Cycling: Five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain believes Lance Armstrong is innocent

Lance Armstrong celebrates his seventh Tour de France win (Getty Images)

Five-times Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain believes Lance Armstrong is not guilty of doping despite the evidence produced by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the Spaniard said today.

"Even now I believe in his innocence. He has always respected all the rules," Indurain, who won the Tour from 1991-95, was quoted as telling Radio Marca on their website.

"I'm a bit surprised. It's a bit strange that this was only based on testimonies," he added in reference to USADA's 1,000-page report featuring testimonies from 11 former team-mates of the disgraced Texan.

Armstrong, 41, was formally stripped of his seven Tour titles yesterday when the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified USADA's decision to ban him for life and nullify his results since 1998.