Lance Armstrong announced on Thursday night his decision to not pursue arbitration in a drug case against him by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. If ruling sees against him on Aug. 24, the Tour de France star cyclist will lose his winning titles and receive a lifetime ban on the sport.

USADA's Chief Executive, Travis Tygart, said that the stripping of the cyclist's titles and the ban would happen, even though Armstrong is retired, because the International Cycling Union is "bound to recognize our decision and impose it" under the World Anti-Doping Code, according to the Associated Press.

"They have no choice but to strip the titles under the code," he said.

According to the site, Armstrong made it clear that he is tired of having to defend himself against charges that the athlete doped while preparing for Tour de France competitions, pointing to the hundreds of drug tests that he has flawlessly passed.

''There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say, 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now,'' Armstrong said, before the deadline to enter arbitration on Thursday. ''I have been dealing with claims that I cheated and had an unfair advantage in winning my seven Tours since 1999.The toll this has taken on my family and my work for our foundation and on me leads me to where I am today - finished with this nonsense.''

Armstrong has been a visionary to many by overcoming testicular cancer in midst of his athletic achievements as well as his support and efforts to help cancer research. However, he will lose his seven Tour de France titles and, reports suggest, perhaps even his Olympic medal if charged.

USADA maintains accusations that Armstrong allegedly used banned substances since 1996, including steroids and blood transfusions, all in an effort to enhance his performance capabilities, according to the Huffington Post. The USADA said in June that it had strong evidence proving Armstrong used banning substances and that it had blood tests from 2009 and 2010 "fully consistent" with blood doping, the report noted. USADA even announced that 10 of Armstrong's teammates were also willing to testify against him.

Armstrong, 40, retired from cycling in 2011. Though he has continuously denied doping charges against him long throughout his career, his decision to not pursue the current doping charges might cost him his world-recognized title as perhaps the world's most achieved cyclist. 

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