USADA to ban Armstrong for life and strip of his seven (7) Tour titles. :-(

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Updated Aug 23, 2012 11:36 PM ET - Austin, TX (AP)
This just in and it's a sad day for cycling. The USADA will ban Armstrong for life and strip all of his seven (7) Tour titles.

"The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency said Thursday night it will strip Lance Armstrong of his unprecedented seven Tour de France titles after he declared he was finished fighting the drug charges that threaten his legacy as one of the greatest cyclists of all time.

Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive, said Armstrong would also be hit with a lifetime ban on Friday. 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.

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 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 sent to The Associated Press. He called the USADA 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.''

USADA 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".

Read More: http://msn.foxsports.com/cycling/st...g-for-life-strip-tour-de-france-titles-082312

"Common sense is not so common". Voltaire

 

[Kentos]

Someone must be holding a grudge. To be fair to Armstrong there seems to be an inquiry every 6 months into whether he doped or not. I don't recall any other athlete being scrutinized as much. Something just doesn't smell right.

 

[P Funk]

Not to be cynical or too harsh but the only thing surprising about this is that he is actually being stripped of his titles (not that he actually used).
There is no way he was the only one not taking PEDs in a sport that was filled with users.

His statement saying that he is too tired to fight is laughable.
By not going through the arbitration process, he avoids having any evidence presented against him.
He can still maintain to his fans that the process, organization is corrupt.

I'd guess that there must be a mountain of evidence proving he did use.

 

[Drybonz]

To be fair to Armstrong there seems to be an inquiry every 6 months into whether he doped or not.

...and he has passed every one. He finally got sick of it and said he isn't doing and more, so they are stripping him of his titles.

 

[nannahill]

Wow. The due process of USADA is unbelievable. Or lack thereof.

I live and breathe cycling. I have watched the Tour for 20+ years. I saw Lance win in Paris in 2000. I wear a yellow bracelet and have given many to my cycling friends. The Foundation has done wonderful things for cancer awareness.

It's a sad day in sports gentlemen.

 

[Rushman2112]

I've always wanted to believe he was clean, but now, I am not sure that he was. It's a shame.

 

[commanderkeen]

Talk about a witch-hunt. The ICF sided with Armstrong. He passed all the drug-tests, he faced countless inquiries, just let it be. If he did dope then he was clever about it and beat the system; until now. If he didn't then it shines a bad light on the USADA. Either way a titan of sport has been brought down and the already tarnished reputation of cycling is worsened.

 

[Searlands]

Talk about a witch-hunt. The ICF sided with Armstrong. He passed all the drug-tests, he faced countless inquiries, just let it be. If he did dope then he was clever about it and beat the system; until now. If he didn't then it shines a bad light on the USADA. Either way a titan of sport has been brought down and the already tarnished reputation of cycling is worsened.

Big +1 here. As a huge cycling fan I'm devastated. Both for Lance and Cycling in general. Not sure what I think about it.

 

[Go West Young Man]

It's not like he's giving back the money.

 

[Pebcak]

It's not like he's giving back the money.

what does that have to do with anything?

It's a witch hunt pure and simple. I don't know who he ticked off at USADA but someone definitely has it in for him there.

 

[cnnc97]

I always hoped and thought that he was not guilty but this changes my mind. An innocent man would fight this for the rest of his life. By walking away and refusing to participate he is trying to keep the truth from coming out. In a sport where everybody was doping how the he#$ could he be as dominant as he was if he wasn't doing the same thing.

 

[BRuhling]

Whatever happened to the concept of innocent until proven guilty. That concept seems to have been stood on its head in this thread. If you've "always hoped and thought that he was not guilty," why would his choosing to just stop fighting and stay silent be a concession of guilt?

Is the man on trial for rape or murder necessarily guilty because he chooses not to testify? Has a man truly wronged his wife because he simply refuses to engage in an argument with her when she's upset?

Lance Armstrong has been subjected to more scrutiny than any other athelete on the planet for the past decade plus. He was tested, his samples have been retested as the technology has improved, and each time he was exonerated.

It's funny that people assume he must have been doping because others in the sport were doping, yet he was still dominant. Before he developed cancer, he'd been tested at the Olympic training facility and his VO2 Max eclipsed almost every other athelete they had ever tested. After cancer, and before he resumed his competitive career, he was tested again and his results were even better. Every so often nature gives us a truly gifted individual. Could Lance Armstrong be one of those people? I'm not sure. But one thing that doping never could have done for him is give him the tactical savvy he showed in his dominant years. Go back and watch the tapes of those TdF races. He didn't only win because he rode faster than everyone else, but he also raced a race that tactically put him in the position to be fresh when he knew he would need everything in his body, and to relax when it was time to recover. He had a race manager that masterfully managed the races, and unlike so many other "superstar" atheletes he actually listened to him. That doesn't come from doping!

Sorry, rant over, you may now return to your regularly scheduled forum...​

 

[cnnc97]

If you were completely innocent and were going to have your biggest accomplishments taken away would you walk away before a hearing?

What about all of his teammates that are saying that the entire team was doping?

 

[ouch]

Cue the Baretta theme song.

 

[nannahill]

If you were completely innocent and were going to have your biggest accomplishments taken away would you walk away before a hearing?

He has a chance against USADA? In their minds he was already guilty.

What about all of his teammates that are saying that the entire team was doping?

Tyler, Floyd and Frankie are credible?

 

[The Count of Merkur Cristo]

Wow. The due process of USADA is unbelievable. Or lack thereof.

I live and breathe cycling. I have watched the Tour for 20+ years. I saw Lance win in Paris in 2000. I wear a yellow bracelet and have given many to my cycling friends. The Foundation has done wonderful things for cancer awareness.

It's a sad day in sports gentlemen.

Nanna:

...for so many years, in my opinion Lance was the Tour and the 'face' of cycling. I guess for the USADA their mission statement should read, "If the impossible can be achieved…then the impossible cannot be believed" (CBJ).

"Winning is about heart, not just legs. It's got to be in the right place". Lance Armstrong

 

[Vickers]

Two things to consider:

1. The USADA does not have any authority to "strip" Armstrong of a TdF title.

2. If I were an enterprising reporter, I would look in to the power structure of the USADA and see if any of them were competing against Armstrong from the mid-90s until the late 2000s.

 

[Greg1911]

More than one book has been written by former pro cyclists detailing the level of doping that takes place in that sport.

I doubt a truly clean rider has won the Tour in 30 years.

 

[eizan70]

Speaking of witch hunt. The riders that are testifying against him are being granted anonymity and immunity as long as they testify what the USADA wishes to hear. Yes, this sounds like a fair deal. How are you supposed to fight that?

 

[craig94yj]

A sad day indeed. Well at least they can't strip him of the Athelete of the Year title the year he won his 7th TdF. They gave (now really think about this) ATHELETE of the year to Tiger Woods. 7 TdF loses to golf. You are still an inspiration to me Lance and to cancer survivors everywhere.