Judge sets November trial for Armstrong
>> AUSTIN: Lance Armstrong’s US$100 million legal fight with the federal government has been set for a November trial.
US District Judge Christopher Cooper on Thursday set a Nov 6 trial start in Washington.
Armstrong’s legal team had asked to postpone trial until 2018 because of a potential scheduling conflict.
The government wants Armstrong to pay back the $32 million the US Postal Service paid his team for sponsorship, plus triple damages.
Armstrong’s f ormer teammate Floyd Landis initially filed the whistle-blower case in 2010, accusing him of violating the sponsorship contract by taking performance-enhancing drugs.
The government joined the case in 2013 after Armstrong admitted cheating and was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.
Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for cheating, could collect up to 25 percent of damages awarded.
Earlier, Armstrong said he “loved’’ representing the US Postal Service, even as the government sues to get back the millions it spent sponsoring his teams.
The Postal Service sponsored Armstrong’s team when he won six of his seven Tour de France titles from 1999-2005.
Armstrong later admitted using performance-enhancing drugs and was stripped of those titles.
Speaking on his podcast on Tuesday, Armstrong said it was an honour to wear the Postal Service jersey as he competed in Europe and to hear the national anthem played when he won.
Armstrong said the lawsuit can’t “undo all of the good that was done all of those years.’’
Armstrong claims the government made more money in publicity from the sponsorship than the $32 million it paid his teams.