Shock as Armstrong gives up fight against doping allegations

The cancer survivor will be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and his record will be forever tarnished as that of a cheat.

Yet the 40-year-old Texan continues to deny any wrongdoing, claiming: “There comes a point in every man’s life when he has to say, ‘enough is enough’. 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.”

Armstrong was known as a ferocious rider who never quit, and won worldwide admiration for his battle against cancer, returning to health to win cycling’s most famous race seven times.

While his sporting record will be destroyed, his heroic standing outside cycling will also be tarnished.

Armstrong’s Livestrong foundation, which helps cancer survivors, helped start the trend of charity wristbands, and his yellow bracelets became fashionable for celebrities and fans alike in the middle of the last decade, raising millions of pounds.

On Twitter, Lord Sugar reacted to the news the cyclist was giving in by saying: “Lance Armstrong says can’t be bothered to fight over drug allegations. Yeh right ... you would fight like crazy to retain your integrity.”

Yorkshire-born England rugby star Mike Tindall said: “The biggest loser in the Lance Armstrong affair is the sport of cycling, to try and change results over the 15 years seems ridiculous.”

But others defended Armstrong, saying he never failed a drugs test.

Armstrong chose to back down from fighting an investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency 
(USADA) into allegations that he cheated by using banned substances.

USADA chief executive Travis Tygart said the International Cycling Union now had “no choice but to strip the titles”.

He said: “It is a sad day for all of us who love sport and athletes.”

The USADA has said previously that 10 of Armstrong’s former team-mates were ready to testify against him, alleging he used banned substances as far back as 1996.

Armstrong came to transcend his sport after writing It’s Not About The Bike, the inspirational story of his fight to survive testicular cancer in 1996 and go on to win his first Tour three years later.

His love life also saw him featuring in the gossip columns after he divorced his wife and mother of three of his children Kristin Richard, got engaged to singer Sheryl Crow, only to split with her and father two more children with girlfriend Anna Hansen.