Readers Sue Armstrong for Lying About Drug Use in Books

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Several readers of Lance Armstrong's books have filed a lawsuit against the cyclist and his publishers. The lawsuit accuses them of committing fraud and false advertising as readers were led to believe the memoirs, "It's Not About The Bike" and "Every Second Counts," were true accounts of Armstrong's accomplishments done without performance-enhancing drugs. He denies drug use in the books, but has since admitted to cheating throughout his career in a televised interview with Oprah last week. In 2006, author James Frey of "A Million Little Pieces" settled a lawsuit alleging he made up parts of his best-selling memoir by offering to refund the cost of the book. (Today)

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Lance Armstrong Apologizes to Cycling Community Before Oprah Interview

Cyclist is expected to make doping confession

Lance Armstrong has apologized to people in the cycling community for being untruthful about his part in doping, making a string of phone calls to them directly Sunday. The move comes just a day before his interview with Oprah on Monday night in which he is expected to confess to the allegations that led to his being stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles and being barred from competition by cycling’s international governing body. The sit-down will mark the first public comments he has made about the allegations, after adamantly denying any use of performance-enhancing drugs or banned blood-doping practices for over a decade. “I’m calm, I’m at ease, and I’m ready to speak candidly,” he told reporters. (Washington Post)

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Armstrong to Appear On Oprah Amid New Allegations

The disgraced cyclist is now being accused of bribing anti-doping agencies.

Cyclist Lance Armstrong is set to appear on “Oprah’s Next Chapter on Jan. 17, Oprah Winfrey tweeted Tuesday. The interview comes after new allegations surface regarding Armstrong’s use of performance-enhancing drugs. In a CBS News interview posted online, Travis Tygart, head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), accused Armstrong of offering the agency “in excess of $150,000.” Tygart said it was “totally inappropriate” for Armstrong to donate about $100,000 to the International Cycling Union. When someone representing Armstrong offered Usada a donation as well, he said, “We had no hesitation in rejecting that offer.”

Winfrey announced that the interview with Armstrong will be his “first no-holds-barred interview.” There is concern that Winfrey will go easy on Armstrong, as her partner network, Discovery Communications, sponsored him in 2005. In 2008 Oprah interviewed Marion Jones about her use of performance-enhancing drugs. (NY Times)

Lance Armstrong May Have to Pay Company Back Millions After Being Stripped of Titles

Armstrong may have to pay up to $12 million back to a company that paid him for his now-vacated victories

Lance Armstrong could be losing much more than his seven Tour de France titles.

After being dropped by sponsors Nike, Dutch bank Rabobank and most recently Oakley sunglasses (which had been an Armstrong sponsor since he was 16) the now banned cyclist may have to pay a Texas promotional company back millions of dollars they awarded him for winning the Tours.

[ALSO READ:Lance Armstrong Steps Down as Chair of Livestrong Charity]

Dallas-based SCA Promotions paid Armstrong $7.5 million for winning his sixth Tour title in 2004, and since he has been stripped of the victories the company's lawyer said they may consider legal action.

"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.

SCA paid Armstrong $5 million as a performance bonus. Armstrong then sued them for an additional $2.5 million in interest and attorney fees that he was awarded as part of a 2006 legal settlement.

[ALSO READ:Busted: Lance Armstrong Gets Evidence That He Was Doping]

The company asserts that they paid Armstrong around $12 million total. No one from SCA made clear just how much they may try to get back.

Lance Armstrong Steps Down as Chair of Livestrong Charity

Doping scandal also costs former pro cyclist major Nike endorsement

Things went from bad to much, much worse for the man once considered possibly the greatest athlete in the world.

Former seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong announced Tuesday that he would be stepping down as chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, better known as Livestrong, the organization he founded in 1996 to raise money for cancer research. On the same day, Nike announced it was ending its endorsement contract with the former professional cyclist, CNN reported.

All of this comes one week after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency released evidence that they said proves Armstrong used performance-enhancing substances while competing. The Anti-Doping Agency has stripped him of his seven tour championships and banned him from competition for life.

[ALSO READ: Damning Evidence vs Lance Armstrong]

Nike said that it had seen "seemingly insurmountable evidence" that Armstrong participated in doping.

Armstrong, who will remain on Livestrong's board of directors, said his decision was made to "spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career," according to a statement posted to the Livestrong blog.

"My family and I have devoted our lives to the work of the foundation and that will not change. We plan to continue our service to the foundation and the cancer community. We will remain active advocates for cancer survivors and engaged supporters of the fight against cancer," Armstrong said.

[ALSO READ: Other Athlete Doping Scandals]

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Lance Armstrong & Nine Minority Athlete Doping Scandals

Cycling icon Lance Armstrong was forced to vacate 14 years of his history making career due to doping allegations that have loomed around him for years. Getty Images

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Cycling icon becomes the latest "fall from grace" story in professional sporting history

When all is said and done, historians may dub 2012 the "Year of The Sports Scandal." Penn State's famed football powerhouse lost its winningest crown. Chad Ochocinco lost his job with the Miami Dolphins (and lost his wife.) This week, history making cycling icon Lance Armstrong had 14 years of his career vacated by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. That means forfeiting all his Tour titles from 1999 through 2005, when an investigation was launched into allegations that he took a banned performance enhancing supplement. (Associated Press)

Above, view photos of black and Latino athletes that have taken a similar fall from grace after proven doping allegations.

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