Armstrong denies former assistant's drug claim
Sport | Armstrong denies former assistant's drug claim
Armstrong denies former assistant's drug claim
A former personal assistant to Lance Armstrong has filed court papers in Austin, Texas, alleging he discovered a banned substance in the six-time Tour de France champion's apartment early last year. Armstrong, who has hinted he may retire after this year's Tour, is currently involved in seven legal cases regarding accusations of doping and defamation.
Armstrong's attorney, Timothy Herman, called the accusations by Mike Anderson false and "absurd", telling the Austin American-Statesman newspaper they had expected drug allegations as an attempt to obtain a financial settlement.
Anderson worked for Armstrong in both Austin and the American's home in Gerona, Spain, between November 2002 and November 2004, doing shopping for him, driving a car behind Armstrong in training and repairing his bikes.
Armstrong ended the relationship last year and began legal action in December, claiming Anderson demanded $500,000 (£264,000) in a settlement. Anderson countersued, claiming fraud, breach of contract and that he had suffered the "intentional infliction of severe mental distress".
As part of his counterclaim, during legal proceedings Anderson said he found a banned steroid in the bathroom cabinet of Armstrong's home in Gerona.
"The box was white with red and black lettering and had a normal label like any other prescription drug," the official Travis County court papers stated. "However, there was no doctor's prescription attached. Both the trademark name and the pharmacological name were on the front of the box. The trademark name was Androstenine, or something very close to this."
Anderson said he looked up the substance on the websites of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) and found that the substance was "an androgen and on the banned substance list".
Armstrong has never tested positive for an illegal substance during his six-year Tour de France winning streak and has always denied taking performance-enhancing drugs.
According to the 36-page court document, Anderson said it was the only time he found the alleged substance, and that he never saw Armstrong taking banned drugs.
Armstrong is scheduled to ride the Tour of Flanders race in Belgium tomorrow before flying back the US. He has called a press conference for April 18 to announce "something important". On Thursday he told the Italian paper La Gazzetta dello Sport: "Four more months and that's it."
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on Saturday, April 02, 2005 at 7:57 AM.
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