Search Here

Forty one year-old disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has been stripped of seven Tour de France titles and banned from the sport for life following ratification of United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against him by the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Monday.

Now, the Texas company that paid Armstrong $12 million for winning the Tour de France, SCA Promotions, has announced that it may take legal action to force him to return the money, Reuters reported. The newswire added that it was unclear exactly how much SCA may seek to recover.

The $12 million paid to Armstrong includes a $5 million performance bonus and $2.5 million in interest and attorney fees related to his sixth win in 2004, as part of a 2006 legal settlement. Armstrong sued SCA when it attempted to withhold prize money from him for that race as he came under suspicion for doping.

Tailwind Sports, the owner of Armstrong's U.S. Postal team, had promised the cyclist a $5 million bonus if he won a sixth Tour title and it took out insurance coverage with SCA, Reuters reported.

"Mr. Armstrong is no longer the official winner of any Tour de France races, and as a result it is inappropriate and improper for him to retain any bonus payments made by SCA," the company's lawyer Jeffrey Dorough said in a statement, as reported by Reuters. He added that the SCA was taking into account the possibility that Armstrong or the World Anti-Doping Agency could appeal.

All of Armstrong's racing results from Aug. 1, 1998 are nullified, including his Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005. On Friday, Oct. 26, the UCI will make public new decisions concerning the rankings for those races.

Armstrong and his U.S. Postal team had been found to be involved in the "most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," according to a USADA report.

The cyclist has denied all doping charges, though he elected not to contest them and did not cooperate with USADA investigations. He maintains he never failed a doping test.

A lawyer for SCA Promotions told Press Association Sport: "It is inappropriate and improper for him to keep those bonus amounts and we will be demanding them back and pursuing appropriate legal action if he does not return them," as reported by RTE Sport.

Armstrong has removed his Tour de France titles from his Twitter bio.