Cancer charity drops Armstrong's name

AUSTIN, Texas (AFP) –

Cyclist Lance Armstrong addresses participants at The LIVESTRONG Challenge Ride in October 2012 in Austin, Texas. Armstrong’s cancer battling charity took another step to dissociate itself from the disgraced former cycling champ by dropping his name from its title. The Lance Armstrong Foundation will now be known as the Livestrong Foundation

Lance Armstrong’s cancer battling charity took another step to dissociate itself from the disgraced former cycling champ by dropping his name from its title.

The Lance Armstrong Foundation will now be officially known as the Livestrong Foundation, in the latest move by the charity to separate itself from its founder.

The American was recently stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after the US Anti-doping Agency disclosed evidence he and his cycling teammates used performance-enhancing drugs.

The name change was approved by the Texas Secretary of State on October 30, said Katherine McLane, a spokeswoman for the Foundation.

Last week Armstrong resigned from the Foundation’s board of directors. He had previously stepped down as chairman.

McLane said she doesn’t think the move will diminish the Livestrong brand, which they have spent years building up, in part, by raising money for cancer survivor programs.

The name change is not a dramatic shift for the foundation, which had been commonly known for years as Livestrong — a moniker it had placed on its popular yellow wristbands as well as t-shirts and other retail products.