Armstrong ordered to pay back winnings

Lance Armstrong has been ordered to repay all the prize money he won between 1998 and 2005 after being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life.

Cycling’s governing body, the International Cycling Union, confirmed on Monday they had accepted the findings of the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation into Armstrong and as a result the Texan has been stripped of all results since August 1, 1998.

There had been calls for Armstrong to be forced to repay the prize money he earned for his Tour de France victories, totalling over £2.4million, and the UCI management committee have concluded that it would be only right for the disgrace cyclist to lose his winnings as well as the titles.

As well as ordering Armstrong to repay his winnings, the committee concluded not “to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events”.

“The Management Committee of the International Cycling Union (UCI), meeting in Geneva today, decided a number of critical measures in the wake of the USADA ‘Reasoned Decision’ on Lance Armstrong. The Committee acknowledged that decisive action was needed in response to the report,” a statement on the UCI website read.

“With respect to Lance Armstrong and the implications of the USADA sanctions which it endorsed on Monday 22 October, the Management Committee decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events.

“The Committee decided to apply this ruling from now on to any competitive sporting results disqualified due to doping for the period from 1998 to 2005, without prejudice to the statute of limitation. The Committee also called on Armstrong and all other affected riders to return the prize money they had received.

“The UCI Management Committee acknowledged that a cloud of suspicion would remain hanging over this dark period – but that while this might appear harsh for those who rode clean, they would understand there was little honour to be gained in reallocating places.

“Second, while the Management Committee expressed confidence that enormous strides had been made in the fight against doping since 2005, in order to ensure that UCI and cycling could move forward with the confidence of all parties, the governing body also decided to establish a fully independent external Commission to look into the various allegations made about UCI relating to the Armstrong affair.

“The Committee agreed that part of the independent Commission’s remit would be to find ways to ensure that persons caught for doping were no longer able to take part in the sport, including as part of an entourage.”