LANCE ARMSTRONG HAS missed the deadline to lodge an appeal against his lifetime ban and stripping of his seven Tour de France titles.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport made the announcement last night with all of Armstrong’s achievements since August 1998 now unrecognised fragments of history.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) endorsed the US Anti Doping Agency’s decision to ban Armstrong for life and strip him of all his title in October after he was found guilty of being at the heart of sports’ biggest ever doping scandal.
The UCI notified Armstrong on 6 December of the 27 December deadline of appeal.
Armstrong has made little comment since he announced in August he was dropping his legal challenge against the allegations made by USADA, but has continually maintained his innocence. The International Olympic Committee, which had been waiting on the result of appeal, can now demand Armstrong return the time-trial bronze medal he won at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.