Lance Armstrong cuts formal ties to Livestrong
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Lance Armstrong has cut formal ties with his cancer-fighting charity to avoid further damage brought by doping charges and being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
Armstrong resigned from the board of directors for Livestrong on Nov. 4. He had resigned Oct. 17 as chairman from the charity he founded but had kept a seat on the board.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ordered Armstrong banned from the sport for life and stripped of his titles. The International Cycling Union, which had originally supported Armstrong's fight, later agreed to wipe out Armstrong's record seven victories.
Livestrong spokeswoman Katherine McLane said Monday that Armstrong "remains the inspiration" and is still its largest donor with nearly $7 million over the years.
In a statement, new board chairman Jeff Garvey said Armstrong resigned from the board to spare the organization any negative effects resulting from the controversy surrounding his cycling career.
"Lance Armstrong was instrumental in changing the way the world views people affected by cancer. His devotion to serving survivors is unparalleled and for 15 years, he committed himself to that cause with all his heart," Garvey said.
Armstrong has not commented publicly on the USADA report and recently returned to Austin from Hawaii. Over the weekend, he posted a photograph on Twitter in which he is lying on a couch at his home with seven yellow Tour de France jerseys mounted on the wall.
Armstrong also has lost his personal sponsors, including Nike and brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who dropped their contracts with him or said they would not renew when current deals expire.
Garvey said the foundation would continue to expand free services to cancer survivors and advocate on their behalf.
"Because of Lance, there is today more focus on the individuals whom this disease strikes, and on healing the person, not just killing the disease," Garvey said.
USADA's report accused Armstrong of helping run "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen" within his U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams.
The USADA report said Armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood booster EPO and blood transfusions. The report included statements from 11 former teammates who testified against Armstrong.
Armstrong denies doping, pointing to hundreds of passed drug tests. But he chose not to fight USADA in one of the agency's arbitration hearings, saying the process was biased against him. Former Armstrong team director Johan Bruyneel is also facing doping charges, but he is challenging the USADA case in arbitration.
Armstrong resigned from the board of directors for Livestrong on Nov. 4. He had resigned Oct. 17 as chairman from the charity he founded but had kept a seat on the board.
The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency ordered Armstrong banned from the sport for life and stripped of his titles. The International Cycling Union, which had originally supported Armstrong's fight, later agreed to wipe out Armstrong's record seven victories.
Livestrong spokeswoman Katherine McLane said Monday that Armstrong "remains the inspiration" and is still its largest donor with nearly $7 million over the years.
In a statement, new board chairman Jeff Garvey said Armstrong resigned from the board to spare the organization any negative effects resulting from the controversy surrounding his cycling career.
"Lance Armstrong was instrumental in changing the way the world views people affected by cancer. His devotion to serving survivors is unparalleled and for 15 years, he committed himself to that cause with all his heart," Garvey said.
Armstrong has not commented publicly on the USADA report and recently returned to Austin from Hawaii. Over the weekend, he posted a photograph on Twitter in which he is lying on a couch at his home with seven yellow Tour de France jerseys mounted on the wall.
Armstrong also has lost his personal sponsors, including Nike and brewing giant Anheuser-Busch, who dropped their contracts with him or said they would not renew when current deals expire.
Garvey said the foundation would continue to expand free services to cancer survivors and advocate on their behalf.
"Because of Lance, there is today more focus on the individuals whom this disease strikes, and on healing the person, not just killing the disease," Garvey said.
USADA's report accused Armstrong of helping run "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen" within his U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams.
The USADA report said Armstrong and his teams used steroids, the blood booster EPO and blood transfusions. The report included statements from 11 former teammates who testified against Armstrong.
Armstrong denies doping, pointing to hundreds of passed drug tests. But he chose not to fight USADA in one of the agency's arbitration hearings, saying the process was biased against him. Former Armstrong team director Johan Bruyneel is also facing doping charges, but he is challenging the USADA case in arbitration.
Who watched the Special on CNN last night?? I did...LOTS of evidence. I suggest you all watch it. 1 hour.
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He's a Lying, Scamming CHEAT!! Plain and Simple.
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At this point, I am most bothered by the fact that he will not admit it...he'll deny it to the end. That means he really has no respect for the people who cheered him on, donated and BELIEVED him.....His ego is massive, and the arrogance...well....
Every single athlete that has been caught/admitted to doping should have all accomplishments they made wiped out. You people saying that they should be allowed to dope up are just nuts. We might as well dope up our soldiers so they can win those wars faster. Might as well dope up our kids so they can stay up and study longer. Might as well dope up all the cops and fire fighters so they can perform better. You people are just stupid.
What a buncha morons. "Stripped of his titles" means bupkis. He won. Get over it. You can't rewrite history nor wipe out Every Single News Story or broadcast. There will always be info out there discussing the races/stages. Purge away you regulatory idiots, it won't matter. Whenever someone asks who I think were the top cyclists, his name will ALWAYS be on the list.
A great man taken down by a witch hunt.
 @Gino How do you know he is a great man? Do you sit down to dinner with him at night? Do you go out for drinks with him? All you know of him up until he got busted was what his PR people wanted you to know and they will always paint a pretty picture.
 @Barlion I swear, all you do is cruise boards and nit-pik and try and tear down just about every article and every poster...ever have an original thought??? Doesn't seem like it...just negativity.
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Troll Much??
What, no pic of you and the seven yellow jerseys they stripped from you...
I think you'd be hard pressed to find a harder fall from grace. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are out of baseball and may never see Cooperstown but they'll always have their names in the record books. Seems to be a concerted effort now to remove all mention of Armstrong's name from cycling. I really do wish someone would come out and explain to the casual fan of cycling exactly what evidence the USADA has and how they arrived at the conclusions they did. Without that, it sounds like a witch hunt by certain individuals looking to make a name for themselves and their organizations. Lay everything out with explanations that a lay person can understand. I'd like to know.
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Having said that, some of the most exciting feats of cycling have been accomplished by folks who are now labeled as dopers. Alexander Vinokourov, for example, was electric in the 2007 Tour de France. Frankly, I've found the last few years of the tour to be rather boring with guys cracking on moderate climbs and unable to attack on sections of the course that would seem perfectly suited for it. If this is the way cycling is going to look from now on it's going to be difficult to continue to watch. Let them dope if they want, just make sure that everyone know who is and isn't. Otherwise, I think the sport will dry up in the US. Europe will still watch but in the states we don't watch soccer because it isn't high scoring enough and we won't watch cycling because it's boring.
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Mike
 @MikeCoomer So if they changed a touchdown to 1 point and did away with field goals you would stop watching football because the score won't be high enough? Kind of a dumb ass excuse to not watch a sport. Just say you don't care for it. Don't be afraid of what people might say to you because of your opinion.
 @Barlion I'll stand by my opinion that cycling was more exciting when folks were doping and it was all wink, wink. The problem is, now that one organization has decided not to wink back there going to strip away victories that occurred when everyone else was winking.Â
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Do you know how many stage wins they're going to have to strip to clean up the record books? How many other yellow jerseys they're going to have to take away? Know why they can't award any of Armstrong's 7 to another rider?  Jan Ullrich finished second in 2000, 2001, and 2003. If they awarded those victories to him you'd be putting another suspected doper on the podium. Maybe Beloki and Kloden are clean (particularly Kloden) so maybe they should get those two victories. Alberto Contador has been stripped of a title, as has Floyd Landis. Michael Rassmussen was winning the race when he failed a test and was asked to withdraw. The riders have held ride stoppages over drug testing for Christ sakes. Everybody knows it now, and knew it then, but now it's wrong.Â
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I'll keep watching, I'll keep riding my three bikes, and I'll keep hoping that the racing picks up.
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Mike
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BTW...my wife will confirm that I sometimes stick with a position way too long, no matter what other people think of it.
 @MikeCoomer I must respectfully disagree with your assessment that cycling has become boring. Vino has been one of my all-time faves until his fall...but he made the effort to come back and win clean, winning a stage in the 2010 TdF and even winning a gold meal in this past summer's Olympics. I loved seeing him win again!
 @DMT I've heard as much from some other folks I know that follow the big tours, that the racing is more interesting because the riders are less likely to be on the juice. I can understand that. Different strokes...
 @MikeCoomer But now I will have a weird taste in my mouth when the next TdF rolls around...for the first time in a long time I am not looking forward to it. I have a hard time believing anyone now. Hincapie, Leipheimer, lots of other big names are now toast, names I'd been following.
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Witch hunt or true cheating, I really don't know who to believe anymore. Very sad.
 @MikeCoomer Drat! I just saw my mistake - I meant to say "medal" and not "meal!" *blush*
Guess he's wanting to disappear while he can...
@DMT They have nothing but here/say to use as evidence. I think it should all be legal. Let these pro atheletes excel to the highest level!
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Lance is still a winner... They need to let P.E.D.'s be legal....