US lawsuit seeking $100m from Armstrong heads to trial

NEW YORK — A federal judge on Monday cleared the way for a US government lawsuit seeking nearly $100 million in damages from former professional cyclist Lance Armstrong to go to trial, court papers showed. 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, a spokeswoman from the Department of Justice, declined to comment on the case. Eliot Peters, an attorney for Armstrong, did not respond to a request for comment. Armstrong, who had long denied using performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), 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 whistle-blowers 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. “Because the government has offered evidence that Armstrong withheld information about the team’s doping and use of PEDs and that the anti-doping provisions of the sponsorship agreements were material to USPS’s decision to continue the sponsorship and make payments under the agreements, the Court must deny Armstrong’s motion for summary judgment on this issue,” Judge Christopher Cooper of the US District Court for the District of Columbia wrote in a 37-page ruling on Monday. The USPS paid around $32.3 million to Armstrong’s cycling team, the now-defunct Tailwind Sports Corp, from 2000 to 2004, looking to capitalize on Armstrong’s Tour de France victories, as well as his “compelling personal story,” Cooper said in his ruling. The government has calculated damages at three times this amount. Landis stands to gain up to 25 percent of whatever sum the government recovers. Paul Scott, an attorney for Landis, said by email, “We look forward to the day soon when we can put this case before the jury at long last.” Wiggins breaks leg on TV show British cycling great Bradley Wiggins has pulled out of a winter sports television show after breaking his leg. The newly-retired winner of five Olympic gold medals, 36, wrote on Twitter that he was “gutted” to be leaving ‘The Jump’ which sends celebrities speeding down a purpose-built ski jump. “Seen a specialist, I have a small leg fracture & need to rest for 3/6 weeks. Good news no surgery or cast required,” he said. “No horror smash, small training injury which means I can’t compete. No terrible break, just need to rest it.” A spokesman for producers Channel 4 confirmed that the former Team Sky cyclist was pulling out. “Bradley injured his leg during training and although keen to continue in the competition he will no longer take part following the fourth show in the series.” The 2012 Tour de France winner joins a long list of contestants that have suffered injuries while filming The Jump, including former Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle. Vendee region to stage 2018 Tour start France’s west coast Vendee region will stage the 2018 Tour de France ‘grand depart’, organizers said. The Vendee, which last hosted the start of cycling’s blue riband in 2011, follows Dusseldorf from where this year’s race will begin. Full details of next year’s 105th Tour will be unveiled on Feb. 28, race director Christian Prudhomme said. The Vendee last started the race in 2011 with Australia’s Cadel Evans taking the opening individual time trial honours. The iconic Mont Saint Michel in Normandy was the backdrop for the start of last year’s race with Dutch city Utrecht and Leeds in Yorkshire hosting the 2015 and 2014 starts.