Armstrong leaves Livestrong post

Lance Armstrong has stepped down as chairman of his cancer charity, Livestrong, and has been dropped by sponsor Nike as the fallout from the United States Anti-Doping Agency's report into doping continues.

The American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life by USADA after he chose not to contest charges despite maintaining his innocence.

Last week USADA published their report, including evidence from 11 of his former team-mates, and concluded the US Postal Service team ran "the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".

Armstrong made the decision to hand over the chairmanship of Livestrong to vice-chairman Jeff Garvey "to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career".

Nike will continue to support Livestrong but have terminated their contract with Armstrong "due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade".

Armstrong set up Livestrong in 1997 following his recovery from cancer and the charity has raised nearly 500million US dollars to help people affected by the disease.

In a statement, Armstrong said: "It has been a great privilege to help grow it from a dream into an organisation that today has served 2.5million people and helped spur a cultural shift in how the world views cancer survivors. This organisation, its mission and its supporters are incredibly dear to my heart.

"I have had the great honour of serving as this foundation's chairman for the last five years and its mission and success are my top priorities.

"Today, therefore, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship.

"My family and I have devoted our lives to the work of the foundation and that will not change. We plan to continue our service to the foundation and the cancer community."