Livestrong to remove Armstrong

The cancer fighting charity organization LIVESTRONG is going to remove Lance Armstrong form its name. The organization was created by Armstrong himself to support those who are suffering from cancer. But now it seems that Armstrong doesn’t want to relate the organization with his name.

The USADA banned Armstrong from international cycling and stripped off his seven Tour de France titles few days back and recently UCI has decided not to go the CAS in support of Lance Armstrong. Armstrong quit as the Chairman of his organization in October but maintained a place at the Board of Directors. But on 4th November, it was reported that Armstrong quit the position of being a member of the Board of Directors. When asked about the reasons, a spokeswoman stated that Armstrong didn’t want any controversy.

It is quite easy to deduce that Armstrong doesn’t want to leave any negative impact on his organization and that is why he has taken the step to end all formal relationships with LIVESTRONG. Now it has been reported that the organization removed his name from the title. A Board of Member of the organization, Mark McKinnon stated that Armstrong has always been an inspiration for millions of people and will remain so. He considered Lance Armstrong to be the “chief architect” of LIVESTRONG and when asked about the reason of dropping his name from the organization’s title he said that it should be a good thing to do. He said it to be a protective move for the organization.

All the major sponsors have ended their deal with Armstrong and now it seems that he is in disarray. He fought cancer back in 1996 and came back to cycling with sheer courage. Then he formed this cancer fighting organization which has become a symbol of the “fight against cancer”. Whether Armstrong’s name is dropped or not, it cannot erase out Armstrong’s name from the organization as millions of his fans still believe him to be a God.

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Pat McQuaid still backs cycling as a clear sport

The chief of International Cycling Union, Pat McQuaid, recently stated that cycling has not been the same. According to him it has moved on though Lance Armstrong’s case details didn’t seem to tell that. There had been protests against UCI for not accepting any responsibilities for the ongoing doping culture, but McQuaid consistently told that UCI had nothing to do with it.

Now that Armstrong’s case details have been given to UCI by USADA, the cycling world thought that McQuaid would take some responsibilities. But on the contrary he told that those black days were gone. He accepted the fact that the sport had suffered a huge blow due to this doping, especially because of this Lance Armstrong case. It also affected the image of this widely popular sport. But the sport is now free from all those ill-cultures and moving quite nicely, McQuaid argues.

The USADA has produced their details regarding Armstrong’s ban and it says that Armstrong followed the “most sophisticated” paths of doping though Armstrong himself continued to reject this report. Now the ball is in UCI’s court as they are yet to react to this report. The report also puts a big question mark on UCI itself as it says that Armstrong was able to dodge the doping tests consistently and he also bribed to keep his positive test secret.

McQuaid accepted that the report reached them. But he didn’t speak a word about their possible reply. He said that it would be unfair to comment as the lawyers haven’t come up with any decisions. Whatever might be the decision of UCI, a number of former and present cyclists wish Armstrong to be punished in an exemplary manner. It can be said that if UCI chooses to oppose USADA’s report and takes a stand in support of Armstrong it will definitely worsen the scenario, as well as the sport may be, too.

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Hushovd not at London Olympics

Thor Hushovd of Team BMC was riding at top place in 2011. He obtained victory on the time trial along with his Garmin-Cervélo team and he was also a Tour de France winner of two stages. The season brought them to participate in the Tour of Britain, where Hushovd attained a stage, and then moved to the world championships to support Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky to the 8th spot.

After the world championships, Hushovd did not race but he was occupied during the off-season by the transfer to BMC. It appeared that his group for 2012 has a chance to be the next “Super Squad” but he was unsuccessful to balance his performance of the previous year. Hushovd spent most of 2012 struggling with a virus which led him to miss many racing events. There were no known results but after it was announced that he already regained his health, he gradually built his form. When he relinquished the fifth stage of the Tour of Poland, it means that he was not prepared to go back to competition and particularly, in the Olympics.

In the Norwegian Cycling Federation venue, Hushovd said that the Olympics has been a main object of the season so it is important that he is fit. He has to withdraw from joining the road race if his body is not at its best condition. He believes that Norway will be providing the best team for the race to be held in London. He even wished them all good luck.

Vegard Stake Laeng, 23 years old, is the first substitute rider who will take Hushovd’s place. This is his first year to ride with a Professional Continental squad.

According to Steffen Kjærgaard, Norwegian Sports Director, with Vegard, they will still have a strong team to compete for the Olympic medals.

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