CYCLING: NO FIGHT LEFT IN ACCUSED LANCE ARMSTRONG
U. S. Anti- Doping Agency says it will strip cyclist of his seven Tour de France titles after he refuses to participate in ‘ unfair’ process
Seven- time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong said on Thursday he would no longer fight doping accusations by the U. S. Anti- Doping Agency, which said it would strip him of his titles and ban him from competitive cycling.
“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘ Enough is enough,”’ Armstrong said in a statement posted on his website Lancearmstrong. com.
“For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999,” he said.
USADA spokeswoman Annie Skinner said the agency would strip Armstrong of his seven titles and ban him for life from competitive cycling.
Armstrong disputed the agency could do that.
“USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles,” he said. “I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours.”
Still to be heard from was the sport’s governing body, the International Cycling Union, which had backed Armstrong’s legal challenge to USADA’s authority and in theory could take the case before the international Court of Arbitration for Sport.
In the website statement, Armstrong did not concede having used performance enhancing substances during his celebrated cycling career. On the contrary, he said he would “jump at the chance” to put the allegations to rest. But the 40- year- old Texan said he refused to participate in the USADA process, which he called “one- sided and unfair.”
A cancer survivor, Armstrong returned to the sport after beating the illness and won the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times in succession from 1999 to 2005.
“It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and our athletic heroes,” Travis Tygart, USADA’s chief executive officer, said in a written statement.
“This is a heartbreaking example of how the win- atallcosts culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition, but for clean athletes, it is a reassuring reminder that there is hope for future generations to compete on a level playing field without the use of performanceenhancing drugs,” he said.