US anti-doping agency to strip Armstrong of titles

The US Anti-Doping Agency says it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unparalleled seven Tour de France titles after he declared that he would stop fighting the drug charges the organisation had laid.

Yesterday’s announcement by Armstrong that he would no longer contest the charges put at risk his legacy as one of the greatest sportsmen of all time.

He insisted the decision was not an admission of doping but prompted by weariness with the prolonged legal dispute.

Travis Tygart, USADA’s chief executive, said Armstrong would have a lifetime ban imposed today as well as having the Tour titles stripped. Armstrong asserted that USADA had no authority to take away his Tour titles.

The sport’s governing body, the International Cycling Union (UCI), was expected to make an announcement of its stance on Friday. So far it had backed Armstrong’s legal challenge to USADA’s authority.

Tygart said UCI was “bound to recognise our decision and impose it” as a signer of the World Anti-Doping Code.

“They have no choice but to strip the titles under the code,” he said.

World Anti -Doping Authority president John Fahey told The Associated Press today that he was confident USADA acted properly and “they now have the right to apply a penalty that will be recognised by all WADA code countries around the world.”

Armstrong, who retired last year, declined to enter USADA’s arbitration process — his last option — because he said he was weary of fighting accusations that have dogged him for years.

He has consistently pointed to the hundreds of drug tests that he has passed as proof of his innocence during his extraordinary run of Tour titles stretchingfrom1999-2005.

“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, “Enough is enough.” For me, that time is now,” Armstrong said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. He called the USADA investigation an “unconstitutional witch hunt.”

COMMENT NOW