Banned from cycling for life and stripped of the seven Tour de France victories that lifted him from cancer survivor to American icon, Lance Armstrong<\/strong> suffered a day of sporting disgrace on Friday even as he thanked supporters for a surge in donations to the foundation he launched for people touched by cancer.<\/p>\n Lance Armstrong News<\/strong>:\n<\/p>\n Hours after Armstrong announced he would not go to arbitration to dispute charges brought against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, USADA CEO Travis Tygart announced the sanctions, its allegations now regarded as confirmed findings after Armstrong refused to go further.<\/p>\n USADA found Armstrong participated in a team doping conspiracy that continued for years, using banned substances and prohibited blood transfusions to gain a competitive edge. It ordered the cyclist disqualified from all results from Aug. 1, 1998, through today, which includes the seven consecutive Tour titles won from 1999 through 2005.<\/p>\n The agency said Armstrong received a lifetime ban because of \u201chis numerous anti-doping rule violations, including his involvement in trafficking and administering doping products to others.\u201d<\/p>\n \nNobody wins when an athlete decides to cheat with dangerous performance enhancing drugs, but clean athletes at every level expect those of us here on their behalf, to pursue the truth to ensure the win-at-all-cost culture does not permanently overtake fair, honest competition. Any time we have overwhelming proof of doping, our mandate is to initiate the case through the process and see it to conclusion as was done in this case. Livestrong, the foundation Armstrong started, emerged as his safe haven, far removed from the aftershocks of his lost cycling accomplishments. The charity issued a strong message of support on Thursday night, and Armstrong went on Twitter to celebrate a surge in donations Friday: \u201cThanks to all the amazing @livestrong supporters worldwide. Donations today were UP 25x over yesterdays. Thank you thank you thank you!\u201d<\/p>\n The average donation had increased over the past few years, even as controversy swirled around Armstrong, who had become less popular, according to Q Score, a company that measures the appeal of celebrities.<\/p>\n But Armstrong stood to benefit from his many years as the face of Livestrong. A number of sponsors \u2013 Nike, Anheuser-Busch, Oakley \u2013 reiterated their support, and each mentioned his work in the fight against cancer. \u201cOur partnership with Lance remains unchanged,\u201d said Anheuser-Busch, which uses Armstrong as a pitchman for Michelob Ultra. \u201cHe has inspired millions with his athletic achievement and his commitment to helping cancer survivors and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n Armstrong also planned a quick return to the public eye, tweeting that he would be in Aspen, Colo., over the weekend for a bike race and marathon.<\/p>\n \u2018I know who won\u2019<\/p>\n The eventful day came after a dramatic night. Armstrong announced Thursday in a two-page statement that he would not fight the doping charges, saying \u201cenough is enough\u201d and declaring he would not recognize USADA\u2019s authority to sanction him. The feud between Armstrong and USADA had turned personal, and the cyclist did not pass up a chance at a last jab.<\/p>\n \u201cI know who won those seven Tours,\u201d Armstrong said in the statement. \u201cThe toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially (USADA CEO) Travis Tygart.\u201d<\/p>\n Vowing to \u201cturn the page,\u201d Armstrong said he would \u201ccommit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved communities.\u201d<\/p>\n USADA said the doping evidence against Armstrong came from the statements of more than a dozen witnesses, including former teammates and associates. While Armstrong\u2019s defense was consistent \u2013 he had never tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs \u2013 USADA said that was irrelevant. Armstrong and his co-conspirators on the U.S. Postal Service team, it said, devised ways to cheat in ways that wouldn\u2019t be detected.<\/p>\n The anti-doping agency found Armstrong used EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone, cortisone and HGH during his career, and that \u201cscientific data\u201d showed he manipulated his blood with EPO or blood transfusions during his comeback to cycling in the 2009 Tour.<\/p>\n It also said witnesses would testify had alleged that Armstrong \u201cencouraged them to use and administered doping products or methods, including EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and cortisone during the period from 1999 through 2005.\u201d<\/p>\n Armstrong did not respond to USADA\u2019s announcement of sanctions, after saying Thursday night he would refuse to accept any punishment USADA handed down. His lawyers threatened a lawsuit if USADA proceeded, arguing the agency must first resolve a dispute with the International Cycling Union (UCI) over whether the case should be pursued.<\/p>\n \u201cYou are on notice,\u201d Armstrong attorney Tim Herman said in a letter, \u201cthat if USADA makes any public statement claiming, without jurisdiction, to sanction Mr. Armstrong, or to falsely characterize Mr. Armstrong\u2019s reasons for not requesting an arbitration as anything other than a recognition of (International Cycling Union) jurisdiction and authority, USADA and anyone involved in the making of the statement will be liable.\u201d<\/p>\n USADA\u2019s authority upheld<\/p>\n That didn\u2019t stop USADA, which quickly imposed the ban Friday morning.<\/p>\n The Amaury Sport Organization, which runs the Tour de France, told The Associated Press that it would not comment until it had heard more from the International Cycling Union and USADA.<\/p>\n Armstrong previously had tried to derail the doping case, having filed a federal suit in his hometown of Austin to challenge USADA\u2019s jurisdiction over him. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks dismissed the case on Monday, upholding USADA\u2019s jurisdiction and ruling Armstrong had signed an agreement to go to arbitration to settle such disputes. The judge said he saw no evidence the arbitration was rigged, as Armstrong alleged, and had no reason to intervene because Armstrong could conceivably win his case there.<\/p>\n The ruling put Armstrong back on the clock to decide by Thursday night to opt for arbitration or accept USADA\u2019s sanctions. He said he would do neither.<\/p>\n \nThe bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place \u2026 when I raced Johan Bruyneel, a cycling team manager who led Armstrong to all seven tour titles and also faces doping sanctions, posted a statement on his website defending Armstrong: \u201cToday, I\u2019m disappointed for Lance and for cycling in general that things have reached a stage where Lance feels that he has had enough and is no longer willing to participate in USADA\u2019s campaign against him. Lance has never withdrawn from a fair fight in his life so his decision today underlines what an unjust process this has been.\u201d<\/p>\n Bruyneel added that he hopes \u201cit will soon be determined that the case that USADA initiated against me should never have gotten as far as it has.\u201d<\/p>\n Floyd Landis, Armstrong\u2019s teammate on the USPS team, was in federal court in San Diego Friday in connection with a fraud case stemming from his own USADA suspension. Landis has accused Armstrong of doping in the past but refused to comment on the decision.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m here today at the courthouse to take responsibility for my decisions in the past, and I can\u2019t speak for anyone else,\u201d said Landis, who had his 2006 Tour de France victory stripped in 2010.<\/p>\n Author:<\/strong> Brent Schrotenboer P.S. This is big in the world of Lance Armstrong News<\/em>. And this is BIG in world of making money online. Click on the Banner Below to find out How BIG this is:<\/p>\n drug allegations <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Lance Armstrong News: banned for life, stripped of 7 Tour wins Banned from cycling for life and stripped of the seven Tour de France victories that lifted him from cancer survivor to American icon, Lance Armstrong suffered a day of sporting disgrace on Friday even as he thanked supporters for a surge in donations to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":754,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5,6,7,8,9,2],"tags":[10,11,12,13,14,15,16],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-empower-network","category-financial","category-friends-and-family","category-funny-video","category-health-and-fitness","category-inner-circle-audios","category-internet-marketing","category-news","tag-lance-armstrong","tag-lance-armstrong-charity","tag-lance-armstrong-doping","tag-lance-armstrong-drug-allegations","tag-lance-armstrong-foundation","tag-lance-armstrong-livestrong","tag-lance-armstrong-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/754"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions\/57"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/thecouplecommasclub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
\n-USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in the release\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nLance Armstrong News: Livestrong, the foundation Armstrong started, still going strong<\/h2>\n
Lance Armstrong News: Not Going to Fight the Doping Allegations Against Him<\/h3>\n
\n
\n-Armstrong said\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\nSource: www.usatoday.com<\/p>\n