Lance Armstrong Stripped of All Seven Tour de France Titles With No New Champion to Be Named in Record Books

Lance Armstrong will have his name erased from the record books.

Armstrong, the seven-time champion of cycling's most famous race — le Tour de France — will have his name erased from the history books after Monday's ruling from the Union Cycliste Internationale, according to The Associated Press.

Following recent turmoil that included the USADA reporting that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs during his reign atop the sport, UCI president Pat McQuaid accepted the penalties, and removed Armstrong's name from history.

"Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling, and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling," McQuaid said in an interview following the announcement.

Instead of each year's runner-up replacing Armstrong in history, Tour director Christian Prudhomme is requesting that the titles remain vacant from 1997-2005.

"We wish that there is no winner for this period. For us, very clearly, the titles should remain blank. Effectively, we wish for these years to remain without winners," he said in an interview from Paris.

In a short timespan, Armstrong had his titles stripped by the USADA, lost major sponsorship deals with Nike — including stepping down as chairman of the foundation he created, Livestrong — and Anheuser Busch, and lost all historical evidence of winning the Tour de France.

Although the physical memories and videos of Armstrong triumphantly celebrating in Paris will remain, in the eyes of cycling's governing body and sports almanacs from this point forward, it will only serve as an illegitimate yellow flash of performance-enhanced greatness.