SCA to seek $7.5m from Lance Armstrong

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Lance Armstrong stands to lose another $7.5 million after being officially stripped of all of his competitive results dating back to August 1, 1998, on top of having to pay back some $3.9 million in prize money from the Tour de France. The BBC Sport reported today that SCA Promotions, which in 2006 settled out of court in a case to pay out bonuses to Armstrong for winning the 2004 Tour de France, is seeking to recoup those funds.

"We will make a formal demand for return of funds," said SCA Promotions attorney Jeffrey M. Tillotson. "If this is not successful, we will initiate formal legal proceedings against Mr Armstrong in five business days."

The company was one of several which insured Tailwind Sports, the owner of Armstrong's US Postal and Discovery Channel teams from having to pay out the $5 million bonus promised to him if he were to win the Tour de France for the sixth time in 2004.

When allegations of doping by Armstrong became public after the release of L.A. Confidentiel, the expose written by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, SCA Promotions refused to pay the bonus.

Armstrong took the case to arbitration, where despite testimony from individuals such as Betsy and Frankie Andreu, supporting the assertions in the book that Armstrong doped, the two parties settled out of court, with SCA Promotions having to pay the bonus plus $2.5m in legal fees and interest because the wording of the contract held them to payment as long as Armstrong was the winner of the Tours.

Now that this is no longer the case, the company is seeking to reverse the outcome.

"This is not a happy day for my client, but he feels Lance Armstrong has brought this upon himself," said Tillotson.