Lance Armstrong... greatest doper there was or ever will be

I agree but my hesitancy is where does it end? If you strip Lancey boy of his titles what about Ullrich's, or Pantani's, or Riis'? When Tom Simpson keeled over on the Mount Ventoux his belly was full of amphetamine, do you strip him of his World Championship? Jacques Anquetil was vociferous in his defence of drugs. Aren't there massive doubts over Indurain also?

As Hippy points out, if you strip Lance's titles away from him, who gets them?

I think the most important thing is that it doesn't happen again

I don't care what they do with Armstrong's tour wins.

For me, what is important here is that a clear message is given that if a team institutes a systematic doping programme then the team management can be banned from the sport. The USADA charges are not solely against Armstrong but against those in management positions, and Armstrong was a shareholder in the management company that ran the USPS, Discovery Channel and Radioshack teams hence his inclusion.

The unwritten rule previously was that if a rider tested positive then he was discarded and toed the line that he'd acted alone. Then he'd likely get a new contract when his ban expired.