Posted on 10/22/2012 7:23:47 AM PDT by AmericanSamurai
GENEVA, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life on Monday after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against the American.
The long-awaited decision has left cycling facing its "greatest crisis" according to UCI president Pat McQuaid and has destroyed Armstrong's last hope of clearing his name.
"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. Lance Armstrong deserves to be forgotten in cycling," McQuaid told a news conference as he outlined how cycling, long battered by doping problems for decades, would have to start all over again.
"The UCI wishes to begin that journey on that path forward today by confirming that it will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and that it will recognise the sanction that USADA has imposed.
"I was sickened by what I read in the USADA report."
On Oct. 10, USADA published a report into Armstrong which alleged the now-retired rider had been involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen".
Armstrong, 41, had previously elected not to contest USADA charges, prompting USADA to propose his punishment pending confirmation from cycling's world governing body.
Former Armstrong team mates at his U.S. Postal and Discovery Channel outfits, where he won his seven successive Tour titles from 1999 to 2005, testified against him and themselves and were given reduced bans by the American authorities.
"It wasn't until the intervention of federal agents...they called these riders in and they put down a gun and badge on the table in front of them and said 'you're now facing a grand jury you must tell the truth' that those riders broke down," McQuaid added.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
What a silly corrupt sport bicycle racing has been revealed to be.
May all the cyclists who testified against him rot in hell. The guy worked every day of his life to win these races.
So who is the winner of those races then? The other guys also have been busted for doping.
Yep. Armstrong passed all the tests he took at the time. That should be good enough.
Saw one of his biggest fans today post that they were simply not accepting this decision and still consider Lance to have won the seven races.
So did some of his teammates who admitted doping.
Will all the money that Lance help raise for cancer research have to be returned to the donors now? /s
I could never stand Lance Armstrong. He is a huge liberal. I always thought he was overrated.
He passed the tests. And that makes them liars.
Armstrong supporters could give Obamabots a run for their money in the Kool-Aide drinking department.
So who is the winner of those races then?
http://news.yahoo.com/1-cycling-armstrongs-tour-titles-stripped-says-uci-111059090—spt.html
snip
Other issues such as the potential re-awarding of Armstrong’s Tour titles and the matter of prize money will be discussed by the UCI Management Committee on Friday.
Tour director Christian Prudhomme has said he believes no rider should inherit the titles given doping was so widespread among the peloton at the time but McQuaid made it clear the decision rested with his organisation, not the Tour.
....
The UCI also said it had dope tested Armstrong 218 times and the fact he never tested positive and “beat the system” means that other organisations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency should share the responsibility of accepting the results.
end snips
Ha, LA is an innovator pushing the technological envelope.
Bike arcing needs to have enforceable rules as their events occur, not 10 years later. It's a joke as a "professional" sport.
Ha, LA is an innovator pushing the technological envelope.
Bike racing needs to have enforceable rules as their events occur, not 10 years later. It's long been a joke as a "professional" sport.
“So who is the winner of those races then? The other guys also have been busted for doping.”
Nobody is a winner. I don’t think anyone will be attracted to the sport for some time.
Let’s for the sake of argument say that Armstrong was a walking pharmasy the whole time he was winning bike races.
The people who run the sport knew as much about him then as they know now. Why didn’t they ban him then?
Because he was popular and he brought attention and money to their business. It was in their interest to let it slide. Now they judege it’s in their interest to look like heros and “clean” the sport up.
Trash sport run by trash.
...apparently Mr Armstrong was so concentrated on his work, that he forgot "diplomacy". Maybe he refused to render kickbacks.
Whatever it was, he clearly annoyed some of the "officials" in this organization.
Lance Armstrong has enhance more lives and saved more lives than all of the "officals" in the UCI and USADA combined.
....I'll go with Lance...these other people can go to hell.
“Let’s for the sake of argument say that Armstrong was a walking pharmasy the whole time he was winning bike races.”
It’s not just that he doped but apparently he told other players that if they didn’t dope themselves, they wouldn’t be in the team.
They could go after Barry Bonds if they wanted to and I don’t think too many people would shed tears.
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