Final Nail in Coffin
23 Oct 2012 7:49 AM IST
Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life on Monday after International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified United States Anti-Doping Agency’s (USADA) sanctions against the American. The long-awaited decision has left cycling facing its ‘greatest crisis’, according to UCI president Pat McQuaid.
‘Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. He deserves to be forgotten,’ McQuaid said while outlining how cycling, long battered by doping problems, would have to start all over again. ‘UCI wishes to begin that journey on the path forward today by confirming that it will not appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport and that it will recognise the sanction that USADA has imposed. I was sickened by what I read in the USADA report,’ he said. On October 10, USADA published a report into Armstrong which alleged the now-retired rider had been involved in the ‘most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sports has ever seen.’
Armstrong, widely accepted as one of the greatest cyclists of all time given he fought back from cancer to dominate the sport, has always denied doping and says he has never failed a dope test. He said he had stopped contesting the charges after years of probes and rumours because ‘there comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’
Other issues such as the potential re-awarding of Armstrong’s Tour titles and the matter of prize money will be discussed by UCI on Friday. USADA had charged five persons over the doping ring. Doctors Luis Garcia del Moral and Michele Ferrari and trainer Pepe Marti have been banned for life while Armstrong’s mentor Johan Bruyneel has chosen to go to arbitration along with doctor Pedro Celaya. UCI said it had dope tested Armstrong 218 times and that he never tested positive means other organisations such as World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) should share the responsibility of accepting the results.
‘Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling. He deserves to be forgotten,’ McQuaid said while outlining how cycling, long battered by doping problems, would have to start all over again. ‘UCI wishes to begin that journey on the path forward today by confirming that it will not appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport and that it will recognise the sanction that USADA has imposed. I was sickened by what I read in the USADA report,’ he said. On October 10, USADA published a report into Armstrong which alleged the now-retired rider had been involved in the ‘most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sports has ever seen.’
Armstrong, widely accepted as one of the greatest cyclists of all time given he fought back from cancer to dominate the sport, has always denied doping and says he has never failed a dope test. He said he had stopped contesting the charges after years of probes and rumours because ‘there comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘Enough is enough.’
Other issues such as the potential re-awarding of Armstrong’s Tour titles and the matter of prize money will be discussed by UCI on Friday. USADA had charged five persons over the doping ring. Doctors Luis Garcia del Moral and Michele Ferrari and trainer Pepe Marti have been banned for life while Armstrong’s mentor Johan Bruyneel has chosen to go to arbitration along with doctor Pedro Celaya. UCI said it had dope tested Armstrong 218 times and that he never tested positive means other organisations such as World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) should share the responsibility of accepting the results.
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