Armstrong leaving second charity

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AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- Former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong said he will step down from the charitable foundation bearing his name after doping allegations surfaced last month.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after he declined to defend himself of charges he took performance-enhancing drugs and provided them to teammates and pressured them to use them as well, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

Armstrong has already left the cancer charity he started, LiveStrong. He will next step down from The Lance Armstrong Foundation to "spare the organization any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding his cycling career."

Armstrong steadfastly denies having taken the drugs and remained defiant, tweeting a picture of himself lying on a couch in his Austin, Texas, home, with his seven tour-winning yellow jackets framed above him, the Journal said.