Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last Thursday, a move that has left the ace cyclist and his many supporters’ dumbstruck. Armstrong said that he will not appeal against the decision as he “had enough”. He has been imposed on a life ban from the sport. Armstrong still stands by his statement denying all charges on him but he says he now needs to attend to his personal life, away from all the dope drama.
Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis in rusty wheels
Floyd Landis, a teammate of Armstrong who had incriminated the blame on Armstrong said that he agrees to have defrauded his fans and followers of a whopping 500,000 dollars. He had earlier claimed of never using any of the banned substances.
Landis was at court the same time as Armstrong when the life ban sentence was imposed. He agrees that he had cheated his supporters into letting them believe that he had not doped the year he seized the tour de France title. Landis had however pointed his finger against Lance Armstrong when this case had initially begun saying that Armstrong had always been using illegal substances and that he himself had seen so.
Landis won tour de France in 2006 but then was disqualified on charges of doping. His fund, the “Floyd Fairness Fund” had raised around 5 million dollars as he was proving his case against the USADA. He now will pay back $478,354 from the raises. Right after he was convicted of doping in 2006, Landis started to raise funds through various means such as book releases, videos, appeals, meetings etc in attempt to prove himself as innocent.
He did not plead guilty but has now agreed to the case under a “deferred prosecution agreement”.
“He lied to thousands of people and obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars by telling them a story that wasn’t true. Anybody who does should be aware that the (U.S. Department of Justice) is not going to give them a pass,” said U.S. Attorney Phil Halpern.
Landis said that Armstrong had not only himself used performance enhancing drugs but also encouraged others to use them and help them not get caught. Armstrong had strictly denied all charged Landis made and said that he was being framed.
Lance’s case now rests dismissed and his career way back behind him now. Lance Armstrong’s case will always remain a mystery.
Tags: Cycling, Floyd Landis, Lance Armstrong, Tour de France, USADA
