Andreu settles with The Guardian

By Laura Weislo

Betsy Andreu has settled her case against the British newspaper The Guardian for a November article which insinuated she had lied in testimony against Lance Armstrong. The paper came to a cash settlement and published a letter earlier this week by Andreu, the wife of Armstrong's former teammate Frankie Andreu in response to her objections.

"The Guardian implied I had lied when it said 'Other people, apparently, also lied about Armstrong. Betsy Andreu, whose husband Frankie raced with Armstrong, claims she heard the cyclist tell doctors treating him for cancer that he had taken performance-enhancing drugs,'" Andreu wrote about the article by Donald McRae.

The story referred to a civil suit between SCA Promotions and Armstrong, where the former company tried to deny a five-million USD bonus payment to Armstrong for his fifth Tour win until it could be proven he had not taken performance enhancing drugs.

"Mr. McRae never contacted me or my husband to check that statement; if he had we would have given him our response."

"In 1996, Frankie and I were present when Lance Armstrong answered a doctor's question whether or not he'd ever used performance enhancing drugs in his career," Andreu told Cyclingnews. "We never made this incident public until we were subpoenaed to testify in a court of law in 2005 in the state of Michigan.

"Under oath, both Frankie and I told the truth about this hospital incident. As a result, I have been singled out and have endured years of pushback from the Armstrong camp, the latest attempt being the Guardian article in question. With this action I hope to make one thing clear: I have always told the truth, and I will not tolerate being called a liar.

"I have asked that any cash settlement be paid not to me, but to charities of my choice: The Lennon Center a local charity whose mission is to provide non-judgmental counseling, material assistance and counseling before, during and after pregnancy; and St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee."