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Saturday, April 02, 2005

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."

Friday, April 01, 2005

Google increases the storage from 1Gig to 2Gig .... and promises more.


Google increases the storage from 1Gig to 2Gig .... and promises more.

Gmail: Help Center

"G is for growth

Storage is an important part of email, but that doesn't mean you should have to worry about it. To celebrate our one-year birthday, we're giving everyone one more gigabyte. But why stop the party there? Our plan is to continue growing your storage beyond 2GBs by giving you more space as we are able. We know that email will only become more important in people's lives, and we want Gmail to keep up with our users and their needs. From Gmail, you can expect more."

Armstong possessed banned substance: Anderson


Armstong possessed banned substance: Anderson

Armstong possessed banned substance: Anderson

Friday, April 1, 2005 (Texas):

A former personal assistant to Lance Armstrong has alleged that he discovered a banned substance in the star's apartment in Spain last year.

Armstrong's attorney, Timothy Herman, called the allegation false and "absurd."

Mike Anderson, who is involved in a legal fight with Lance Armstrong over alleged promises the cyclist made to help Anderson start a bike shop, made the claim in a brief filed in state district court.

Armstrong, who is currently in Europe, has maintained that he is drug-free.

Soured ties

Anderson met Armstrong more than four years ago.

They became friends, often riding together, and Anderson regularly worked on Armstrong's bikes before becoming his personal assistant in November 2002.

Anderson, who says he had a key to Armstrong's apartment in Girona, Spain, alleges he was cleaning the bathroom in "early 2004" when he found a white box labelled "like any other prescription drug" that did not have a doctor's prescription attached.

Written on the box was the trademark name "Androstenine, or something very close to this," Anderson said.

"What I had in my hand was probably a steroid and I was very upset about it. I didn't really quite know what to do," he said.

Anderson looked up the name on the internet to confirm what he had found was a listed banned substance. But, fearing he would be fired, Anderson did not confront Armstrong about it.

Anderson believes that Armstrong knew about the alleged discovery because their relationship began to deteriorate almost immediately.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Armstrong set to quit after Tour


He will be 33 and would have won the Tour de France seven times in a row ... he can retire.

BBC SPORT | Other Sport | Cycling | Armstrong set to quit after Tour

Armstrong set to quit after Tour

Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong looks set to retire after going for a seventh title in July.

The American has confirmed he will line up for this year's Tour de France, but will reveal his plans for beyond that at a news conference on 18 April.

"I have to talk to the press and I have to tell them something important," said the 33-year-old.

"The only thing I know for sure is that I will be starting the Tour de France this year, but it could be the last."

Armstrong signed a two-year contract with the Discovery Channel team before this season, but the contract requires that he only race one more Tour de France.

He has had a difficult start to this season, retiring from the Paris-Nice last week a few days after finishing 140th in the prologue, which he called "the worst time trial of my life".

Armstrong will next take part in the Tour of Flanders, a single-day classic, on Sunday, but only as support to team-mate George Hincapie.

Wednesday, March 30, 2005

Armstrong: It could be my last Tour


icNewcastle - Armstrong: It could be my last Tour

Armstrong: It could be my last Tour

Six-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong has admitted that the 2005 event could be his last.

The 33-year-old Texan, who will ride under the colours of his new team Discovery Channel in July, wrote his name in the history books in 2004 when he became the first cyclist to win the prestigious event six times.

"I am 100% certain to take part in the 2005 Tour de France, unless of course I have an accident," Armstrong told Le Parisien. "It might also be the last for me.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Armstrong up a gear in training for Le Tour


Lance Armstrong has a plan ... he always has a plan.

Sport | Armstrong up a gear in training for Le
Tour


Armstrong up a gear in training for Le Tour

Lance Armstrong appears back on track in his bid to extend his record of Tour de France wins to seven in July after some hard training sessions in the mountains of the Canary Islands. This is in spite of the fact that he surprisingly dropped out of his first race of the season, the Paris-Nice "race to the sun" in early March.

The Texan finished 24th yesterday in the hilly Paris-Camembert single-day race which finishes in the Normandy town of Vimoutiers, confirming that he is in shape for his first one-day Classic of the season, the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.

Asked what he had been doing since the Paris-Nice, Armstrong recently joked: "Nothing - I've just been partying, drinking beer, eating pizza, and reading the nonsense in the newspapers." More seriously, he explained: "I'm working very hard at the moment. I've spent several days training in the Canary islands, and tried to focus on some longer efforts, longer climbs."

Armstrong was prominent in the peloton yesterday as the Paris-Camembert tackled several long hills in south Normandy, finishing in the main group seven seconds behind the winner, Laurent Brochard of France. Afterwards, he disappeared into a car where his rockstar girlfriend Sheryl Crow was waiting.

The cancer survivor brought his return to racing forward to include last Sunday's Fleche Brabanconne event near Brussels, in which he finished 43rd, 3min 43sec behind the reigning world champion, Oscar Freire of Spain.

This Sunday, the Tour of Flanders is planned to be the Texan's final race in Europe before the Dauphiné Libéré stage race, his final Tour de France build-up event in mid-June. After the Belgian Classic he will return to the US, where he will compete in the Tour de Georgia from April 19 to 24.

"The Tour of Flanders is a beautiful race, but don't expect me to play a leading role. I will be totally at the service of my team," said Armstrong, who is expected to help his team-mate George Hincapie.

Any doubts about Armstrong's form are as nothing compared to the uncertainty surrounding his rival Jan Ullrich. The German has been ill, will not start racing until the Circuit de la Sarthe in France on April 5, and yesterday his T-Mobile team received a public warning from their management about their poor results this season.

Monday, March 28, 2005

Armstrong joins Paris chase


FOX SPORTS | Breaking News | Armstrong joins Paris chase (March 29, 2005)

"Armstrong joins Paris chase
March 29, 2005

AMERICAN Lance Armstrong continues his preparations for his bid for a seventh Tour de France title this summer when he competes in Tuesday's one-day Paris-Camembert race.

The Discovery Channel rider returns to the 200km race from Magnanville, west of Paris, to Vimoutiers in the French cheese region of Normandy, after a three-year break.

The 33-year-old Texan finished runner-up in 2000 and down the field in 13th in 2001 and 75th in 2002."

The 100 favourite fictional characters


The Independent Online Edition >The 100 favourite fictional characters

The 100 favourite fictional characters... as chosen by 100 literary luminaries to celebrate World Book Day, we asked the leading lights of British letters to name the characters who give them the greatest reading pleasure. Is your favourite among them? Interviews by Julia Stuart.

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Lance Armstrong Returns to Cycling


The champ is back ...

ABC News: Lance Armstrong Returns to Cycling

Lance Armstrong Returns to Cycling

Six-Time Tour De France Winner Armstrong Returns to Cycling As Freire Wins Brabant Arrow Classic

ALSEMBERG, Belgium Mar 27, 2005 — Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong returned to cycling Sunday, finishing in the pack at the Brabant Arrow race.

Armstrong, who pulled out of the Paris-Nice event earlier this month with a sore throat, said this race was used to prepare him for bigger competitions later this year including his run for another Tour de France victory in July.

"It's probably not realistic to think I can get a result, I haven't raced since Paris-Nice and that was obviously not very good," he said before the race.

Transparent Screens


Lots of Transparent Screens

MacBidouille.com - Transparent Screens: "Ecrans Transparents"