END OF THE ROAD
Armstrong may be stripped of Tour titles
The United States AntiDoping Agency says it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unparalleled seven Tour de France titles after he declared yesterday that he would stop fighting the drug charges the organisation had laid.
The 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.
Agency chief executive Travis Tygart said Armstrong would have a lifetime ban imposed as well as having the Tour titles stripped. Armstrong asserted that the agency 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. So far it had backed Armstrong’s legal challenge to the agency’s authority.
Tygart said UCI was ‘‘bound to recognise our decision and impose it’’ as a signer of the World AntiDoping Code.
‘‘They have no choice but to strip the titles under the code,’’ he said.
World Anti-Doping Authority president John Fahey said he was confident the agency 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 the agency’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 stretching from 1999-2005.
‘‘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. He called the agency’s investigation an ‘‘unconstitutional witch hunt’’.
‘‘I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999,’’ he said. ‘‘The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense.’’
The agency reacted quickly and treated Armstrong’s decision as an admission of guilt, hanging the label of drug cheat on an athlete who was a hero to thousands for overcoming life-threatening testicular cancer and for his foundation’s support for cancer research.
‘‘It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes,’’ Tygart said. ‘‘It’s a heartbreaking example of win at all costs overtaking the fair and safe option. There’s no success in cheating to win.’’
Armstrong refused to enter an arbitration process he believes is unfair.
‘‘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.’’
The agency maintains that Armstrong has used banned substances as far back as 1996, including the blood-booster EPO and steroids as well as blood transfusions – all to boost his performance.
The 40-year-old Armstrong walked away from the sport in 2011 without being charged following a two-year federal criminal investigation into many of the same accusations he faces from the agency. The federal probe was closed in February, but the agency announced in June it had evidence Armstrong used banned substances and methods – and encouraged their use by teammates. The agency also said it had blood tests from 2009 and 2010 that were ‘‘fully consistent’’ with blood doping.
Included in the agency’s evidence were emails written by Armstrong’s former US Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after a positive drug test. Landis’ emails to a USA Cycling official detailed allegations of a complex doping programme on the team.
The agency also said it had 10 former Armstrong teammates ready to testify against him. Other than suggesting they include Landis and Tyler Hamilton, both of whom have admitted to doping offences, the agency has refused to say who they are.
‘‘There is zero physical evidence to support (the) outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of (doping) controls I have passed with flying colours,’’ Armstrong said.
Armstrong sued the agency in Austin, where he lives, in an attempt to block the case and was supported by the UCI. A judge threw out the case on Monday, siding with the agency despite questioning the agency’s pursuit of Armstrong in his retirement.
‘‘USADA’s conduct raises serious questions about whether its real interest in charging Armstrong is to combat doping, or if it is acting according to less noble motives,’’ such as politics or publicity, US District Judge Sam Sparks wrote.
Now the ultra-competitive Armstrong has done something virtually unthinkable for him: He has quit before a fight is over. ‘‘Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances. I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities,’’ Armstrong said.
He could have pressed his innocence in the agency’s arbitration process, but the cyclist has said he believes most people have already made up their minds about whether he’s a fraud or a persecuted hero.
It was a stunning move for an athlete who built his reputation on not only beating cancer, but forcing himself through gruelling offseason workouts no one else could match, then crushing his rivals in the Alps and the Pyrenees.
Although he had already been crowned a world champion and won individual stages at the Tour de France, Armstrong was still relatively unknown in the US until he won the epic race for the first time in 1999. It was the ultimate comeback tale: When diagnosed with cancer, doctors had given him less than a 50 per cent chance of survival before surgery and chemotherapy saved his life.
Armstrong’s riveting victories, his work for cancer awareness and his gossippage romances with rocker Sheryl Crow, fashion designer Tory Burch and actress Kate Hudson made him a figure who transcended sports.
His dominance of the Tour de France elevated the sport’s popularity in America to unprecedented levels. His story and success helped sell millions of the ‘‘Livestrong’’ plastic yellow wrist bracelets, and enabled him to enlist lawmakers and global policymakers to promote cancer awareness and research. His Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised nearly $500 million since its founding in 1997.