Armstrong lets CAS filing deadline lapse without action

Image 1 of 3

Lance Armstrong has not appealed his lifetime ban from cycling to the Court of Arbitraiton for Sport. It is now expected that the International Olympic committee will demand the return of the bronze medal he won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The UCI officially notified Armstrong on December 6 of the disqualification of all his results going back as far as August 1, 1998, including his seven Tour de France titles. He had 21 days -until December 27, to appeal that decision to the Court, which confirmed on Friday that he had not done so, according to the AFP news agency.

Armstrong had announced in August that he would not challenge the USADA action against him, saying “There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now.”

There were, however, suspicions that he might make a last-minute move.

The IOC had said that it could not move against Armstrong until certain procedures were followed, procedures which are now complete.

"The IOC today will not move because we need to have the situation whereby the UCI notifies officially Mr Armstrong of the fact that he will be disqualified and declared ineligible and that he should hand over his medal," IOC President Jacques Rogge said.

"When he will be notified Mr Armstrong will have 21 days to launch an appeal. It is only after that period that the IOC can legally take action."