Cycling: Cycling chiefs confirm Armstrong ban

GENEVA: Lance Armstrong’s fate was sealed yesterday, as cycling’s world governing body decided to back a life ban for doping and strip him of his record seven Tour de France titles. The International Cycling Union (UCI) said it supported a decision by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to erase the Texan’s career and his place in the sport’s history. “We will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and we will recognise the sanction that USADA has imposed,” said UCI President Pat McQuaid. “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling.” Earlier this month, the US body released a devastating dossier on Armstrong, detailing over 202 pages and with more than 1,000 pages of supporting testimony how he was at the heart of the biggest doping programme in the history of sport.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2012.