract by retiring last year, but said he doesn't know his financial situation. "I have no idea. The way I live my life, if I have a place to stay and I have food on the table, I'm not broke."
  
• He said he doesn't think about the war in Iraq and won't join the military. "There's a war outside, but I think there's also a war inside all of us. When you talk about world peace and people doing all these things for peace, and they want peace and want to be treated fairly, I think it really starts with yourself and looking for the peace inside yourself. When each of us can do that, then the peace spreads outward."
  
• He said he's not having fun since returning to football, but doesn't mind. "You look across from fun and you see work. The fun is the result of hard work. If you work hard you get to the fun. & The process of coming to work every day gives me more and more freedom."
  
• Teammates tease him about his scruffy beard, saying he looks homeless, but he sees no reason to shave. "Some people have a job, some people's wives don't like it, some people are uncomfortable with it. But I don't have a reason to shave."
  
• His first tattoo was Mighty Mouse in green and gold, his San Diego high school's colors. "I was at Venice Beach with my girlfriend at the time, and I said it would be cool to get a tattoo. The way I look at them, they're somewhat of a map. You see a tattoo, and you think back to a time in your life."

With all the recent flap over one Terrel Owens, how can you not sit back and wish for more players with the calm demeanor of Ricky Williams in the NFL? We'd take him over TO, any day of the week.

Ricky - making so much sense!

The Vancouver Canucks and Mattias Ohlund have avoided salary arbitration after the defenceman was signed to a $14-million US, four-year deal Wednesday.

Ohlund's case was scheduled to be heard by an arbitrator Friday. He had reportedly wanted around $3.25 million US per season. His new deal works out $3.5 million per year.

''We are extremely pleased to have come to terms with Mattias,'' Canucks GM Dave Nonis said in a release. ''He has proven himself to be one of the premier defencemen in this league and we are thrilled that he will be wearing a Canucks jersey to start the 2005-06 season.''

The Ohlund deal pushes the Canucks payroll over $37 million, leaving them with less than $2 million under the salary cap.

Just a week after locking up Vincent Lecavalier to a four-year, $27.5 million US deal, the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed 2004 Hart Trophy winner Martin St. Louis to a six-year, $31.5 million US contract.

''I've said it many times in the past and I continue to maintain that Martin St. Louis is the heart and soul of our hockey team,'' Lightning GM Jay Feaster said in a statement Wednesday. ''Dating all the way back to the summer of 2004, there was never a moment when we were not firmly committed as an organization to getting Marty signed long-term.''

Tampa lost goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to Chicago but now has its two offensive stars locked up long-term.

In a trade of note, yesterday, the Ottawa Senators traded (F) Marian Hossa and (D) Greg DeVries to Atlanta for superstar Danny Heatly.

Following are the top 5 MLB Power Rankings as picked by CBS.

1.		Boston Red Sox This is the latest they have led their division since finishing first in 1995. Their opponents the next couple weeks are not all that threatening either.
2.		St. Louis Cardinals They certainly have a case for the top spot again, but the Scott Rolen news stings whether or not it will affect their top seed status for the postseason.
3.		New York Yankees This is a little too much credit for them right now, but we're looking ahead. Their schedule is favorable here on out. Six against the Red Sox and three vs. the A's are the only tough ones.
4.		Atlanta Braves They're getting healthy with Chipper Jones looking primed for a streak and their dominance in the East could help them challenge the Cards for the top seed still.
5.		Chicago White Sox They've been dealt a bit of reality of late against top competition. We've said it before and have to say it again -- is anyone really picking them to survive in the postseason?

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