Lance Armstrong banned for life

Lance Armstrong's fate was sealed on Monday as cycling's under-fire 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 the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) decision to erase the rider's entire career after August 1998, as president Pat McQuaid called the scandal "the biggest crisis" the sport had ever faced.

"The UCI will strip him of his seven Tour de France wins. Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling... He deserves to be forgotten in cycling," McQuaid told a news conference in Geneva, saying he had been "sickened" by the revelations.

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.

The revelations, including evidence from 11 of Armstrong's former team-mates, plunged a sport which has been working hard to rid itself of its murky doping past into crisis.

McQuaid succeeded Hein Verbruggen as president of world cycling after Armstrong's seventh and final Tour victory in 2005 and is credited with boosting the body's anti-doping program, notably with the pioneering blood passport.

The Irishman was under pressure to answer how Armstrong and his teams managed to dope for so long without being detected. But he rejected calls to quit, vowing to continue his work against the scourge of doping.

Armstrong's sporting reputation as the cancer survivor who fought back to win cycling's most gruelling and celebrated race has been shattered since the revelations, leading to sponsors leaving him in droves.

There has also been fears of a wider withdrawal of financial backing for the sport after Dutch financier Rabobank said it was ending the sponsorship of its professional cycling team after a 17-year association.

The sponsor described professional cycling as "sick" to its core and unlikely to recover in the foreseeable future.

The strongly-worded comments went to the heart of claims of failings at the UCI and in particular to McQuaid, who has been criticised for failing to see the extent of doping within the sport.

Verbruggen, who stepped down in in 2006 but remains honorary president, ran the UCI during Armstrong's golden era -- a time when USADA's report says Armstrong and team-mates evaded dope tests either by hiding or being tipped off in advance.

The Dutchman has also been accused of protecting Armstrong -- even accepting a donation to cover up a positive dope test. McQuaid on Monday said the UCI "absolutely deny" that Armstrong bought off the body.

Armstrong's cancer backstory and Tour triumphs from 1999 to 2005 were seen as key to restoring cycling's tattered image after a string of high-profile doping scandals in the 1990s.

His Tour victories are unlikely to be re-awarded, the race's director Christian Prudhomme has said. The void would prevent further headaches, given that most riders who finished on the podium in that time have since been implicated in doping.

But the final decision will come in a special UCI meeting on Friday.

Armstrong on Sunday spoke briefly to some 4,300 cyclists at the Livestrong Challenge charity benefit, a 160km race in his hometown of Austin, Texas.

"I've been better but I've also been worse," said Armstrong. "Obviously it has been an interesting and difficult couple of weeks."

Since the USADA report, sponsors have fled Armstrong and he was forced to resign as chairman of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997 over concerns his tarnished reputation could hurt the cause.

Armstrong, who overcame testicular cancer that had spread to his brain and lungs to achieve cycling stardom, inspired more than $500 million in donations to Livestrong and pushed other cancer survivors to battle the condition.

No criminal charges were filed against Armstrong from an 18-month US federal probe that ended earlier this year and evidence from that case was not given to USADA.

But the Texan could yet face court cases from former sponsors who accepted his assurances that his legacy was not aided by banned substances.

Chronology of Lance Armstrong's career and doping accusations:

1992: Armstrong competes in Barcelona Olympics, turns pro.

1993: Wins world championship, USPRO championship and a stage in his first Tour de France.

1996: Enters year as world's top-ranked cyclist. In October, has surgery and chemotherapy to treat testicular cancer that has spread to lungs and brain.

1997: Forms charitable foundation to benefit cancer research, resumes training.

1998: Wins Tour de Luxembourg, Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt and Cascade Classic

1999: Wins first Tour de France title riding for US Postal Service team -- just the second American to win the Tour.

2000: Wins second Tour de France title. Publishes "It's Not About the Bike" about return from cancer.

2001: Wins third Tour de France title.

2002: Wins fourth Tour de France title.

2003: Wins fifth Tour de France title.

2004: Armstrong accused of doping in book written by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester. Wins sixth Tour de France title.

2005: Wins seventh Tour de France title and retires.

In August, French sports daily L'Equipe reports tests on urine samples allegedly taken from Armstrong during the 1999 Tour and frozen were positive for erythropoietin (EPO). Armstrong denies doping.

2006: Armstrong cleared of allegations stemming from a 1999 drug test. In July, Floyd Landis wins the Tour but is stripped of title after failing a drug test.

2008: Armstrong says he'll return to pro cycling.

2009: Breaks collarbone in first-stage crash of the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon in March. In April, French anti-doping agency says Armstrong failed to co-operate with drug-tester. Finishes third in the Tour de France.

2010: Landis admits he doped when riding with USPS team and accuses teammates including Armstrong of doping. Armstrong denies the allegations.

2011: January Sports Illustrated article quotes Armstrong's 1995 teammate Stephen Swart as saying Armstrong was "the instigator" of EPO use by some team members. Armstrong lawyer denies allegation.

After competing in Australia's Tour Down Under, Armstrong again retires.

In May, former teammate Tyler Hamilton tells CBS News that he and Armstrong took EPO during the 1999, 2000 and 2001 Tours de France.

2012: In February, US prosecutors drop criminal probe into Armstrong and other cyclists without bringing charges.

On June 29, US Anti-Doping Agency officially charges Armstrong with doping and trafficking of drugs, suspends him from competing.

In July, Armstrong files lawsuit in federal court in Texas against USADA.

On August 20, federal judge dismisses Armstrong's lawsuit.

On August 23, Armstrong says he won't take case to arbitration. USADA chief Travis Tygart says Armstrong will be stripped of all of results dating back to August 1, 1998 and banned from cycling for life.

On October 10, USADA submits its report to the International Cycling Union, unveiling evidence collected in probe of Armstrong and the USPS team.

On October 17: Embattled Armstrong steps down as chairman of cancer charity Livestrong as sponsors Nike, Trek, Anheuser-Busch and others dump endorsement deals with him.

On October 22: world cycling's governing body confirm USADA ban. Stripped of Tour de France victories and other career wins.

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