Lance Armstrong is having the [TMZ voice]WORST WEEK EVERRRRR![/TMZ voice] And it’s only getting worse: the disgraced cyclist has now been asked to return nearly $4 million in Tour de France prize money after his seven victories were stripped from him because of doping.

The International Cycling Federation President thinks Lance Armstrong “deserves to be forgotten.” Is that too extreme? More, after the jump.

Last night, I found myself at a loss. Lance Armstrong, the most decorated cyclist in the sport’s history, and one of the most dominant athletes in the history of all sports, was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. How Lance Armstrong’s athletic legacy would be looked upon seemed irrelevant to me. There was a much bigger, far more important question on the table: how would millions of cancer patients who drew hope from Lance Armstrong be affected?

Maybe you were already so cynical about the sport of cycling that last night’s Lance-Armstrong-related development failed to spark your interest. But maybe they did, and maybe you need something drastic to make you feel anything about cycling again. Well, we might have just the guy.

In this past month, Bradley Wiggins has won the Tour de France, been featured in the Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies, and won gold at the Games. (In his home country of Great Britain.) Party time!

Although the English are focused on the upcoming Summer Olympics kicking off this Saturday, one of their countrymen, Bradley Wiggins, is just a few days removed from winning the Tour De France. He’s already written an impassioned defense of this year’s (supposedly) clean riding, and the fact the Op-Ed even exists symbolizes the extent of the Tour’s painful past.

Lance Armstrong is either an American hero and one of the best athletes of all time, or a liar and a cheat. There’s no in between.

Armstrong was just slapped with a new batch of formal doping charges by the USADA (U.S. Anti-Doping Agency). He’s been immediately banned him from triathlon competitions and potentially can be stripped of his seven Tour De France Titles in the future. More after the jump.

Cycling isn’t exactly known for its action. When most Americans think “Tour de France,” they think of skinny gentlemen riding up mountains in the Alps. But the 2011 Tour, which was won by Australian Cadel Evans in dramatic fashion, was anything but gentlemanly.

There was cycler-on-fan violence. There were men in bikinis. There were gruesome injuries. In short: it was something that America might actually be into.

Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck took the Tour de France yellow jersey Friday on a commanding performance up the Alpe d’Huez. More importantly, the mountain brought out some true freaks, both of whom earned a violent reaction — the first from a gendarme, the second from last year’s champion.

Quick: if I asked you whether or not a black cyclist had ever competed in the Tour de France, what would your answer be? Keep in mind, they’ve been doing this thing since 1903.