Lance Armstrong, the disgraced cyclist who had his seven Tour de France championships rescinded over doping charges, has resigned from the board of directors and severed all ties with Livestrong, the cancer-fighting charity that he founded 15 years ago.
Armstrong said the move is an attempt to distance the organization from his salacious scandal. He resigned as chairman on Oct. 17.
Armstrong was banned for life and stripped of his seven titles by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. The International Cycling Union also agreed to wipe away Armstrong’s titles, after initially supporting his fight against the charges.
Jeff Garvey, the new board chairman of Livestrong, said in a statement: ”Lance Armstrong was instrumental in changing the way the world views people affected by cancer. His devotion to serving survivors is unparalleled and for 15 years, he committed himself to that cause with all his heart.”
Armstrong’s resignation comes as he has lost personal endorsements with Nike and Anheuser-Busch. Both sponsors dropped their contracts with him and said they did not have any intentions of renewing the deals.
Garvey said the foundation still plans to advocate on the behalf of cancer patients and continue to expand free services to cancer survivors.
”Because of Lance, there is today more focus on the individuals whom this disease strikes, and on healing the person, not just killing the disease,” Garvey said.
Armstrong has kept a low profile since being stripped of his medals, and has yet to publicly address the claims that the USADA has brought against him. Armstrong points to the hundreds of passed drug tests during his career as a sign of innocence.
In the USADA’s report Armstrong was described as helping run one of the most “successful doping program that sport has ever seen” while riding for the U.S. Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams.
The report went on to add that Armstrong and fellow teammates used the blood booster EPO, steroids and blood transfusions to gain a competitive advantage.
He has chose not to fight the USADA in arbitration hearings because he claimed the process would be bias against him.
For now Armstrong just has the memories of his Tour de France victories. He posted a photograph on Twitter this weekend of him laying on his couch with the seven yellow Tour de France jerseys mounted on the wall.
