THE fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping scandal continued yesterday as the disgraced cyclist stepped down as chairman of his cancer charity, Livestrong, and was dropped by sponsor Nike.

The American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life by the United States Anti-Doping Agency in August after he chose not to contest charges, despite maintaining his innocence.

But Armstrong’s reputation really hit rock bottom a week ago when USADA published their report, including evidence from 11 of his former teammates.

The conclusion was that Armstrong engaged in ‘‘serial cheating’’ and his US Postal Service team ran ‘‘the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen’’.

Armstrong set up Livestrong in 1997 following his own recovery from the disease, which made his subsequent sporting success such a compelling story, and the charity has raised nearly $500m to help people affected by cancer.

Explaining his decision to pass the chairmanship of the foundation to vice-chairman Jeff Garvey, Armstrong said in a statement: “To spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, I will conclude my chairmanship.

‘‘My family and I have devoted our lives to the work of the foundation and that will not change. We plan to continue our service to the foundation and the cancer community.’’ Nike had been a long-time supporter of Armstrong and had stood by him despite criticism, but the sportswear firm decided it could no longer do so, although it is not severing ties with Livestrong.