Lance Armstrong banned for life and stripped of all Tour De France titles

After declaring that he 'can no longer be bothered' to fight charges he's vehemently denied, and smugly declaring the US anti doping agency do not have the power to strip him of titles, they did exactly that. And in my opinion it serves him right, especially since his decision to stop fighting the case stinks of him knowing he's been caught out.

It's worth noting that he has never failed a drugs test in his career. The overwhelming factor in the verdict appears to be that ten different team mates of Lance over his career had agreed to testify in court that they either witnessed lance using EPO, among others, during training or were offered it themselves while on his team.

Really sad, his battle with cancer will become a bit player in the story of his life

I have the same amount of Tour de France titles as Lance Armstrong. I'm a beast.

I have very little sympathy for him. It seems he's trying to use the cancer card to get some compassion out of all this but, as much as I feel for cancer sufferers, it's not an excuse for cheating in your sport. He's been directly accused of using EPO, it's it nothing to do with his cancer drugs. If it was me, and I knew I was innocent, I'd fight it to the end to prove I was innocent and keep my reputation intact. But he didn't, instead he -

1. Chose not to fight the charges
2. Took the doping agency to court with an accusation all their individuals ready to testify we're being paid off in exchange for lieing. He lost this case, which was ran by the government and therefore not part of this apparent 'conspiracy'.
3. Decided even now to not appeal the decision, even though he has lost EVERYTHING.

Why would a proud sportsman, one of the best sportsmen in any sport in the world, roll over and let this happen?

I wasn't suggesting that he deserves sympathy.... however if he hadn't cheated to achieve his level of performance he may not have been able to 'persuade' his team that they should pay for the cancer treatment that undoubtedly saved his life... there's a real moral dilemma bound up in his life story... for me it's just a shame that a lot of people like me viewed Lance as a role model and an example of triumph over adversity and the indomitable human spirit... just remind him to wipe his feet of clay on the way out

I too have admired Armstrong but there was a little bit of too good to be true with the USPS and his success. But...why does this come up now? Why wasn't it unearthed at the time? Cycling is still crippled with the spectre of doping - why is this coming to light now? Has it been the elephant in the cycling room for years or is there more to this story?

His slightly bizarre reaction to the allegations does not bode well for his innocence

Or cycling's innocence...

I DO NOT WANT TO ARGUE WITH THE BIKING COMMITTEE =! I AM GUILTY OF TAKING THE DRUG.

Natural law would now suggest that the following geezers who came second to Lance now own a yellow jersey

1999: Alex Zülle
2000: Jan Ullrich (Lars' wife... to avoid the crap drummer in Metallica / Canton stand)
2001: Jan Ullrich
2002: Joseba Beloki
2003: Jan Ullrich
2004: Andreas Klöden
2005: Ivan Basso
2006: Ivan Drago

I made the last one up... a bit

Or cycling's innocent...or it's passive innocence?

So has a spokesperson for the US anti-doping agency said that all this time he's been pedalling dope? I expect these things go in cycles.

Boom boom!

Probably stitched up. These companies these days would pay off people to testify against someone because it keeps the media talking about them and then its word of mouth spreading their brand.

Its happened in other sports. Every time someone gets done for drugs or allegedly done there is a big whip up of hysteria and people are like 'oh i want to see what happens there'.. thats how they get their money back in return.

Also added to the fact that even if he did do drugs he was probs competing against dozens of other drug cheats as well and its likely those who came second cheated too so they shouldn't just be awarded it that way.

They should be wiped and go down as 'no winner'.

I don't think that's a fair comment to make CB39. As I said in my last post Lance Armstrong took the USADA to court with allegations their witnesses were being bribed, and it was thrown out since neither Armstrong or the courts own federal investigation could provide any evidence to confirm the allegation. Quite the contrary, the USADA had the option to countersue Armstrong for his accusation they were corrupt and they would of probably won.

Your accusation the other cyclists that testified were probably also on drugs is also pretty unfair, and also insulting to anyonLe that follows the sport in my opinion. And even if they were also doping themselves, it doesn't mean automatically that Armstrong isn't doing it. Just because an addict calls YOU an addict, it can't immediately be assumed they are lying or you should be let off, does it?

I'm pretty irritated by all this because like lots of you apparently he was a role model to me too. In many conversations with friends I've declared him potentially the greatest sportsmen of all time, and a role model in virtually every sport going. Now apparently, he's a lying drugs cheat and always has been. I didn't believe it to begin with but the evidence put forward, and his reactions towards its, have left no doubts in my mind he is a cheat. And that sucks really. Finding out a man you've supported his entire career has lied to every single fans face is not only embarrassing for cycling but sport in general that this could happen.