Armstrong stripped of Tour de France wins

LONDON – Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles by the sport’s governing body.The International Cycling Union (UCI) has accepted the findings of the United States Anti-Doping agency’s (Usada) investigation into Armstrong.UCI president Pat McQuaid said: “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. He deserves to be forgotten.”McQuaid added Armstrong had been stripped of all results since 1 August, 1998 and banned for life.On what he called a “landmark day for cycling”, the Irishman, who became president of UCI in 2005, said he would not be resigning.“Cycling has a future. This is not the first time cycling has reached a crossroads or that it has had to begin anew,” he said.“When I took over [as president] in 2005 I made the fight against doping my priority. I acknowledged cycling had a culture of doping. Cycling has come a long way. I have no intention of resigning as president of the UCI,” McQuaid said.“I’m sorry that we couldn’t catch every damn one of them red-handed and throw them out of the sport at the time.”Armstrong, 41, received a life ban from Usada for what the organisation called “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.The American, who overcame cancer to return to professional cycling, won the Tour de France in seven successive years from 1999 to 2005.He has always denied doping but chose not to fight the charges filed against him.Usada released a 1,000-page report earlier this month which included sworn testimony from 26 people, including 15 riders with knowledge of the US Postal Service Team and the doping activities of its members.Usada praised the “courage” shown by the riders in coming forward and breaking the sport’s “code of silence”.Armstrong, who retired in 2005 but returned in 2009 before retiring for good two years later, has not commented on the details of Usada’s report. His lawyer Tim Herman, however, has described it as a “one-sided hatchet job”.

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Armstrong stripped of Tour de France wins