Nike just does it and drops Lance

Lance Armstrong yesterday stepped down as chairman of the charity he founded to distance the cancer patient-support organisation from the widening doping scandal that threatened to cost him his seven Tour de France cycling titles.

At the same time, one of his long-time corporate sponsors, Nike, dropped its sponsorship of him, saying it could no longer ignore the growing evidence of hisillicit behaviour as one of the cycling world's premier athletes.

Armstrong said: "To spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of the controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship."

He will, however, continue to serve on the board.

Armstrong is set to lose his record seven Tour de France titles after the US Anti-Doping Agency published a 1000-page report last week saying the now-retired American took part in and organised an elaborate and sophisticated doping scheme on his way to his unrivalled success.

Armstrong, 41, has always denied he took banned substances during his glittering career but decided not to challenge the agency's charges against him.

Armstrong founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997 after being diagnosed with testicular cancer in late 1996.

The organisation launched Livestrong brand in 2003 as it widened its cancer patient-support services. His resignation as chairman comes just two days before the foundation's fund-raising gala in Austin, Texas, where Armstrong lives.

Celebrities such as Sean Penn and Ben Stiller are expected to attend, with comedian Robin Williams and singer Norah Jones to provide entertainment.

"It is his effort to inoculate the foundation against any risk or damage associated with current controversy in the cycling world," Livestrong spokesman Katherine McLane said.

So far, the foundation's financial health appears not to have suffered from Armstrong's cycling scandal.

Contributions have actually risen this year as the agency's investigation gathered momentum.

Nike said although it was severing its ties with Armstrong, it would continue to support Livestrong.

"Due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that Lance Armstrong participated in doping and misled Nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness that we have terminated our contract with him," it said.