Review: of the year: Lance Armstrong's fall leaves scars in vintage year for Wiggins and GB THE Lance Armstrong scandal left a huge gap in cycling's record books and further tainted the sport in a year when Britain experienced Olympic bliss in the wake of Bradley Wiggins" Tour de France title. Armstrong was banned for life and stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles after the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) uncovered what it said was the "most sophisticated" doping programme ever found. It was, however, a vintage year for British cycling as they won their maiden Tour through Wiggins and scooped 12 medals at the London Olympics. On 23 August, Armstrong announced he would no longer fight doping charges after failing to have the process blocked by a judge. His decision prompted the US Anti-Doping Agency to announce the Texan would lose his Tour titles from 1999-2005. It was not until mid-October, however, that the extent of Armstrong's fraud was exposed when USADA published a blistering 1,000-page report featuring testimonies from former team-mates. Wiggins, the kid from Kilburn, had an outstanding season, winning the Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Criterium du Dauphine week-long races before becoming the first Briton to win the Tour de France as Team Sky's obsession with details paid off. Wiggins benefited from his team's support in the mountains, with Chris Froome sacrificing his own chances for his leader but still finishing second overall. British sprint king Mark Cavendish had a rough year, being reduced to a domestique role on the Tour to help Wiggins claim the title although he still managed to win three stages to take his tally to 23. He left Team Sky to join Omega Pharma-Quick Step as the Manxman bids to one day beat Eddy Merckx's stage-wins record of 34. "Cav" suffered a further low as Britain failed in their bid to take him to a much-awaited victory in the road race at the Olympics. Britain were outfoxed by the Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov. But Britain bounced back to reassert their domination in Olympic cycling with another awe-inspiring medal haul on the track and Wiggins" terrific victory in the road time trial. Dave Brailsford's squad took the velodrome by storm in a spine-chilling atmosphere with Jason Kenny, Chris Hoy and breakout star Laura Trott leading the charge with two golds apiece as Britain equalled their Beijing record of seven titles. Britain grabbed a total of 12 medals across all disciplines, eight of them gold. Hoy became Britain's most decorated Olympian, while "Queen" Victoria Pendleton ended her glittering career on a high with keirin gold and a silver in the individual sprint.