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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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Troubles Continue|for Lance Armstrong

DALLAS (CN) - A Dallas-based insurer has demanded that Lance Armstrong return nearly $10 million in bonuses it paid after he won his sixth Tour de France in 2004.

SCA Promotions announced its demand after the Union Cycliste International stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour victories and banned him from the sport for life on Monday.

In doing so, the UCI said it accepted the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's " reasoned decision " of Oct. 10, which accused Armstrong of running the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sports.

Attorney Jeffrey M. Tillotson told the BBC on Monday that if SCA's demands are not successful, it will sue Armstrong by next Monday, Oct. 29.

Tillotson is a partner with Lynn Tillotson Pinker Cox, of Dallas.

Armstrong and U.S. Postal team owner Tailwind Sports sued SCA in Dallas County Court in 2004, after SCA refused to pay $5 million in bonuses for Armstrong's Tour victory that year. SCA claimed Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs.

The insurance policy to cover bonuses had been taken out by Tailwind Sports.

Armstrong took SCA to arbitration in 2005 and won, as he had been named the official winner of the Tour. SCA had to pay $7.5 million: the $5 million bonus, plus interest and legal fees.

Tillotson told the BBC that SCA also had paid a $1.5 million bonus for Armstrong's 4th Tour victory in 2002, $3 million for his win in 2003, as well as the $5 million for his win in 2004. All the bonuses plus interest and legal fees will bring SCA's demand to nearly $11 million, Tillotson told the BBC.

According to today's report from the BBC , Tillotson told it: "This is not a happy day for my client, but he feels Lance Armstrong has brought this upon himself."

Also this week, Oakley sunglasses announced that it would cut its ties to Armstrong. Nike, bike-maker Trek and Anheuser-Busch already have done so.

Oakley has been a staunch Armstrong supporter for years. In his best-selling book, "It's Not About the Bike," Armstrong praised the company for demanding that its insurer cover the cost of treatment for his cancer, before he had won a single Tour.

Follow @davejourno
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