Armstrong $100 million lawsuit heads to trial

LOS ANGELES: A judge yesterday cleared the way for a US government lawsuit seeking nearly $100 million (R1.3 billion) in damages from former cyclist Lance Armstrong to go to trial.

The US Justice Department has accused Armstrong of defrauding the government by accepting millions of dollars in sponsorship money from the US Postal Service (USPS) as he led the team to a string of Tour de France victories while doping.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour titles and banned for life from bicycle racing in 2012 by the US Anti-Doping Agency after it accused him in a report of engineering one of the most sophisticated doping schemes in sports.

Nicole Navas, of the Department of Justice, declined to comment on the case.

Armstrong’s attorney, Eliot Peters, did not respond to a request for comment.

Armstrong, who had long denied using performance-enhancing drugs, admitted to doping in January 2013.

Armstrong’s former teammate, Floyd Landis, originally brought the lawsuit in 2010 under a federal law, the False Claims Act, that lets whistleblowers pursue fraud cases on behalf of the government, and obtain rewards if successful.

The Justice Department joined the case in February 2013. Armstrong, who contends that the USPS benefits outweighed the sponsorship costs, sought to have the case decided by summary judgment in April 2016.

The USPS paid about $32.3m to Armstrong’s cycling team, Tailwind Sports Corp, from 2000 to 2004, looking to capitalise on Armstrong’s Tour de France victories, as well as his “compelling personal story”, the court ruling said.

The government has calculated damages at three times this amount. Landis stands to gain up to 25% of whatever sum the government recovers. – Reuters