IOC to investigate Armstrong's Olympic medal

BERLIN (REUTERS) - The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will investigate Lance Armstrong's 2000 Olympics bronze medal after the American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles in the biggest doping scandal to hit the sport.

"The IOC will now immediately start the process concerning the involvement of Lance Armstrong, other riders and particularly their entourages with respect to the Olympic Games and their future involvement with the Games," an IOC official told Reuters on Thursday.

Armstrong, who won a time trial medal at the Sydney Games, was stripped of his 1999-2005 Tour victories last month when the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified a US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) decision to erase his results from Aug 1998.

A Usada report that included testimony from several former team-mates against him and themselves, called it the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".