Lance Armstrong was today stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life, following a report from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency that accused him of leading a massive doping program on his teams.
UCI President Pat McQuaid announced the cycling federation accepted the USADA’s report on Armstrong and would not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
'Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling,' McQuaid said at a news conference. 'This is a landmark day for cycling.'
The decision clears the way for Tour de France organizers to officially remove Armstrong’s name from the record books, erasing his consecutive victories from 1999-2005.
'Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling' - UCI President Pat McQuaid
USADA said Armstrong should be banned and stripped of his Tour titles for 'the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen' within his U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams.
The USADA report said Armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood booster EPO and blood transfusions. The report included statements from 11 former teammates who testified against Armstrong.
Longtime sponsors Nike, Trek Bicycles and Anheuser-Busch have dropped him, as have other companies, and Armstrong also stepped down last week as chairman of Livestrong, the cancer awareness charity he founded 15 years ago after surviving testicular cancer which spread to his lungs and brain
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Source: DM
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