Prudhomme: "This era must be remembered as an era without winners"

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Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, has confirmed that he does not want Lance Armstrong's seven Tour de France victories reassigned after the UCI ratified the USADA verdict to ban the Texan and disqualify him from results going back to August 1998.

Prudhomme also said that he expects Armstrong to pay back his estimated three million dollars he won in the race.

"There won’t be a winner. The formal decision will be taken by the UCI on Friday but for us, it's very clear; we want to leave the palmares blank," Prudhomme told the Reuters news agency after hearing Pat McQuaid speaking during his Geneva press conference.

"The USADA report accuses a system and an era. This era must be remembered as an era without winners."

According to l’Equipe, Armstrong won approximately 2.95 million Euro via his seven Tour de France victories and sixteen stage victories. Prudhomme insisted that this money will have to be paid back, even if it has been shared amongst teammates.

"The UCI rules are clear," Prudhomme said. "When a rider loses the result where a prize is award, they have to give it back."

"The Tour de France will recover from this," said Christian Prudhomme, recalling that the organisers did not choose the participants, nominated by their teams.

Prudhomme will unveil the route of the 2013 Tour de France in Paris on Wednesday. The Armstrong case is damaging for the sport’s biggest race but the Frenchman remained belligerent.

"The Tour de France will recover from this," Prudhomme insisted.