Seven-time Tour de France winner Team Radioshack rider Lance Armstrong waits at the starting line in Visalia, California of stage five of the Amgen Tour of California in this May 20, 2010 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

Seven-time Tour de France champ says 'enough is enough' in doping fight and gets banned, Reuters reports.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong said on Thursday he would no longer fight doping accusations by the US Anti-Doping Agency, which said it would strip him of his titles and ban him from competitive cycling.

"There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough,'" Armstrong said in a statement posted on his website.

"For me, that time is now. I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999," he said.

USADA spokeswoman Annie Skinner said the agency would strip Armstrong of his seven titles and ban him for life from competitive cycling.

Biography of Lance Armstrong Born:Sept 18, 1971 Place of birth:Plano, Texas Family:Three children (Luke David 1999, twins Isabelle Rose and Grace Elisabeth 2001) with wife Kristin Richard. Divorced in Sept 2003. Two children (Maxwell Edward 2009 and Olivia Marie 2010) with Anna Hansen. Career Seven time Tour de France winner from 1999 through 2005. Retired from cycling in 2005. Unretired in 2009 and finished third with teammate Alberto Contador winning the race. Retired again in 2011. August 23, 2012: USADA announced plans to strip Lance Armstrong of the seven Tour de France titles and ban him from cycling for life. Health Issues 1996: Diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The tumors had spread to his abdomen, lungs, and lymph nodes. Began aggressive chemotheraphy, but more tumors were found in his brain. After having the tumors removed from his brain and more chemotheraphy he was declared cancer-free in 1997. Created yellow "Livestrong" bracelets to raise funds for cancer research. China Daily

In the statement, Armstrong did not concede having used performance enhancing substances during his celebrated cycling career. On the contrary, he said he would "jump at the chance" to put the allegations to rest.

But the 40-year-old Texan said he refused to participate in the USADA process, which he called "one-sided and unfair".

He disputed the agency's authority to take away his titles.

Armstrong has been one of the most successful and controversial cyclists of all time.

A cancer survivor, he returned to the sport after beating the illness and won the Tour de France an unprecedented seven times in succession from 1999 to 2005.

The Austin American-Statesman reported that Armstrong also alerted the USADA in a letter sent just before a midnight Thursday deadline that he would not fight the charges through arbitration.

"It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and our athletic heroes," Travis Tygart, USADA's chief executive officer, said in a written statement.

"This is a heartbreaking example of how the win-at-all-costs culture of sport, if left unchecked, will overtake fair, safe and honest competition, but for clean athletes, it is a reassuring reminder that there is hope for future generations to compete on a level playing field without the use of performance-enhancing drugs," he said.

The USADA, a quasi-governmental agency created by the US Congress in 2000, formally charged Armstrong in June with doping and taking part in a conspiracy with members of his championship teams. Five other cyclists have been accused of conspiring with Armstrong over the course of 14 years to hide doping activity.

The agency said in a letter to Armstrong that it has blood samples from 2009 and 2010 that are "fully consistent" with doping.

In the letter, which was published in the Washington Post, the agency said it also has at least 10 former teammates and colleagues of Armstrong who will testify he used doping drugs during races from 1999 to 2005.

Lawyers for Armstrong contend the USADA gathered evidence by threatening to ruin the careers of fellow cyclists who have agreed to testify against him. Armstrong's lawyers also argue that the agency's rules violate his right to a fair trial and that it lacks proper jurisdiction to charge him.

In February, the Justice Department dropped an investigation centered on whether Armstrong and his teammates cheated the sponsor of their bike racing team, the US Postal Service, with a secret doping program.

Armstrong's attorneys contend that he has "passed every drug test ever administered to him in his career - a total of 500 to 600 tests... more drug tests than any athlete in history."

They say the International Cycling Union has proper jurisdiction in the case.

 

Chief wanted lance to face tribunal WADA chief John Fahey Friday said Lance Armstrong's decision not to fight drug charges would be seen as an admission of guilt and he was disappointed the American would not face a tribunal. "I would have liked to see the accusations, the innuendo, the rumors that have been going round for years tested in an open tribunal and a proper process, whatever the outcome was, so the whole world would have known what the facts were," he told ABC radio. Armstrong maintains his innocence and accused the USADA of launching an "unconstitutional witch hunt" against him as he declined to pursue procedures that could take his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But the World Anti-Doping Agency boss, an Australian, said the seven-time Tour de France winner's decision not to challenge the charges could only be seen as an admission of guilt. "There can be no other interpretation," he said. "His failure to rebut the charges allowed the USADA to take that as an admission of guilt and to impose sanctions. "I believe USADA acted properly. They laid very serious charges, he has chosen not to rebut those charges. "He can say what he likes. The only way we would have known what the substance was of those charges, what the evidence was, was to have the evidence tested and I'm disappointed that won't occur." AFP