Lance Armstrong is being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
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Wow!
Lance Armstrong is no longer going to fight against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency which has charged him with illegal doping.
Armstrong, 40, will be stripped of his seven ground breaking Tour de France titles. He will also have a lifetime ban from the sport against him.
“There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now,” Armstrong wrote in a statement on his website. “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 [an] 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. ”
The sports icon retired twice from cycling, first in 2005, and then again in 2011. Although he has never been convicted of any doping charges, the USADA alleges that he took steroids during his legendary career, and claims that former teammates have testified confidentially to that effect.
Says USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart: “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, but for clean athletes, it is a reassuring reminder that there is hope for future generations to compete on a level playing field without the use of performance-enhancing drugs.”
“Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances,” Armstrong said. “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.”
At 25 years old, Lance was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer in 1996. He beat the odds and survived the fatal desease with surgery and chemo treatments.
Amazingly he continued on to have 5 children. Three of them where with his ex-wife Kristin and two are with his current girlfriend Anna Hansen.
Do you think Lance is guilty of steroid use?
Source, Photo: Fame/Flynet
Tags: Lance Armstrong
August 27th, 2012 at 9:44 am
I think he was a doper. Cycling is known for being dirty and he was the best at it. On top of that he was setting records and destroying fields of dopers. In my opinion the doping agency is saying “Fine, we are doing this and if you don’t like it take us to court and sue us,” and Armstrong not fighting it says “they have something on me.” Athlete’s are fighters and he is just quitting? Of course he doped.