LOS ANGELES: Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong said he will no longer fight doping charges by the US Anti-Doping Agency, which quickly said it would strip him of his titles and ban him from competitive cycling.
Armstrong, a cancer survivor considered one of the all-time greats in his sport, made the announcement in a written statement as he faced a midnight deadline on Thursday to formally challenge the accusations against him.
“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough’,” the American cyclist said in the statement, which was posted on his website.
“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.”
A short time later a spokeswoman for the USADA, Annie Skinner, said the agency would strip Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him from professional cycling for life.
“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 statement released by the agency.
“This is a heartbreaking example of how the win-at-all-costs culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition,” he said.
USADA maintains that Armstrong 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 USADA.
The federal probe was closed in February, but USADA announced in June it had evidence Armstrong used banned substances and methods – and encouraged their use by team mates.
The agency also said it had blood tests from 2009 and 2010 that were “fully consistent” with blood doping.
Armstrong denies all charges.
Meanwhile, World Anti-Doping Agency chief John Fahey says Armstrong’s decision not to fight doping charges can only lead to the conclusion that he is a ‘drug cheat’ and he should be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
“My understanding is that when the evidence is based upon a career that included seven Tour de France wins then all of that becomes obliterated,” he said. Fahey also dismissed Armstrong’s criticism of USADA and said he had found the doping authority to be a “very professional organisation” that had followed the rules in the cyclist’s case.
“They have acted on rules which are compliant with the WADA code,” Fahey said. “Now Mr Armstrong has said: ‘Enough, I’m not going any further’ and he’s endeavoured to shoot the messenger. He’s never gone before a tribunal. There’s never been a hearing related to this behaviour, so what is he tired of?” (Agencies)
