Armstrong to be banned for life

Austin - Lance Armstrong will be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, the US Anti-Doping Agency said on Thursday, after the cycling icon announced he would no longer fight the drug charges that have clouded his legacy.


USADA said Armstrong will be barred from cycling for life for using performance-enhancing drugs to win cycling's most prestigious race from 1999-2005, charges that Armstrong has vehemently denied.

Armstrong accused USADA of launching an "unconstitutional witch hunt" against him as he declined to pursue procedures that could take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"Today I turn the page," Armstrong said in a statement on his website.

"I will no longer address the 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."

7 Times Tour De France Winner Lance Armstrong Has NOT Been Stripped Of His Tour De France Titles
By Pete Jackson || August 24, 2012 at 04:45 GMT

In contrast to all the headlines in the press, the US anti-doping agency doesn’t actually have the power to strip him of his 7 titles. It’s down to the Tour de France officials and the International cycling union, so for now at least he’s still the all-time TDF champion.

Good news JD

Jack Dash Wrote:

---

> 7 Times Tour De France Winner Lance Armstrong Has
> NOT Been Stripped Of His Tour De France Titles
> By Pete Jackson || August 24, 2012 at 04:45 GMT
>
> In contrast to all the headlines in the press, the
> US anti-doping agency doesn’t actually have the
> power to strip him of his 7 titles. It’s down to
> the Tour de France officials and the International
> cycling union, so for now at least he’s still
> the all-time TDF champion.

I do not believe he has used drugs as he said numerous times he has been tested hundreds of times through the years and NEVER was any drugs found in his system..
I believe this witch hunt of the USA government is their typical bullying style and serve no purpose.

If he had been caught prev with drugs in his system it would have been another story.
and no matter what they do he will always be the person who has won the Tour 7 times.

I am also thinking that TDF officials can not just strip him they should have concrete evidence and the only concrete evidence is a positive test, but this is just my opinion

I may get clouted for this comment BUT here goes......

ALL PROFESSIONAL SPORTSMEN (excluding maybe jockeys because their biggest weapon is their size, or lack thereof) use PED's.

They may use it in their down time, off season, when they are injured, wahever, but they all use it imo.

This would include Rugby players, some footballers too, definitely baseball, american football and hockey players....basically anything where size, strength and speed is in play.

Any comments?

Tommy_Hotspur Wrote:

---

> I may get clouted for this comment BUT here
> goes......
>
> ALL PROFESSIONAL SPORTSMEN (excluding maybe
> jockeys because their biggest weapon is their
> size, or lack thereof) use PED's.
>
> They may use it in their down time, off season,
> when they are injured, wahever, but they all use
> it imo.
>
> This would include Rugby players, some footballers
> too, definitely baseball, american football and
> hockey players....basically anything where size,
> strength and speed is in play.
>
> Any comments?

People would have you believe that. However Professional atheletes are subject to out of competion testing, and they have to notify the WADA or whoever of their whereabouts at all times. Dutch cyclist Rasmussen was in trouble for a doping scandal a few years back as he did not make whoever aware of his whereabouts when he went on holiday.

A relative of mine banned from cycling for life has said on many occasions though that everyone takes it... The clever ones know how to hide it.

I guess that was kind of my point

500/600 tests throughout his career and never a positive finding.....now they Want to crucify him!Who has what to gain from this????



Tommy_Hotspur Wrote:

---

> I may get clouted for this comment BUT here
> goes......
>
> ALL PROFESSIONAL SPORTSMEN (excluding maybe
> jockeys because their biggest weapon is their
> size, or lack thereof) use PED's.
>
> They may use it in their down time, off season,
> when they are injured, wahever, but they all use
> it imo.
>
> This would include Rugby players, some footballers
> too, definitely baseball, american football and
> hockey players....basically anything where size,
> strength and speed is in play.
>
> Any comments?

Lance Armstrong must have been some cyclist. To be able to beat ever rival who was doped to the hilt while being squeaky clean himself must have taken some doing. I feel nauseous that I bought all his books and looked at him as such a fine role model. Fuck, I reckon if I took EPO I might even find a winner or two at Kenilworth tomorrow.

Evening Clanners

I not profess to know anything about the use of drugs in sport. But IMVHO e.g. with the Armstrong saga for sucks fake what good can be obtained now. Especially after all the testing that took place. Maybe the administractors should be taken to task as well. Do weight lighters, body buildars etc etc not use drugs to their advantage?

I truely believe that if there is proof of performance enhancing drugs being used, I believe they are, then this must be dealt with in the most stringent terms. To me the lure of big money has to such an extent that even even school kids are now using performance enhancing drugs, especially in Rugby.

Where will it all end, and the users what will be they be in a few years time.

Lance Armstong's Statement of August 23, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas - August 23rd, 2012 - There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, "Enough is enough." 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. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt. 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.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that it could not intervene.

If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition. Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?

From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation. As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully, threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months, USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules, applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach. On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to race today.

The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively, in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right.

USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to strip my seven Tour de France titles. 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. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart.

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. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work to do and I'm looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.

bbc sport
Lance Armstrong: Usada report reveals doping evidence

Cycling legend Lance Armstrong's team ran "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme the sport has ever seen" according to a report by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

In its report, Usada said Armstrong, 41, "engaged in serial cheating" associated with doping.

The report contains testimony from 11 of his ex-US Postal Service team-mates.

He has always denied doping allegations but has not contested Usada's charges.
Armstrong analysis
Image of Matt Slater Matt Slater BBC sports news reporter

"Usada chief executive Travis Tygart promised the evidence against Lance Armstrong and his five co-defendants would be thorough, and he wasn't kidding.

"As requested by the sport's governing body, the UCI, Usada has now sent them its 'reasoned decision' as to how it found the seven-time Tour de France champion guilty of running a systematic doping ring. It has also sent 1,000 pages of eye-witness testimony, lab results, scientific data, emails and financial records, evidence Tygart describes as overwhelming, conclusive and undeniable.

"Cycling's equivalent of War & Peace will also be published on Usada's website later today... it will be gruesome bedtime reading for Lance Armstrong's dwindling band of believers."

Armstrong's lawyer has described Usada's report as a "one-sided hatchet job".

"We have seen the press release from Usada touting the upcoming release today of its 'reasoned decision,'" said Sean Breen.

"[The] statement confirms the alleged 'reasoned decision' from Usada will be a one-sided hatchet job - a taxpayer-funded tabloid piece rehashing old, disproved, unreliable allegations based largely on axe-grinders, serial perjurers, coerced testimony, sweetheart deals and threat-induced stories."

In an statement accompanying their report, Usada chief executive Travis T Tygart said there was "conclusive and undeniable proof" of a team-run doping conspiracy.

The organisation has sent its "reasoned decision" document in the Armstrong case to the International Cycling Union (UCI), the World Anti-Doping Agency and the World Triathlon Corporation.

In it, Usada say it has "found proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Lance Armstrong engaged in serial cheating through the use, administration and trafficking of performance-enhancing drugs and methods that Armstrong participated in running in the US Postal Service Team as a doping conspiracy".

It adds: "His [Armstrong's] goal [of winning the Tour de France multiple times] led him to depend on EPO, testosterone and blood transfusions but also, more ruthlessly, to expect and to require that his team-mates would likewise use drugs to support his goals if not their own.

"It was not enough that his team-mates give maximum effort on the bike, he also required that they adhere to the doping programme outlined for them or be replaced.

"He was not just a part of the doping culture on his team, he enforced and re-enforced it.

"Armstrong's use of drugs was extensive, and the doping programme on his team, designed in large part to benefit Armstrong, was massive and pervasive.

"Armstrong and his co-conspirators sought to achieve their ambitions through a massive fraud now more fully exposed. So ends one of the most sordid chapters in sports history."
Armstrong allegations timeline

May 2010: Armstrong's former US Postal team-mate Floyd Landis launches allegations against the Texan
May 2011: Forced to deny claims made by former team-mate Tyler Hamilton that they took performance enhancing drugs together
Feb 2012: An investigation by federal prosecutors into alleged doping by Armstrong is dropped
June: Usada confirms it will file formal doping charges against Armstrong
July: Armstrong files lawsuit against Usada accusing them of "corrupt inducements" to other cyclists to testify against him
20 August: Armstrong's legal action dismissed in court
24 August: Armstrong announces he will not fight the doping charges filed against him but insists he is innocent. He is stripped of all his titles banned for life from cycling by Usada
10 October: Usada claim 11 of Armstrong's former team-mates have testified against him

The UCI now has 21 days to lodge an appeal against Usada's decision with Wada or it must comply with the decision to strip Armstrong, who now competes in triathlons, of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life.

Armstrong, who overcame cancer to return to professional cycling, won the Tour from 1999 to 2005. He retired in 2005 but returned in 2009 before retiring for good two years later.

Usada claim the evidence against Armstrong was "beyond strong" and stretched to more than 1,000 pages - which includes sworn testimony from 26 people, including 15 riders with knowledge of the US Postal Service Team and its participants' doping activities.

"It is as strong as, or stronger than, that presented in any case brought by Usada over the initial 12 years of [its] existence," it said.

Among the former team-mates of Armstrong's to testify were George Hincapie, Tyler Hamilton and Floyd Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for failing a dope test and was recently found guilty in a Swiss court of defaming the UCI for alleging they had protected Armstrong from doping claims.

Usada praised the "courage" shown by the 11 riders in coming forward and breaking the "code of silence".

It said: "Lance Armstrong and his handlers engaged in a massive and long-running scheme to use drugs, cover their tracks, intimidate witnesses, tarnish reputations, lie to hearing panels and the press and do whatever was necessary to conceal the truth."

Tygart added: "The riders who participated in the USPS Team doping conspiracy and truthfully assisted have been courageous in making the choice to stop perpetuating the sporting fraud, and they have suffered greatly.
Play media

Hamilton saw Armstrong take drugs

"I have personally talked with and heard these athletes' stories and firmly believe that, collectively, these athletes, if forgiven and embraced, have a chance to leave a legacy far greater for the good of the sport than anything they ever did on a bike.

"Lance Armstrong was given the same opportunity to come forward and be part of the solution. He rejected it.

"Instead he exercised his legal right not to contest the evidence and knowingly accepted the imposition of a ban from recognised competition for life and disqualification of his competitive results from 1998 forward."

Usada confirmed that two other members of the US Postal Service team, Dr Michele Ferrari and Dr Garcia del Moral, have also received lifetime bans for their part in the doping conspiracy.

Three further members - team director Johan Bruyneel, a team doctor Dr Pedro Celaya and team trainer Jose Marti - have chosen to contest the charges and take their cases to arbitration.

Tygart also called on the UCI to "act on its own recent suggestion for a meaningful Truth and Reconciliation programme".

"Hopefully, the sport can unshackle itself from the past, and once and for all continue to move forward to a better future," he added.