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"&lt;img alt=\"1010_lance_armstrong_article\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2012/10/10/1010-lance-armstrong-article-3.jpg\" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Nike&lt;/strong&gt; has ended its contract with &lt;strong&gt;Lance Armstrong&lt;/strong&gt; -- claiming the athlete \"misled\" the company amid allegations of doping.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;\"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,\" the company says.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Armstrong also announced he will step down as chairman of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity as of this morning. Nike says they will continue to support the organization. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;\"To spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship,\" Armstrong says in a statement.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The move comes a week after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released a report detailing Armstrong's direct involvement in what it called \"the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.\"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;As we previously reported, Lance &lt;a href=\"http://www.tmz.com/2012/06/13/lance-armstrong-banned-triathlons-doping/\"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;has been banned&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt; from cycling for life ... but he still denies any wrongdoing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a class=\"lightbox-link\" href=\"http://www.tmz.com/photos/2012/10/17/lance-armstrong-cycling-nike-dropped-livestrong-bike/\" target=\"_blank\"&gt;&lt;img alt=\"1017_lance_armstrong_footer_v2\" src=\"http://ll-media.tmz.com/2012/10/17/1017-lance-armstrong-footer-v2-1.jpg\" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.tmz.com/2012/10/17/lance-armstrong-nike-livestrong-doping-scandal/?adid=cr_featured_saga_13>