Lance Armstrong Stripped of Tour de France Titles

Lance Armstrong, who has won seven Tour de France titles, has officially been stripped of them, and banned from cycling.

This shocking news follows what Armstrong refers to as a “witch hunt,” wherein the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has allegedly lied and bullied Armstrong into accepting a permanent ban from cycling, despite continually clean drug tests.

 Armstrong claims that the USADA’s chief executive, Travis Tygart, has a personal vendetta against him, and will reduce the punishment on other cyclists suspected of doping if they will speak out against Armstrong—whether truthfully or not.

His website has released a statement to discuss the situation:

“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… Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors…. From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs.”

C’mon now. Armstrong has been winning triathalons since he was 13. The guy’s an American hero. We love him; he's appeared as himself on everything from “Saturday Night Live” to “Dodgeball”.

He happens to be a unique physical specimen and, at least to all appearances, a nice guy with a legitimate interest in helping people.

To strip him of his titles with absolutely no evidence beyond hearsay is ridiculous.

Will the USADA be able to bring forward any actual proof that Armstrong has doped, when thus far they have failed?

Armstrong goes on to say that he will move beyond these “pointless distractions” and focus on his work of “serving people and families affected by cancer” and raising his five daughters.

You can read his full statement here.