Lance Armstrong announced his retirement from cycling again, with the 7-time Tour de France champion bringing an end to a decade of dominance.
Armstrong returned to cycling in 2009 after announcing his first retirement in 2005, using his return to bring attention to his LIVESTRONG foundation.
“Today, I am announcing my retirement from professional cycling in order to devote myself full-time to my family, to the fight against cancer and to leading the foundation I established before I won my first Tour de France,” Armstrong said.
“My focus now is raising my five children, promoting the mission of LIVESTRONG and growing entrepreneurial ventures with our great corporate partners in the fight against cancer.”
Armstrong has been at the center of doping allegations for more than a decade, beginning when former cyclist turned sports journalist Christophe Bassons wrote a number of articles for a French newspaper during the 1999 Tour de France which made references to doping.
Last year, former U.S. Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis accused Armstrong of using performance enhancing drugs in 2002 and 2003.
Landis claims that U.S. Postal team director Johan Bruyneel bribed former Union Cycliste Internationale president Hein Verbruggen to keep quiet in 2002 when Armstrong allegedly tested positive for PED’s.
