Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist who won the Tour de France seven times in a row, has been formally stripped of those titles by the International Cycling Union. The cyclist has also been banned for life from the sport.
The record books for the period 1999-2005 will go blank as there will be no winner for those years.
Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union, said: "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling, and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling. Make no mistake, it's a catastrophe for him, and he has to face up to that."
Christian Prudhomme, the Tour director added: "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."
It all happened two weeks ago when the USADA provided detailed evidence of drug use and trafficking by Armstrong's tour winning US Postal team.
Armstrong might face financial problems as race organizers and sponsors are lining up to reclaim the rewards from the cyclist. Armstrong however, maintains that he has never doped. He had won about $3.85 million as prize money for his seven consecutive wins and Prudhomme has demanded the cyclist give it back.
For someone who battled cancer way back in 1996 and then won seven tours consecutively, nothing could have been more disheartening.
The rider feels the whole thing was rigged against him. He said: "I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours.
"The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that."
Meanwhile McQuaid confirmed the sanctions had been accepted by the UCI which were imposed by the USADA. He also added that they would consider the athlete's bronze medal he won in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
John Fahey, the World Anti-Doping Agency President said in a release: "WADA is encouraged that the UCI feels it can use this case as a catalyst to thoroughly clean up its sport and remove any remaining vestiges of the doping programs that have clearly damaged cycling over the last decade."
USADA chief executive Travis Tygart also welcomed the International Cycling Union's decision.
"Today, the UCI made the right decision in the Lance Armstrong case," Tygart said in a statement.
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