Lance Armstrong has told reporters he is "going to be great" despite the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) giving him a lifetime ban from professional cycling.

The 40-year-old who retired a year ago, announced on Thursday that he would no longer challenge USADA and declined to exercise his last option by entering arbitration.

Speaking at the Power of Four bike race in Snowmass Village, Colorado, Lance said: "Nobody needs to cry for me. I'm going to be great."

He has denied again this week that he took banned substances in his career, calling USADA's investigation a "witch hunt" without any physical evidence.

USADA chief executive Travis Tygart described the investigation this week as a battle against a "win-at-all-cost culture".