The International Cycling Union announced Monday that it would uphold the United States Anti-Doping Agency's decision to ban Lance Armstrong for life for using illegal drugs during his professional riding career and his role in team-wide doping usage.
This also means Armstrong has officially been stripped of his record breaking seven Tour de France wins spanning from 1999 through 2005.
A staggering 26 witnesses, including 11 former teammates, have testified against Armstrong in a 202-page report recently released by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Click here to see the report.
The report states that Armstrong not only used performance enhancing drugs, or PEDs, to help him win races, but also dodged drug tests with blood transfusions. It also claims that teammates felt pressured to use performance enhancing drugs themselves based on Armstrong's actions.
A report by the NY Daily News is also claiming that Armstrong felt the need to intimidate teammates to not spill the beans about his own PED use mainly to help him keep his clean-cut image for his Livestrong foundation. He reportedly would do so threatening his teammates "reputations and livelihoods" if they tried ratting him out.
"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling; he deserves to be forgotten in cycling," Pat McQuaid, president of the cycling union, said in a news conference Monday in Switzerland. "Something like this must never happen again."
Armstrong stepped down as chairman of the Livestrong foundation last week based on the escalating doping scandal. He had become the face of the organization which raises money for cancer patients, but those who have supported and donated to the organization now feel all of the charity work he accomplished during his time with the company was a sham.
"The whole thing is founded on a lie. The guy cheated, and he forced other people to cheat," said Michael Birdsong, a longtime Livestrong supporter to CNN. "I would like my money back. We donated under false pretenses."
Armstrong helped the company make over $470 million since 1997 according to Yahoo.
Nike also announced this past week that they will end a sponsorship deal with Armstrong after backing him since 1999. Armstrong will reportedly lose $7.5 million a year after his current contract ends. Overall Armstrong will lose $30 million from sponsors that have all ended deals with him according to Bloomberg Buisnessweek.
The Tour de France race director Christian Prudhomme said in a press conference on Monday that he not only no longer considers Armstrong a Tour champion, but the company will erase Armstrong's name completely from the record books as well. This means as of today, there was no winner of the Tour de France from 1999 through 2005.
"Those dark years must be marked by the absence of a winner," Prudhomme said in the press conference.
Armstrong as still yet to admit he has used PEDs in the past, and strongly denied ever doping for almost a decade. He has never officially failed a drug test as well.
Related Articles:
Danica Patrick Crash: Bad Accident Causes NASCAR Driver To Exit Race Early, Disappointing Season Continues (VIDEO)
Kyle Bennett, Olympic BMX Rider Killed In Auto Accident (PHOTOS)
Miguel Cabrera Triple Crown: General Motors Honors Detroit Tiger Slugger
F1 Racer Michael Schumacher Set To Retire Again
See Now: OnePlus 6: How Different Will It Be From OnePlus 5?
