Disgraced cyclist lance Armstrong asked a federal judge to dismiss the US government’s fraud case against him in a hearing, claiming prosecutors missed statute of limitations deadlines to file.
US District Judge Robert Wilkins was expected to make a ruling within 30 days on the matter but was not expected to toss out the case, in which the US Department of Justice says Armstrong made false claims while accepting $40 million in sponsorship money from the US Postal Service from 1998-2004.
Prosecutors say Armstrong’s admission last January in a television interview that he took performance-enhancing drugs while crossing the finish line first at the Tour de France from 1999-2005 violated the deal and opens the 42-year-old Texan to treble damages that could be recovered under the False Claims Act.
Ex-UCI president questions Armstrong’s credibility
Amsterdam: Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen has questioned lance Armstrong’s credibility after the American rider implicated the Dutchman in covering up doping at the 1999 Tour de France.
“Since when do people believe lance ArmstrongIJ” Verbruggen wrote in a text message to NOS television network in the Netherlands. “Since he told Oprah Winfrey he had never ‘sorted out’ anything with the UCIIJ Or since he (for money!) makes films and gives interviews in which he apparently has to serve up juicy detailsIJ”
The Dutch official has not replied to messages from The Associated Press since Armstrong’s allegations were published on Monday by Britain’s Daily Mail.
Armstrong claimed Verbruggen insisted “we’ve got to come up with something” to explain the American’s positive tests for a banned corticosteroid.
A backdated prescription for a saddle sores cream was accepted, allowing Armstrong to continue racing and win his first Tour, which revived cycling after doping scandals wrecked the 1998 race.
“His story is illogical because it was not about a positive/punishable act according to the anti-doping authority involved,” wrote Verbruggen, adding that cycling’s governing body did not have lead responsibility for anti-doping at the race 14 years ago.
“That authority was not the UCI but the French ministry. From accusations a year ago about large-scale complicity of the UCI in doping by lance Armstrong and his team, we’re now back to a cortisone case from 1999 that was not even handled by the UCI,” said the former president, who stepped down in 2005 after Armstrong’s seventh straight Tour victory.