Lance Armstrong decides not to appeal his ban or loss of titles for doping

Lance Armstrong has missed his December 27 deadline to appeal his lifetime ban for doping and the loss of his cycling titles.

The former US Postal, Astana and RadioShack rider had three weeks from the date of notification –  Thursday, 6 December – to lodge an appeal against the decision to strip him of results dating back to 1 August 1998 including the seven Tour de France titles he won between 1999 and 2005.

The lack of action was unsurprising, given that Armstrong announced in August that he was dropping his legal challenge against the allegations made against him by the USADA.

Now that the deadline has passed, the International Olympic Committee is free to take steps to formally strip him of the bronze medal he won in the time trial at Sydney in 2000.

IOC president Jacques Rogges said: "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.

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