20 Jun 2014

Armstrong fails to get case dismissed

5:11 pm on 20 June 2014

A court in the United States has denied disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong's request to dismiss the government's $115 million fraud lawsuit filed against him.

It means the US governmnent can proceed with the case that alleges Armstrong defrauded the government by accepting sponsorship money from the US Postal Service while using performance-enhancing drugs.

Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping and handed a life ban from the sport, eventually admitting last year, after more than 10 years of denials, that all seven triumphs were fuelled by banned drugs.

The government says the US Postal Service was duped into paying Armstrong and his teammates $US45 million from 1998 to 2004.

In February of last year, the US government filed the suit against Armstrong demanding $115 million in damages on behalf of Armstrong's then major sponsor the US Postal Service.

Armstrong argued in November the courts should dismiss the government's case against him, saying they waited more than 10 years to file suit.