Armstrong plots next move after ban, loss of titles
Source: AFP |
August 26, 2012, Sunday
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LANCE Armstrong plotted his career strategy yesterday after the United States Anti-Doping Agency banned him from the sport for life and stripped him of the record seven Tour de France titles.
USADA branded Armstrong a dope cheat on Friday, a day after the 40-year-old Texan said he will not pursue a bid to clear himself of charges that he used performance enhancing drugs to win cycling's most prestigious race from 1999 to 2005.
The agency laid out five rule violations for which Armstrong has been sanctioned, saying the cancer survivor who became a hero to millions took part in a systematic doping conspiracy with his then US Postal Service team.
It said that, as Armstrong has dropped out of an arbitration process, he "has received a lifetime period of ineligibility and disqualification of all competitive results from August 1, 1998, through the present".
Along with his celebrated haul of Tour titles, Armstrong stands to lose the Olympic bronze medal he won in 2000 along with other race titles, prize money and other awards.
The International Cycling Union, the sport's governing body based in Aigle, Switzerland, had been fighting USADA for jurisdiction over Armstrong's case and said on Friday it wanted to see USADA's full explanation for the sanctions before acting.
However, USADA's statement made clear it believes the UCI is bound by the World Anti-Doping Code to back up its findings.
"Because Mr Armstrong could have had a hearing before neutral arbitrators to contest USADA's evidence and sanction and he voluntarily chose not to do so, USADA's sanction is final," the agency said.
Armstrong had long denied accusations of doping but said on Thursday he would no longer even address the issue.
"Today I turn the page," he said. But hours after USADA's announcement on Friday he made it clear that doesn't mean he'll disappear, tweeting his intention to compete in a local mountain bike race in the Aspen area in Colorado called the Power of Four.
"Excited to be racing the #poweroffour tomorrow here in @AspenCO," Armstrong tweeted, apparently confident of a warm welcome from the local cycling community.
Certainly Armstrong had already received support from leaders of the anti-smoking and anti-cancer causes that he champions, and from sports apparel giant Nike.
USADA branded Armstrong a dope cheat on Friday, a day after the 40-year-old Texan said he will not pursue a bid to clear himself of charges that he used performance enhancing drugs to win cycling's most prestigious race from 1999 to 2005.
The agency laid out five rule violations for which Armstrong has been sanctioned, saying the cancer survivor who became a hero to millions took part in a systematic doping conspiracy with his then US Postal Service team.
It said that, as Armstrong has dropped out of an arbitration process, he "has received a lifetime period of ineligibility and disqualification of all competitive results from August 1, 1998, through the present".
Along with his celebrated haul of Tour titles, Armstrong stands to lose the Olympic bronze medal he won in 2000 along with other race titles, prize money and other awards.
The International Cycling Union, the sport's governing body based in Aigle, Switzerland, had been fighting USADA for jurisdiction over Armstrong's case and said on Friday it wanted to see USADA's full explanation for the sanctions before acting.
However, USADA's statement made clear it believes the UCI is bound by the World Anti-Doping Code to back up its findings.
"Because Mr Armstrong could have had a hearing before neutral arbitrators to contest USADA's evidence and sanction and he voluntarily chose not to do so, USADA's sanction is final," the agency said.
Armstrong had long denied accusations of doping but said on Thursday he would no longer even address the issue.
"Today I turn the page," he said. But hours after USADA's announcement on Friday he made it clear that doesn't mean he'll disappear, tweeting his intention to compete in a local mountain bike race in the Aspen area in Colorado called the Power of Four.
"Excited to be racing the #poweroffour tomorrow here in @AspenCO," Armstrong tweeted, apparently confident of a warm welcome from the local cycling community.
Certainly Armstrong had already received support from leaders of the anti-smoking and anti-cancer causes that he champions, and from sports apparel giant Nike.
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