Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong’s decision to end his challenge to charges from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Thursday evening was announced through a statement. The decision prompted the USADA to take swift action, imposing a lifetime ban on Armstrong and stripping him of his Tour titles.
In the statement, Armstrong maintained his innocence, but said he no longer has a desire to fight what he called a “witch hunt.”
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. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart’s unconstitutional witch hunt. The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense.
Read the full statement here.
