Despite the news that Lance Armstrong will be stripped of his Tour de France titles, Nike came forward Friday to announce they'd stand tall by Livestrong and continue to sponsor Armstrong, according to Chicago Tribune report. Here's the statement from Nike Inc.:

"Lance has stated his innocence and has been unwavering on this position. Nike plans to continue to support Lance and the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a foundation that Lance created to serve cancer survivors."

Armstrong announced Thursday evening that he would no longer continue to fight performance enhancing allegations from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and therefore be handed a lifetime ban. The USADA will also be revoking his seven consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999-2005.

Nike has been a longtime supporter of Armstrong and all his causes including, most notably, Livestrong, his organization to assist in the further research of cancer. According the Tribune report, Nike has helped Livestrong riase over $100 million since 2004 with over 84 million yellow Livestrong wristbands being distributed worldwide.