Lance fights $12m lawsuit

Lance Armstrong has asked a Texas court to dismiss a lawsuit by a Dallas promotions company seeking repayment of more than $12-million in bonuses paid to him for winning the Tour de France.

SCA Promotions sued Armstrong and his manager, Bill Stapleton, in the state district court in Dallas in February, claiming Armstrong committed fraud by using performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour seven times.

SCA paid Armstrong's team management company, Tailwind Sports, for several of those victories, of which he has been stripped.

The sides have been battling since 2005, when SCA tried to withhold the bonus money.

Armstrong sued, sending the case into a lengthy arbitration process in which the company tried to prove he doped.

SCA agreed to pay the cyclist a voluntary settlement in 2006.

Armstrong's court filings on Friday argue that settlement is legally binding and includes language that it cannot be appealed.

The company argues that it was cheated into the settlement because Armstrong, who now admits doping, lied when he testified under oath that he did not.

"SCA does not believe that any prior occurrences in its litigation history with Lance Armstrong bar its attempts to seek recovery through legal channels today," company spokesman Jeff Dorough said.

The SCA lawsuit is among several legal cases pending against Armstrong.

In February, the US justice department joined a lawsuit against Armstrong alleging he concealed his use of performance-enhancing drugs and defrauded his long-time team sponsor, the US Postal Service.

The whistle-blower lawsuit was originally filed by Armstrong's former team-mate Floyd Landis.

The lawsuit alleges that riders on the postal service-sponsored team, including Armstrong, knowingly violated their Postal Service agreements by regularly using banned substances and methods to enhance their performance.

Landis was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title for doping.

Armstrong has also been sued by the London-based Sunday Times, which wants to recover $500000 it paid him to settle a libel case he brought against the paper.

Armstrong has been banned from competing in Olympic sports for life by the US Anti-Doping Agency, whose investigation exposed the US Postal team's doping programme.

Armstrong, 41, had tried to enter this weekend's US Masters Swimming regional championships in Austin but was barred from competition on Thursday by Fina, which said the meet must recognise the USADA's ban.