FILE - In this July 5, 2004, file photo, US Postal Service team leader and then a five-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, sits by the registration bus prior to the second stage of the 91st Tour de France cycling race between Charleroi and Namur, Belgium. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency is bringing doping charges against the seven-time Tour de France winner, questioning how he achieved those famous cycling victories. Armstrong, who retired from cycling last year, could face a lifetime ban from the sport if he is found to have used performance-enhancing drugs. He maintained his innocence, saying: "I have never doped." (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)
June 14, 2012 - 9:59 AM
PARIS - Organizers of Ironman France say Lance Armstrong can no longer compete in the triathlon this month after the U.S. anti-doping agency filed new charges that he doped as a Tour de France cyclist.
Ironman France spokeswoman Delphine Vivet said Armstrong was told Wednesday that he is out of the June 24 race in Nice, southern France, because of the new USADA proceedings against him. She said he is barred from the race under World Triathlon Corporation rules.
She says, "He cannot take the start."
The seven-time Tour champion was in southern France preparing for the triathlon. On Tuesday, he tweeted that he had been on the Col D'Eze, a climb near Nice, earlier that day.
News from © The Associated Press, 2012