Story highlights Armstrong's attorney calls the decision to charge "wrong" and "baseless"

He says "there is not one shred of credible evidence to support USADA's charges"

The case could move next to an arbitration panel

Armstrong has been repeatedly accused of doping but has never failed a drug test

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Friday that it has filed doping charges against champion cyclist Lance Armstrong.

This month, the agency announced that it was opening proceedings against Armstrong and five former teammates.

"USADA can confirm that the independent three person Anti-Doping Review Board (ADRB) has conducted a full evaluation and has made a unanimous recommendation to move forward with the adjudication process in accordance with the rules," it said in a statement.

If Armstrong and the others choose, the case will move next to an arbitration panel, where "all evidence would be presented, witness testimony would be given under oath, and an independent group of arbitrators would ultimately decide the outcome of the case," the agency said.

Armstrong has always insisted that he never took performance-enhancing drugs. Other riders accused him of using such drugs, but he has never failed a drug test.

Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Maria Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam champion and the world's highest-paid female athlete, admitted that she failed a drug test at the Australian Open in January. She tested positive for meldonium, a recently banned substance that she said she had taken since 2006 for health issues. She will be provisionally banned by the International Tennis Federation on March 12. Click through the gallery to see other athletes accused of using drugs to boost their careers. Hide Caption 1 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs In February, New York Mets pitcher Jenrry Mejia became the first player to be permanently suspended by Major League Baseball after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing substance. MLB said Mejia tested positive for boldenone, an anabolic steroid that athletes use to increase muscle mass. Hide Caption 2 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez confessed to using performance-enhancing drugs in a meeting with the Drug Enforcement Administration in January 2014. Rodriguez told DEA investigators that he had used banned substances, including testosterone cream, testosterone gummies, and human growth hormone, between late 2010 and October 2012. He was suspended for the entire 2014 season. Hide Caption 3 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Olympic sprinter Tyson Gay was banned for one year after he tested positive for a prohibited anabolic steroid in 2013. The four-time U.S. champion in the 100 meters received a reduced punishment from the two-year suspension standard for cooperating with authorities. The 4x100 relay team he was on was stripped of the silver medal it won in the 2012 Olympics. Gay returned to racing in 2014. Hide Caption 4 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in 2011, the year he was National League MVP. He said he took a cream and a lozenge with banned substances while recovering from an injury. Hide Caption 5 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs In 2013, Lance Armstrong admitted to doping throughout his cycling career. The seven-time Tour de France champion confessed to using testosterone, human growth hormone and blood transfusions to enhance his performance. Hide Caption 6 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Mixed martial arts fighter Alistair Overeem failed a random drug test in 2012 and admitted to injecting himself with a substance that contained testosterone, prescribed for a rib injury. He was suspended for nine months. Hide Caption 7 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run leader, was convicted of an obstruction charge in 2011 after he impeded a grand jury investigating the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Bonds had testified that he thought his personal trainer was giving him arthritis balm and flaxseed oil, not steroids or testosterone. Hide Caption 8 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing was suspended for four games after testing positive for a drug called human chorionic gonadotropin in 2010. Hide Caption 9 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Cyclist Floyd Landis admitted in 2010 to using performance-enhancing drugs for most of his career. Landis used the red-blood-cell booster erythropoietin, known as EPO, along with testosterone, human growth hormone and frequent blood transfusions. He was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France win and suspended from cycling for two years. Hide Caption 10 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs In 2008, Olympic track star Marion Jones was sentenced to six months in prison for lying to federal prosecutors investigating the use of performance-enhancing substances. Hide Caption 11 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Former New Orleans Saints defensive lineman Charles Grant tested positive for banned substances in 2008 and was suspended for the rest of the season. Hide Caption 12 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Retired New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister tested positive for a banned diuretic in 2008. Hide Caption 13 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Shawne Merriman, then of the San Diego Chargers, was suspended for four games after testing positive for steroids in 2006. He retired in 2013 after eight NFL seasons. Hide Caption 14 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Baseball slugger Mark McGwire evaded questions about steroid use when speaking to Congress in 2005. But in 2010, he admitted that he had used steroids during the 1990s. Hide Caption 15 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Home-run hitter Sammy Sosa was among the players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to the New York Times. Hide Caption 16 of 17 Photos: Athletes and doping in the era of PEDs Former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski appeared on "60 Minutes" in 2005 and admitted to using steroids and human growth hormone during his career. Hide Caption 17 of 17

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"There is not one shred of credible evidence to support USADA's charges," Armstrong's attorney, Robert Luskin, said in a statement. He described the agency's decision as "wrong" and "baseless."

"In its zeal to punish Lance, USADA has sacrificed the very principles of fair play that it was created to safeguard. It has compiled a disgraceful record of arrogance, secrecy, disregard for its own protocols, shabby science, and contempt for due process," Luskin said.

When the proceedings were announced this month, Armstrong said the Anti-Doping Agency intended to "dredge up discredited" allegations against him in a bid to strip him of his seven Tour de France victories.

"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," Armstrong wrote on his website. "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."

According to its website, the quasi-government agency is recognized as the official anti-doping agency for Olympic, Pan American and Paralympic events in the United States.

The World Triathlon Corporation suspended Armstrong this month from competing in WTC-owned and -licensed races while he's under investigation for doping. USA Triathlon said he can still compete in its events.

In February, Justice Department prosecutors said they closed a criminal investigation after reviewing allegations against Armstrong. They had called witnesses to a federal grand jury in Los Angeles, but they apparently determined they lacked evidence to bring a charge that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.