Lance Armstrong wins Sports Illustrated's Anti-Sportsman of the Year award

Lance Armstrong may have lost his seven Tour de France titles, but he’s back to winning ways after being awarded the title of Anti-Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine. He’s not the only cyclist on the list, either – Team GB’s very own Philip Hindes comes in at number five.

The Texan edged out Olympics badminton to claim the top spot in the awards, with the 14 examples cited showcasing athletes guilty of trying to gain an edge or displaying bad sportsmanhip “Whether it was by trying to game the system or by flat-out cheating, spouting profanities at a fan or directing racist epithets at an opponent.”

Armstrong’s citation reads:

Lance Armstrong tops the list of athletes who should have his or her Sportsman of the Year Award revoked. Armstrong's legacy crumbled faster than his steroid-fueled thighs used to take him up France's Pyrenees Mountains; former teammates admitted that not only had Armstrong constantly used steroids, but also that he practically forced his teammates to do the same. Not that he'll admit to any of it.

Hindes, meanwhile, admitted to the BBC’s Jill Douglas after helping Team GB win Olympic gold against France in the team sprint final that he had engineered a fall deliberately after starting badly to secure a restart, which under the rules can be only be granted in the case of mechanical problem or a “genuine accident.”

We suspect that it’s the closest that Sir Chris Hoy, standing next to him with disbelief etched across his face, has ever come to swearing on live TV.

Hindes subsequently retracted his comments, with British Cycling saying that the ‘misunderstanding’ had been due to language problems – he was born and grew up in Germany – but the damage was already done.

You can see the full gallery of athletes who made this year’s hall of infamy here.