Promoter demands Lance Armstrong refund

A Texas promotions company that paid disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong more than $7m in bonuses for winning the Tour de France is demanding he return the money.

A spokesman for Dallas-based SCA Promotions said the company would send Armstrong a demand letter on Monday now his seven Tour de France titles had been revoked.

The company paid Armstrong the $7m for winning his sixth tour in 2004 and reportedly paid up to $12m in total.

The US Anti-Doping Agency

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Armstrong denies doping but has not commented on the USADA report.

The company had warned Armstrong that it would seek return of the money if his victories were officially wiped out.

Armstrong’s lawyers have said he has no intention of paying. They note that SCA entered a voluntary settlement to pay Armstrong, which included a no-appeal clause. The lawyers say Texas law will not allow SCA to try to reopen a voluntary settlement.

In a letter to SCA in June, Armstrong lawyer Tim Herman wrote: “When SCA decided to settle the case, it settled the entire matter forever. No backs. No re-dos. No do-overs. SCA knowingly and independently waived any right to make further claims to any of the money it paid.”

The company tried in 2005 to not pay Armstrong because of allegations of doping. The arbitration case included some of the original sworn witness evidence against Armstrong, including claims by Betsy Andreu, the wife of his former teammate Frankie Andreu, that Armstrong admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs in a conversation with doctors while undergoing cancer treatment in 1996.

Yesterday the UCI said Armstrong should return about four million dollars in prize money.

Armstrong recently lost most of his personal endorsement deals in the wake of the USADA report.

He has also stepped down as chairman of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997.