Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong will be able to hold on to his Olympic bronze medal from the time-trial event at the 2000 Games in Sydney for at least a little longer, the International Olympic Committee has said.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life in October after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) produced evidence of widespread doping by him and his former team-mates.

But the IOC said it would not be stripping Armstrong of his bronze medal because of a technicality that demands that world cycling's governing body the UCI be first to inform the American, who would then have recourse to sport's highest court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"On the Armstrong case, the IOC will not move today," IOC president Jacques Rogge said.

"The IOC will have to wait for the UCI to formally notify Mr Armstrong. Then Mr Armstrong will have three weeks to appeal to CAS if he so wishes and it is only then the IOC will take and can take action."

The UCI backed the USADA decision to effectively erase Armstrong's cycling record, including the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999 to 2005, after a lengthy investigation.

Armstrong also faces legal actions which could see him required to return millions in prize money and bonus payments.

Source: AFP