# Enough is Enough

- Link: https://exclusiveaccess.net/enough-is-enough/
- Published: 2012-08-24T09:00:12-04:00
- Author: EAN

Lance Armstong’s Statement of August 23, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas – August 23rd, 2012 – There comes a point in every man’s life when
he has to say, “Enough is enough.” For me, that time is now. I have been dealing
with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours
since 1999. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal
criminal investigation followed by Travis Tygart’s unconstitutional witch hunt. 
The toll this has taken on my family, and my work for our foundation and on me leads
me to where I am today – finished with this nonsense.

I had hoped that a federal court would stop USADA’s charade. Although the court 
was sympathetic to my concerns and recognized the many improprieties and deficiencies
in USADA’s motives, its conduct, and its process, the court ultimately decided that
it could not intervene.

If I thought for one moment that by participating in USADA’s process, I could confront
these allegations in a fair setting and – once and for all – put these charges to
rest, I would jump at the chance. But I refuse to participate in a process that 
is so one-sided and unfair. Regardless of what Travis Tygart says, there is zero
physical evidence to support his outlandish and heinous claims. The only physical
evidence here is the hundreds of controls I have passed with flying colors. I made
myself available around the clock and around the world. In-competition. Out of competition.
Blood. Urine. Whatever they asked for I provided. What is the point of all this 
testing if, in the end, USADA will not stand by it?

From the beginning, however, this investigation has not been about learning the 
truth or cleaning up cycling, but about punishing me at all costs. I am a retired
cyclist, yet USADA has lodged charges over 17 years old despite its own 8-year limitation.
As respected organizations such as UCI and USA Cycling have made clear, USADA lacks
jurisdiction even to bring these charges. The international bodies governing cycling
have ordered USADA to stop, have given notice that no one should participate in 
USADA’s improper proceedings, and have made it clear the pronouncements by USADA
that it has banned people for life or stripped them of their accomplishments are
made without authority. And as many others, including USADA’s own arbitrators, have
found, there is nothing even remotely fair about its process. USADA has broken the
law, turned its back on its own rules, and stiff-armed those who have tried to persuade
USADA to honor its obligations. At every turn, USADA has played the role of a bully,
threatening everyone in its way and challenging the good faith of anyone who questions
its motives or its methods, all at U.S. taxpayers’ expense. For the last two months,
USADA has endlessly repeated the mantra that there should be a single set of rules,
applicable to all, but they have arrogantly refused to practice what they preach.
On top of all that, USADA has allegedly made deals with other riders that circumvent
their own rules as long as they said I cheated. Many of those riders continue to
race today.

The bottom line is I played by the rules that were put in place by the UCI, WADA
and USADA when I raced. The idea that athletes can be convicted today without positive
A and B samples, under the same rules and procedures that apply to athletes with
positive tests, perverts the system and creates a process where any begrudged ex-
teammate can open a USADA case out of spite or for personal gain or a cheating cyclist
can cut a sweetheart deal for themselves. It’s an unfair approach, applied selectively,
in opposition to all the rules. It’s just not right.

USADA cannot assert control of a professional international sport and attempt to
strip my seven Tour de France titles. I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates
know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those
seven Tours. We all raced together. For three weeks over the same roads, the same
mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There
were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment. The same courses, the same rules.
The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change
that. Especially not Travis Tygart.

Today I turn the page. I will no longer address this issue, regardless of the circumstances.
I will commit myself to the work I began before ever winning a single Tour de France
title: serving people and families affected by cancer, especially those in underserved
communities. This October, my Foundation will celebrate 15 years of service to cancer
survivors and the milestone of raising nearly $500 million. We have a lot of work
to do and I’m looking forward to an end to this pointless distraction. I have a 
responsibility to all those who have stepped forward to devote their time and energy
to the cancer cause. I will not stop fighting for that mission. Going forward, I
am going to devote myself to raising my five beautiful (and energetic) kids, fighting
cancer, and attempting to be the fittest 40-year old on the planet.