US government joins fraud lawsuit against Lance Armstrong

Zeenews Sports Bureau

Washington: The US government has joined the lawsuit against disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong that claims that the former Tour de France winner was involved in doping during his career. The lawsuit filed by Floyd Landis in 2010, former Armstrong teammate, alleges that the American concealed the doping from his sponsors and thus violated the terms of the contract that expressively prohibits doping. U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen said that the government has joined the lawsuit as plaintiff adding that “Lance Armstrong and his cycling team took more than USD 30 million from the U.S. Postal Service based on their contractual promise to play fair and abide by the rules — including the rules against doping." Armstrong, who has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and Olympic medal, has also been sued by a Texas insurance firm seeking USD 12 million for bonus money paid to the cyclist for his Tour de France titles.