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'There will never be another Prince'

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 24 Oktober 2012 | 22.07

There's only one ... Prince has been with the Titans since they joined the NRL. Source: Colin Whelan / AAP

Gold Coast Titans founding chairman Paul Broughton says the NRL club revolves around Scott Prince but it may learn to benefit from the halfback's mooted UK move.

While the Prince issue remains far from resolved - he met with Titans coach John Cartwright on Wednesday for the first time since being with linked to English Super League club Hull - Broughton said a change at No.7 would ultimately serve the club well.

"The Gold Coast fans will expect whoever wears the No.7 jersey to emulate what Scott has done," Broughton said.

"But there will never be another Scott Prince because the Titans revolved around Scott Prince."

Broughton added: "Look at Melbourne - it's not their seven (halfback) that is the be all and end all, it's their one (fullback), seven and nine (hooker).

"We just haven't had that for Scott to help him along. We never had the players outside of him to take the pressure off him.

"Maybe a change in the format may advantage them because now they will have to do a little bit more themselves.

"It will disadvantage the club in the immediate future but both should benefit in the long term."

Cartwright returned from an off-season break in the United States on Wednesday and met with Prince, the halfback's manager Steve Robinson later saying the situation had not been resolved.

"There's not much to say that has not already been said," Robinson said.

"It's just a matter of finding a resolution."

Hull coach Peter Gentle was certainly not giving anything away.

"We still have a number of irons in the fire and that includes speaking with player representatives in Australia," he told the Hull website.

"We are working towards concluding our recruitment and we still think another pivot is important as we look to balance our squad for 2013."

Prince is contracted to the Titans through to 2013 with an option for 2014 but the veteran is believed to be upset that he's being shopped around by the club to free up money under the salary cap.


22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Golfers too honest to dope: Tiger

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Honour ... Tiger Woods doesn't believe there is major doping in golf. Source: Mohd Rasfan / AFP

Tiger Woods on Wednesday suggested golf's culture of honour reduced the chances of a Lance Armstrong-style doping scandal, despite a comparatively light drugs testing regime.

The American great, speaking after Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France wins in a case that has rocked cycling, said anti-doping officials test golfers' urine while they do not take blood samples.

He indicated that a sport such as golf, where players admit their own penalties, had an intrinsic honesty which was not apparent elsewhere.

"We just implemented testing probably three years ago I think it is... I know we don't do any blood work like some of the other sports do,'' he said ahead of the CIMB Classic tournament in Malaysia.

"Right now it's just urine samples, but that's certainly a positive step in the right direction to try and validate our sport.''

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World cycling chiefs this week accepted the findings of a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) report which put Armstrong at the heart of a sophisticated drugs conspiracy.

But Woods, another iconic sporting figure who fell from grace when a sex scandal came to light in 2009, said golf was an entirely different matter.

"This is a sport where we turn ourselves in on mistakes. A ball moves in the trees, guys call penalties on themselves. Golf is a different sport,'' he said.

"I think that's one of the neat things about our great game, and I think with the testing, it's only enhanced that respectability throughout all of sport.''

Comparisons have been drawn this week between Woods, who remains sponsored by Nike despite his marital infidelities, and Armstrong, who was dumped by the sportswear giant over the USADA report.

Golf lacks the intense physical demands of cycling but the pressure to hit the ball hard and accurately, and maintain mental focus over four four-hour rounds, with huge rewards at stake, could tempt some players to seek an unfair edge.

In 2007, nine-time Major-winner Gary Player said he knew "for a fact'' that golfers were taking human growth hormone, creatine and steroids, and called for random drug-testing.

In November 2009, after tests were introduced on the PGA and European tours, America's Doug Barron became the first golfer to be banned for taking a performance-enhancing drug.


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Is Potter the best of the rest?

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Best of the rest? ... Potter was unveiled as Tigers coach on Wednesday. Source: Brett Costello / News Limited

Is Mick Potter a good fit for Wests Tigers, or simply the best of the leftovers - or possibly both?

Potter was unveiled as the Tigers' new coach on Wednesday after the club parted with long-time leader Tim Sheens last month.

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With many of rugby league's top-tier coaches already tied to deals, the Tigers had a limited pool from which they could choose, leading to some suggestions that Potter may not be a good fit for a club that is alleged to have a strong culture of 'player power'.

CEO Stephen Humphreys rubbished claims the club's new coach was a cut-price option, and slammed talk suggesting Potter's deal was heavily incentive-based and had a five-figure base salary.

"I can clarify that's total rubbish," Humphreys told AAP on Wednesday.

"It's obviously inappropriate to talk about someone's salary package but I can say that Mick's remuneration package is in line with someone of his experience at this level.

"It's a normal 'vanilla' (plain) type of deal."

Veteran rugby league journalist Greg Prichard believes Potter is the best man the Tigers could get, given the limited budget at their disposal.

"I think out of the people that they had in the running for the job, he was the best choice, so effectively he was their first choice," Prichard said on Fox Sports News.

"They're hamstrung by the amount of money they can't spend - that's the main fact in all this.

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"He's supposed to be on around $250,000 a year, which would make him the lowest-paid coach in the competition I would imagine, because (Cronulla Sharks coach) Shane Flanagan's probably got a rise."

"When you're paying that sort of money, you're not going to get a Bellamy, a Hasler, a Bennett or even the next rung down."

Prichard said Potter's first port of call would be to ensure the players know where they stand with him.

"There are no guarantees that he's going to be the answer, but I think he's a good fit, at least to start with, because he's a straight shooter," Prichard said.

"He's going to make it clear that he's the boss and the players are not the boss, and he'll get on with it from there.

"They (the players) will buy in to what he wants to do, it's whether his plan is good enough.

"They'll back him to start with. If it fails, it will either be because Mick Potter can't coach, or the players didn't stick at it long enough."


22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stoner's winning streak at home

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Five ... SPEED takes a look back at Casey Stoner's Phillip Island winning streak. Source:Supplied

As Casey Stoner gears up for his last Australian MotoGP, he stands on the edge of extending an already tremendous feat.

Which of Casey Stoner's Australian MotoGP wins was your favourite?

You see, the 27-year-old has a winning streak on home soil dating back five years. In fact, it doesn't even suffice to say he has merely won those five consecutive races.

He has utterly dominated them.

King Casey has made Phillip Island his own personal fiefdom, ruling his two-wheel contemporaries with absolute authority.

The cast of characters that have fallen to Stoner's dominance are by no means mugs, either. At the top of the list is Valentino Rossi, who himself also notched up five-straight wins at the Island, but none since Stoner's arrival.

Similarly fruitless has been Jorge Lorenzo. Same-same Dani Pedrosa. Champion riders all, but none have been able to hold a candle to Stoner on home soil.

And this is at no pokey, point-and-squirt circuit, either. The fast and flowing Phillip Island circuit is one beloved and revered by riders, offering a high-speed challenge without peer on the MotoGP calendar.

Perhaps the most startling statistic is this: Stoner has led every single racing lap on home soil since the lights went out at the start of the 2007 race.

So sit back and enjoy as SPEED turns back the clock and remembers each of Stoner's five-straight wins at Phillip Island.


Which win is your favourite and why? Leave your comment below.


2007 - THE PERFECT END TO A PERFECT YEAR

2007 ... Stoner greets the chequers first. Source: Supplied

First MotoGP win: check. First MotoGP World Championship: check. First win on home soil ...

There was just one box left to tick in Casey Stoner's incredible 2007 season, and after locking up his first title at Motegi a week earlier, he arrived at the Island looking to complete a dream year by winning in front of a home crowd.

Despite never having won at Phillip Island he started as he meant to go on by dominating every practice session, a pair of crashes on Friday and Saturday showing just how hard he was trying.

He missed out on pole to Pedrosa - the only time Stoner wasn't fastest on Saturday during his streak - but wasn't to be denied on Sunday.

A good start saw him hold a narrow lead over the field in the early laps, before putting the hammer down on lap 10.

Suddenly a margin measured in tenths stretched out to seconds, and at the end of 27 laps he led teammate Loris Capirossi across the line by almost seven seconds.

Just the third Aussie to win his home race, Stoner said the reception from the crowd while he stood on the podium was unbelievable.

2008 - HARD-FOUGHT SEASON, HARD-FOUGHT WIN

Stalked by Hayden early, Stoner pulled away for win No.2. Source: News Limited

2008 wasn't the dream year that 2007 had been for Stoner.

It started off well with a win under the lights at Qatar, but problems with the bike followed by a string of crashes meant that Stoner kissed goodbye to the world title at Motegi just over one year after he'd won it.

After a season-long battle with new champion Valentino Rossi that peaked with a heated duel at Laguna Seca, Stoner was shaping up for a battle to win at Phillip Island.

But the expected Rossi challenge failed to materialise; instead, Stoner's opposition came from an unexpected quarter.

Shadowing Stoner's red Ducati in the early laps was the Repsol Honda of his soon-to-be teammate Nicky Hayden.

For 10 laps the American stalked Stoner, pushing the Aussie hard. Finally Stoner started to eke out a gap, with Hayden unable to lap within a second of the Ducati rider's times, eventually losing second place to Rossi on the last lap.

This win was special for the Ducati team, Stoner posting his second Australian MotoGP victory in their 100th MotoGP race.

2009 - THE COMEBACK KID

White Duke ... Stoner completed comeback with Island win. Source: News Limited

Stoner arrived at the Island in 2009 under a big question mark. This was the year he suffered his 'mystery illness'. Sapped of strength and stamina, he struggled to the finish of races through the mid-season.

Courageously, he hopped off the bike for three races to both work out what was wrong and recover, copping plenty of criticism from media, fans, and past-champions for not racing through it.

Australia was his second race back, Stoner admitting he still wasn't fully fit, nor had the mystery illness – later determined to be lactose intolerance – been diagnosed at that point.

From pole, Stoner passed a fast-starting Pedrosa early on lap one and shot away from the main pack, tailed only by Rossi's blue Yamaha.

Lap after lap Stoner and the nine-time world champ traded fast times like punches, their bout looking like it would be decided on points.

That was until seven laps to go. Suddenly the margin between the pair stretched. Stoner had been toying with the Doctor, who had been riding on the ragged edge just to keep up.

When the chequered flag waved Stoner and Rossi were separated by two seconds, but they were in a race of their own. In a distant third was Pedrosa, a whopping 23 seconds behind.

2010 - TOTAL DOMINATION

2010 ... fans flocked for Stoner's Ducati swansong. Source: News Limited

Sometimes the numbers really do tell the story, and so it is with Casey Stoner's 2010 win.

As the pack headed into Doohan Corner on lap one, pole-sitter Stoner was parallel with Lorenzo.

By the exit of the Southern Loop, Stoner had a quarter-second margin. When they got to Honda the lead was out to half-a-second. At Siberia, it was one second neat.

Over Lukey Heights and down into MG his lead stretched further still.

By the time the field crossed the start-finish line at the end of the first lap, Stoner had gapped the field by an incredible one-point-five-seconds.

In that one spectacular opening lap, Stoner crushed the field under the heel of his boot and said to them, "match that you bastards."

And they couldn't.

Stoner closed out his time at Ducati with his most dominant victory, eight-point-five seconds to the good over Lorenzo at the finish despite popping a monster wheelie over the finish line.

2011 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

New bike, same result for Stoner in 2011. Source: News Limited

If you could plan the perfect birthday, what would you do for it?

How about this: winning the Australian MotoGP for the fifth-straight time with a home crowd cheering you on, and also clinching your second world championship, all while feeding it to the knockers who said you only ever won because of the bike you raced.

Welcome to Casey Stoner's 26th birthday party.

Arriving at the Island aboard a Repsol Honda for the first time, Stoner notched up eight wins to make a clear statement on just how talented he was, punctuating it with another dominant win on home soil.

He had one hand on the title as it was, but when his main rival Jorge Lorenzo hurt himself in practice badly enough to miss the race, Stoner was left with a clear shot at winning the championship on Sunday.

While not as emphatic as his 2010 victory, he checked out to a small gap early and maintained the margin while the pack behind him fought for second.

Not even a light shower could rain on Stoner's parade this day, the Aussie finishing weekend with pole, the win, the fastest lap, and the championship.


Follow Casey's last race on home soil with SPEED's Live Blog, Oct 28 from 12:30pm EDT.


22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

Zidane statue angers French

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 23 Oktober 2012 | 22.07

Anger ... The statue of Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Matterazzi displayed outside a French gallery. Source: Remy de la Mauviniere / News Limited

A row is simmering over a giant bronze sculpture depicting French footballer Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt on Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final, which has been placed outside the Pompidou Arts Centre in Paris.

The five-metre tall statue is the work of French, Algerian-born artist Adel Abdessemed, who is being honoured by the Pompidou with a retrospective on his work from October to January.

But its prominent display outside the popular centre has angered the national association of local French football officials who claim that it is not the image of Zidane, who retired after the 2006 World Cup final, that should be promoted.

"By choosing this provocative image, the artist has deliberately opted to ignore all your talents and all the postitive emotions that you were able to share with the people of our country,'' the officials wrote in an open letter to Zidane.

They called on Zindae to use the full powers of his influence to have the statue removed immediately, adding that it would have been better to have highlighted his two headed goals in France's 3-0 win over Brazil in the 1998 World Cup final.

Zidane's headbutt on Materazzi, who he claimed had provoked him, came during extra time in the 2006 final in Berlin with the sides tied at 1-1. He was red carded and thus missed the penalty shoot-out which Italy won.

Pompidou Centre chief Alain Seban expressed shock at the complaints, saying that they amounted to an attempt to censure artistic creativity.


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Rio plans union for black players

Rio Ferdinand ... is setting up a union for black footballers. Source: AAP

Manchester United star Rio Ferdinand is setting up a union to protect the interests of black footballers in England.

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Ferdinand has long been a vocal campaigner against racism and the Daily Mail reported that he and other high-profile black players have overseen the first draft of a constitution.

The England defender made headlines last weekend for angering club manager Alex Ferguson by refusing to wear a t-shirt for the Kick It Out campaign, an initiative designed to rid the sport of racism.

Ferdinand believed that not enough was being done to combat the problem after Chelsea's John Terry was handed a four-match ban and fined STG220,000 ($A344,000) last month for racially abusing his younger brother Anton, who plays for Queens Park Rangers.

Rio Ferdinand and his colleagues want to wipe out discrimination in all forms and will hold a series of meetings in London in the coming month.

The union has a working name of The Federation of Black Players.

The news comes after Kick It Out's chairman Herman Ouseley criticised Rio Ferdinand for boycotting the FA-funded campaign.

"Would Rio tell England where to stick their shirt if picked or does he think the FA has done enough to tackle racism?" he said.

"Will he tell Manchester United where to stick their shirt and STG150,000 ($A234,000) a week or have they done enough to tackle racism?"

"Should we tell women not to support women against rape groups because they have not done enough to stop rape?"


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Malthouse revolt barb a 'cheap shot'

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Cheap shot ... Mick Malthouse can't help but have another dig at former club Collingwood. Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Limited

New Carlton coach Mick Malthouse's latest swipe against his old club Collingwood is "a cheap shot" according to The Back Page host Mike Gibson.

Malthouse launched his memoirs, written by daughter Cristi, on Tuesday and continued to stir the pot over the controversial succession plan put in place to hand the Magpies' coaching reins from Malthouse to Nathan Buckley.

The premiership coach said a senior player had approached him in 2010 and had wanted to start a petition to keep him at the club.

"A very important player came to me and said that's what he wanted to do. There were a number of players who wanted to sign a petition to keep me at the club," he said.

"I was a very moving movement."

Speaking on The Back Page, respected journalist Gibson said digging up the incident was disappointing.

"It's a cheap shot," he said.

"For those players - several players - it's like 'sources say'. Name them if they did."

After being replaced at the end of 2011, Malthouse has launched several barbs at the Magpies.

Earlier in the season, the new Carlton coach started a war of words with Collingwood president Eddie McGuire by questioning the team's gameplan under Buckley.

Fellow panelist Robert Craddock took it one step further, saying it was yet another strange dig at Buckley and the Magpies.

"In brackets it should have said afterwards 'because the players didn't rate Nathan Buckley as a coach'," he said.

"Now Nathan Buckley's sitting at home thinking 'gee, which players didn't rate me'."

Watch the full video of The Back Page discussion above.


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McIlroy plays down $250m Nike deal

McIlroy ... could join Tiger Woods as a wealthy member of the Nike stable. Source: AAP

World No.1 Rory McIlroy on Tuesday attempted to brush aside growing speculation in that he is about to sign a multi-million dollar deal to join Tiger Woods in the Nike stable.

McIlroy, in Shanghai for the $US7 million ($A6.81 million) BMW Masters which begins on Thursday, was responding to stories in Irish newspapers which claimed the 23-year-old from Northern Ireland was about to sign a Nike contract which could see him earn up to a staggering $US250 million ($A243.30 million) over 10 years.

McIlroy's current deal with golf giant Titleist expires at the end of 2012, making the double major winner and leader on the money list on both sides of the Atlantic the most prized free agent on the equipment market.

"These rumours have been going around for years and it seems to always come up at this time of the year," McIlroy said at Lake Malaren Golf Club.

"I leave it up to Conor (Ridge, McIlroy's manager) to sort out as it leaves me to concentrate on my golf.

"That's all I can do and besides I have enough to think about trying to get the ball in the hole.

"Also I've got a very important end to my season coming up and I need to concentrate myself fully on that goal."

It is no secret that Woods, the world No.2, and McIlroy have become good friends as well as on-course rivals. Indeed, the two will go head-to-head in "The Duel at Jinsha Lake" in Zhengzhou, China, next Monday.

"That should be really exciting and I'm really looking forward to heading back to Lake Jinsha," said McIlroy of the 18-hole medal match.

"I've spoken to Tiger about it and we are both really excited as it will be the first time we will ever do something like this together, and hopefully the first of a few occasions we can do this.

"We both enjoy each other's company, and besides there are not many guys I would do something like this with and I know he feels the same. So it should work well."

And with more than a hint of further commercial hook-ups between the two biggest draws in the game in the future McIlroy added, tellingly: "I see it also as a good marketing exercise for Tiger and myself."

Nike regard the clean-cut, immensely likeable and youthful McIlroy as a dream signing after sticking with Tiger Woods through his well-documented marital indiscretions and fall from golfing grace.

If the rumours turn out to be true then that burgeoning relationship between McIlroy and Woods could mean Nike capture the two biggest names in golf for the next decade or more - but at a huge price.


22.07 | 0 komentar | Read More

'Biggest crisis cycling's faced'

Written By Unknown on Senin, 22 Oktober 2012 | 22.07

Sickened ... Pat McQuaid has labelled the Lance Armstrong saga the biggest crisis in cycling. Source: Salvatore Di Nolfi / AP

Lance Armstrong's fate was sealed on Monday as cycling's under-fire world governing body decided to back a life ban for doping and strip him of his record seven Tour de France titles.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) said it supported the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) decision to erase the rider's entire career after August 1998, as president Pat McQuaid called the scandal "the biggest crisis'' the sport had ever faced.

"The UCI will strip him of his seven Tour de France wins. Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling... He deserves to be forgotten in cycling,'' McQuaid told a news conference in Geneva, saying he had been "sickened'' by the revelations.

Earlier this month the US body released a devastating dossier on Armstrong, detailing over 202 pages and with more than 1,000 pages of supporting testimony how he was at the heart of the biggest doping programme in the history of sport.

The revelations, including evidence from 11 of Armstrong's former team-mates, plunged a sport which has been working hard to rid itself of its murky doping past into crisis.

McQuaid succeeded Hein Verbruggen as president of world cycling after Armstrong's seventh and final Tour victory in 2005 and is credited with boosting the body's anti-doping program, notably with the pioneering blood passport.

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The Irishman was under pressure to answer how Armstrong and his teams managed to dope for so long without being detected. But he rejected calls to quit, vowing to continue his work against the scourge of doping.

Armstrong's sporting reputation as the cancer survivor who fought back to win cycling's most gruelling and celebrated race has been shattered since the revelations, leading to sponsors leaving him in droves.

There has also been fears of a wider withdrawal of financial backing for the sport after Dutch financier Rabobank said it was ending the sponsorship of its professional cycling team after a 17-year association.

The sponsor described professional cycling as "sick'' to its core and unlikely to recover in the foreseeable future.
The strongly-worded comments went to the heart of claims of failings at the UCI and in particular to McQuaid, who has been criticised for failing to see the extent of doping within the sport.

Verbruggen, who stepped down in in 2006 but remains honorary president, ran the UCI during Armstrong's golden era -- a time when USADA's report says Armstrong and team-mates evaded dope tests either by hiding or being tipped off in advance.

The Dutchman has also been accused of protecting Armstrong -- even accepting a donation to cover up a positive dope test. McQuaid on Monday said the UCI "absolutely deny'' that Armstrong bought off the body.

Armstrong's cancer backstory and Tour triumphs from 1999 to 2005 were seen as key to restoring cycling's tattered image after a string of high-profile doping scandals in the 1990s.

His Tour victories are unlikely to be re-awarded, the race's director Christian Prudhomme has said. The void would prevent further headaches, given that most riders who finished on the podium in that time have since been implicated in doping.

But the final decision will come in a special UCI meeting on Friday.


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'Lance has no place in cycling'

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Lance Armstrong ... (insert caption here) Source: Thao Nguyen / AAP

The Intenational Cycling Union has handed Lance Armstrong a life ban and stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles after recognising the sanctions imposed by United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA).

UCI president Pat McQuaid confirmed USADA's findings in a press conference beamed around the world from the governing body's headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday night (EDT).

In a long address to the media, McQuaid called it "a landmark day for cycling" and said that despite all the pain the sport was going through, "cycling has a future".

But he said Armstrong had no place in cycling and that the one time pin-up boy of the sport "deserved to be forgotton by cycling".

McQuaid succeeded Hein Verbruggen as president of world cycling after Armstrong's seventh and final Tour victory in 2005 and is credited with boosting the body's anti-doping program, notably with the pioneering blood passport programme.

The Irishman was under pressure to answer how Armstrong and his teams managed to dope for so long without being detected. But he rejected calls to quit.

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Armstrong's sporting reputation as the cancer survivor who fought back to win cycling's most gruelling and celebrated race has been shattered since the revelations, leading to sponsors leaving him in droves.

There has also been fears of a wider withdrawal of financial backing for the sport after Dutch sponsor Rabobank said it was ending the sponsorship of its professional cycling team after a 17-year association.

The sponsor described professional cycling as "sick" to its core and unlikely to recover in the foreseeable future.

The strongly-worded comments went to the heart of claims of failings at the UCI and in particular to McQuaid, who has been criticised for failing to see the extent of doping within the sport.

Verbruggen, who stepped down in in 2006 but remains honorary president, ran the UCI during Armstrong's golden era - a time when USADA's report says Armstrong and teammates evaded dope tests either by hiding or being tipped off in advance.

The Dutchman has also been accused of protecting Armstrong - even accepting a donation to cover up a positive dope test.

The cyclist's cancer backstory and Tour triumphs from 1999 to 2005 were seen as key to restoring cycling's tattered image after a string of high-profile doping scandals in the 1990s.

Armstrong's Tour victories are unlikely to be re-awarded, the race's director Christian Prudhomme has said. The void avoids further headaches, given that the majority of riders who finished on the podium have also been implicated in doping.

Additional reporting: Justin Davis, AAP


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