Disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has missed the deadline to lodge an appeal over being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for systematic doping, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has announced.

Olympic road race champion Alexandre Vinokourov is under investigation for allegedly bribing a rival to fix a race, as ongoing fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping affair threatens to claim another of cycling's biggest names.

The IOC formally opened an investigation Thursday that could result in Lance Armstrong losing his Olympic bronze medal for doping and Levi Leipheimer losing his medal too.