Lance Armstrong
/ file photo
SWITZERLAND (AP) -- The International Cycling Union says it will wait for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to explain why Lance Armstrong should lose his seven Tour de France titles before commenting on the case.
The sport's governing body says it wants USADA to "submit to the parties concerned (Mr. Armstrong, WADA and UCI) a reasoned decision explaining the action taken."
The UCI says the World Anti-Doping Code requires USADA to do this in cases "where no hearing occurs."
Armstrong has chosen not to pursue an arbitration hearing where he could have fought charges brought by U.S. anti-doping officials that his teams doped when he won the Tour from 1999-2005.
Armstrong says he is innocent, but announced Thursday night that he has decided against fighting USADA because he is weary of the doping accusations that have dogged him for years. His decision could lead to a lifetime ban from cycling and perhaps the loss of the Tour titles he won from 1999-2005.
The UCI and USADA have engaged in a turf war over who had jurisdiction for the case.
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