Lance Armstrong to be stripped of 7 Tour de France titles

For years cyclist Lance Armstrong has been fighting accusations that he used performance enhancing drugs. Finally, he has given up his fight, stating, “There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’ For me, that time is now.” This is not an admission of guilt, although the U.S Anti-Doping Agency is choosing to see it that way. Armstrong responded to their assumption by saying, “I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999. 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.”

According to Armstrong, the USADA does not have the authority to strip him of his titles, but their chief executive Travis Tygart believes otherwise, commenting, “It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes. It’s a heartbreaking example of win at all costs overtaking the fair and safe option. There’s no success in cheating to win.”

The International Cycling Union backs Armstrong — who risks losing all seven of his Tour de France titles — in his legal action against USADA, although they are yet to release a statement. In a worst case scenario Armstrong will be stripped of his titles and will be banned from the sport for life –although he has already retired– but he will not let the situation or the accusations get him down, remarking, “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.” ~Morgan Bates