Lance Armstrong, the most decorated, celebrated and controversial rider in cycling history, has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after refusing to contest charges of doping, drug trafficking, and administering of drugs to others, according to the United States Anti-Doping Agency. Armstrong, who has not admitted any of the charges, withdrew his co‑operation in the case levelled against him by Usada, which has responded by banning the 40-year-old for life and scrubbing all of his career titles.

The Colorado-based agency now looks set on a collision course with cycling's governing body, the UCI, which is expected to dispute Usada's claim of absolute jurisdiction to punish Armstrong and effectively shred the sport's recent history by taking the case to the court of arbitration for sport. This year Andy Schleck was awarded the 2010 Tour de France winner's jersey, amid embarrassment from the race organisers and Schleck himself, after Alberto Contador was stripped of his title.

If Usada's punishment is allowed to stand, the UCI will have to find a way of expunging Armstrong from cycling history while facing the prospect of rewarding other athletes with murky pasts.

Usada, fully supported in its actions by the World Anti-Doping Agency, said in a statement on Friday night: "Usada announced today that Lance Armstrong has chosen not to move forward with the independent arbitration process and as a result has received a lifetime period of ineligibility and disqualification of all competitive results from 1 August 1998 through the present, as the result of his anti-doping rule violations stemming from his involvement in the United States Postal Service cycling team doping conspiracy."

Armstrong, who was charged in June, sought a temporary restraining order against the agency's legal action but that was dismissed in a federal court in Austin, Texas on Monday.

On Friday morning he announced: "There comes a point in every man's life when he has to say: 'Enough is enough.' For me, that time is now. Over the past three years, I have been subjected to a two-year federal criminal investigation followed by [the head of Usada] Travis Tygart's unconstitutional witch hunt."

Usada responded to Armstrong's claims: "When given the opportunity to challenge the evidence against him, and with full knowledge of the consequences, Mr Armstrong chose not to contest the fact that he engaged in doping violations from at least 1 August 1998 and participated in a conspiracy to cover up his actions.

"As a result of Mr Armstrong's decision, Usada is required under the applicable rules, including the World Anti-Doping Code under which he is accountable, to disqualify his competitive results and suspend him from all future competition."

Usada is expected to press ahead with proceedings against several of Armstrong's former colleagues and associates, most notably his former sporting director Johan Bruyneel and the controversial Italian trainer, Dr Michele Ferrari, who will contest charges, before it outlines its against Armstrong.

The case against Armstrong is claimed to consist of testimonies from more than a dozen witnesses, including eyewitness reports from team-mates that amount to "overwhelming evidence" that Armstrong was not only guilty of using an array of illegal performance enhancing methods, but also played a vital part in their distribution and use by other riders.

In the same statement, Usada said: "Numerous witnesses provided evidence to Usada based on personal knowledge acquired, either through direct observation of doping activity by Armstrong, or through Armstrong's admissions of doping to them that Armstrong used EPO [erythropoietin], blood transfusions, testosterone and cortisone during the period from before 1998 through 2005, and that he had previously used EPO, testosterone and HGH [human growth hormone] through 1996.

"Witnesses also provided evidence that Lance Armstrong gave to them, encouraged them to use and administered doping products or methods, including EPO, blood transfusions, testosterone and cortisone during the period from 1999 through 2005. Additionally, scientific data showed Mr Armstrong's use of blood manipulation including EPO or blood transfusions during Mr Armstrong's comeback to cycling in the 2009 Tour de France."

The timescale of the case against Armstrong indicates a suspicion that he used illegal drugs before being found to have developed testicular cancer, with the disease spreading to his lungs, abdomen and brain. Given a 40% chance of survival, Armstrong recovered to win his seven Tour titles, and launch on the back of his aura of indefatigability his Livestrong brand and cancer charity that has raised in excess of £400m.

Amaury Sport Organisation, the Tour de France organisers, issued their own statement that they would be waiting for an outcome in any stand-off between Usada and the UCI before taking action.said: It read: "We are still waiting for important decisions to be taken by the competent authorities with responsibility for this matter, which are Usada and the International Cycling Union, before issuing any further comment."