Lance Armstrong: Tour de France titles taken away and suspended for life

The United States Anti-Doping Agency will suspend for life the cyclist Lance Armstrong and will strip him of his seven titles of the Tour de France for doping, said Thursday Travis Tygart, president of the agency.

Lance Armstrong will not pedal again in an official competition and will be dispossessed of all his titles since August of 1998, including his seven Tours of France. This was announced by the US anti-doping agency after the Texan cyclist announced that he would not exercise his right to appeal the charges that have been charged since mid-June.

Armstrong had tried unsuccessfully to challenge the agency's decision in ordinary court and now had the option of invoking arbitration by an independent commission. But the cyclist assured this Thursday that he preferred not to go ahead with the process because he was tired of fighting. "There comes a time in a man's life when one says that it's all right"Armstrong said in a statement released from his home in Austin. .

“I have been enduring these accusations that I cheated and raced ahead when I won all seven of my Tours since 1999 and the toll this has taken on my family and my foundation work is now leading me to where I am today – to end this nonsense. ”, explains the Texan cyclist, who describes the investigation as “an unconstitutional witch hunt” and continues defending his innocence.

Refusing to appeal will lead to Armstrong's lifetime ban and is the first step in stripping him of his seven Tours. Hereinafter The leaders of the International Cycling Union must speak up, which until now had supported the Texan cyclist in his decision to challenge the anti-doping agency, and the organizers of the French race, who have had a very turbulent relationship with the cyclist during these years.

But the global anti-doping code is unequivocal: Armstrong should be removed his seven Tours, bronze for the Sydney Olympics y all other titles which he has won since August 1998. He should also be banned from competition forever. A prohibition that includes any official responsibility as a coach or representative in any Olympic sport.

"It is a sad day for those of us who love sports and athletes," said the head of the agency, Travis Tygart, on Thursday. "This is an example of a triumph at any price and it shows that whoever cheats to win is never successful”.

Armstrong assures that his decision is not an act of contrition but a refusal to enter into an arbitration process that he considers unworthy and contrary to justice: “The anti-doping agency cannot control a professional sport and try to take away seven Tours de France from me. I know how I won those seven Tours, my teammates know how I did it and everyone I competed with also knows it”.

The beginning of the end of a myth

The announcement marks the beginning of the end of the myth of the athlete who recovered from testicular cancer to become the best cyclist of all time. The agency accuses Armstrong of empowering its performance with several substances since the year 1996 and then cover up doping based on disguise and threats.

The Texan has 40 years and retired from professional cycling last year without receiving a single penalty. A detail that Armstrong often mentions as proof that the accusations he faces are the fruit of a conspiracy. In early February, the California prosecutor's office shelved criminal proceedings against the cyclist for the use of prohibited substances.

But the end of that legal investigation was the starting signal for the anti-doping agency file, which announced in mid-June (having seen the testimonies) that it intended to act against Armstrong and five other people close to him for promoting and covering up the use of prohibited substances during the competition.

The agency then announced its decision in a 15-page letter addressed to Armstrong and five people close to him: Belgian director Johan Bruyneel, the sinister Italian doctor Michele Ferrari and the Spaniards Pepe Martí, Pedro Celaya and Luis García del Moral. All of them were accused of possession, trafficking and administration of prohibited substances and the authorities recommended imposing a higher than usual sanction on them because there were aggravating circumstances of their actions.

Armstrong sued the agency in ordinary court in an attempt to block the case and was backed by the UCI. But a judge filed the case on Monday and agreed with those responsible for the agency, even questioning the reasons for their investigation.

This Thursday the cyclist threw in the towel saying that had tired of responding to accusations that he considers false and getting involved in the charitable work of his LiveStrong foundation, whose managers regretted the outcome in a statement and warned that they will continue to raise funds for the investigation. “Today I turn this page”, Armstrong said this Thursday, “I will not speak of this matter again no matter what. I will focus on the work that I started before I even won a single Tour de France: serve people and families affected by cancer".

The World & TN