Cyclist Lance Armstrong plotted his career strategy yesterday after the US 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 Friday, a day after the 40-year-old Texan said he would 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 it wanted to see USADA’s full explanation for the sanctions before acting.
However, USADA’s statement made it clear they believe 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’s statement said.
Armstrong had long denied accusations of doping but said 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.
“Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors,” the firm said.
Armstrong, who has branded the USADA probe a witch hunt, had gone to court in a bid to block the agency’s proceedings.
But on Monday a federal judge in his hometown of Austin dismissed his lawsuit, leaving Armstrong until midnight on Thursday to tell USADA whether or not he would seek arbitration.
USADA maintains that Armstrong used banned substances – including the blood-booster EPO, steroids and blood transfusions – dating back to 1996, and said 10 of his former team-mates were ready to testify against him.