Tour would vacate titles if UCI strips Armstrong

AAA??Oct. 12, 2012?10:56 AM ET
Tour would vacate titles if UCI strips Armstrong
AP

FILE-This Sept. 30, 2012 file photo shows David Zabriskie from the United States competes in the men's elite time trial at the World Road Championships in Geelong, Australia. After joining the U.S. Postal squad, Zabriskie broke his vow never to take drugs himself. He testified that team manager Johan Bruyneel, the brains behind Armstrong's assaults on the Tour, pushed him to dope with EPO and that a team doctor, Luis Garcia del Moral, administered his first shot of the blood-boosting hormone, in Spain in 2003. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill, File)

FILE-This Sept. 30, 2012 file photo shows David Zabriskie from the United States competes in the men's elite time trial at the World Road Championships in Geelong, Australia. After joining the U.S. Postal squad, Zabriskie broke his vow never to take drugs himself. He testified that team manager Johan Bruyneel, the brains behind Armstrong's assaults on the Tour, pushed him to dope with EPO and that a team doctor, Luis Garcia del Moral, administered his first shot of the blood-boosting hormone, in Spain in 2003. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill, File)

FILE - This March 21, 2009 file photo shows Lance Armstrong, of the United States, beside fellow countryman George Hincapie, left, during the Milan-San Remo cycling classic?in San Remo, Italy. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency says 11 of Lance Armstrong's former teammates testified against him in its investigation of the cyclist, revealing "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

President of the International Cycling Union Pat McQuaid speaks during an interview after the fourth stage of the Tour of Beijing in Beijing, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. McQuaid has defended his organization's efforts to catch drug cheats in the wake of a damning report on Lance Armstrong's doping practices. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

International Cycling Union President Pat McQuaid listens during an interview after the fourth stage of the Tour of Beijing in Beijing Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. McQuaid has defended his organization's efforts to catch drug cheats in the wake of a damning report on Lance Armstrong's doping practices. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

President of the International Cycling Union Pat McQuaid stands on the podium during an award ceremony for the fourth stage of the Tour of Beijing in Beijing, Friday, Oct. 12, 2012. McQuaid defended his organization's efforts to catch drug cheats in the wake of a damning report on Lance Armstrong's doping practices. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

PARIS (AP) ? Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme says the race will have no winner if the International Cycling Union goes along with American officials' ruling to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven titles from 1999-2005.

Prudhomme says this week's U.S. Anti-Doping Agency report on Armstrong is "damning" and calls into question "a system and an era."

The cycling union, which governs the sport internationally, has less than three weeks to decide whether to appeal USADA's decision to ban Armstrong for life and erase his racing results.

In China on Friday, UCI President Pat McQuaid refused to comment on the USADA report, which offers the rationale for its ruling in the Armstrong case. The document portrays the cyclist as a doper who pressured teammates to also take performance-enhancing drugs.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-10-12-Armstrong-Doping/id-b47e24c2355e4a1b82bd0f22a7827f89

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