During the 92nd Tour de France in 2005, Lance Armstrong waved a
reading 7, for his seven Tour victories. Now, officially, its as if none
of them ever happened.Seven lines of blanks, from 1999 to 2005. fake oakleys
There will be no Tour de France winner in the record book for those
years.Once the toast of the Champs-lyses, Lance Armstrong was formally
stripped of his seven Tour titles Monday and banned for life for
doping.As r as the Tour is concerned, the Dallas natives victories never
happened. He was never on the top step of the podium. The winners
yellow jersey was never on his back.The decision by the International
Cycling Union was a milestone in the saga that brought down the most
decorated rider in Tour history and exposed widespread cheating in the
sport.To be forgottenLance Armstrong has no place in cycling, and he
deserves to be forgotten in cycling, said Pat McQuaid, president of the
governing body. Make no mistake, its a catastrophe for him, and he has
to ce up to that.Christian Prudhomme, race director of the Tour, has
said the organization would not give the victories to the runners-up at
the races Armstrong won because so many of those riders have been linked
to doping as well. He said those Tours simply would have no official
winner.The World Anti-Doping Agency now has 21 days to decide whether it
will appeal the ruling. If it does not, Oakley Cycling Sunglasses,
Armstrongs hotly contested case is over.Armstrongs fiercely defended
reputation as a clean athlete was shattered by the U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency two weeks ago,Oakley Sunglasses White Black Frame Blue Lens when
it detailed evidence of drug use and trafficking by his Tour-winning
teams. Eleven of Armstrongs former teammates were among those who said
there was widespread, team-organized doping on Armstrongs U.S. Postal
Service and Discovery Channel teams.Neither Armstrong nor his
representatives had any comment about Mondays decision, but the rider
was defiant in August when he chose not to fight USADA in one of the
agencys arbitration hearings. He argued that the process was rigged
against him.Deserted by his major corporate sponsors (including, as of
Monday, Oakley sunglasses), Armstrong is vulnerable to a host of
lawsuits seeking repayment of his career winnings. The French cycling
federation tallied Armstrongs winnings from his seven Tour victories at
$3.85 million money Prudhomme wants to recoup.Armstrong, 41, could ce
perjury charges stemming from his testimony in a 2006 lawsuit in which
he succeeded in collecting a $5 million bonus from a Dallas-based sports
insurance company for having won without the assistance of
performing-enhancing drugs.The U.S. government could also get involved
in a case brought by Floyd Landis, who was key to taking down his former
teammate by turning whistle-blower in 2010.Olympic medal at riskIn
addition, McQuaid said, the cycling unions board will meet Friday to
discuss going after Armstrongs 2000 Olympic bronze medal and setting up a
Truth and Reconciliation commission to air the sports remaining
secrets.The cycling unions decision Monday represented vindication for
USADA and its CEO, Travis Tygart, who has long stood accused of pursuing
a vendetta against Armstrong and over-reaching the agencys authority in
doing so.In applauding the International Cycling Unions actions, Tygart
alluded to tension between his agency and the international body, which
at times had backed Armstrong in trying to seize control of the doping
investigation.Today, the UCI made the right decision in the Lance
Armstrong case, Tygart said. Despite its prior opposition to USADAs
investigation into doping on the U.S. Postal Service cycling team and
within the sport, USADA is glad that the UCI finally reversed course in
this case.With Mondays announcement, Oakley Sunglasses Black Frame Black
Lens a Dallas-based sports insurance company is stepping up the
pressure for Armstrong to repay a $5 million bonus the company was
forced to pay after his 2004 Tour victory.That company, SCA Promotions,
is also seeking the return of an additional $2.5 million it agreed to
pay in a 2006 settlement on behalf of Tailwind Sports, replica oakleys
covering interest and Armstrongs legal fees.If the moneys not returned,
the company will pursue all legal avenues to get it repaid, said
attorney Jeffrey Tillotson, representing SCA.SCA had balked at paying
the bonus after a 2004 book detailed doping allegations against
Armstrong.We had a contract that said so long as he was the official
winner, we were required to pay him the bonus, Tillotson said. They have
now judged hes no longer the winner.From wire reports, staff writer
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published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.At Austin event, Lance
Armstrong urges his charitys supporters to press on after difficult
couple of weeks
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