Lance Armstrong Settles $100 Million Lawsuit With US Government

Bicyclist says he’s glad he “made peace with the Postal Service”

Bicyclist Lance Armstrong has settled a lawsuit that could have cost him up to $100 million, the Associated Press reports.

According to the AP, the bicyclist reached a $5 million settlement with the federal government, which could have asked for $100 million in damages.

The bicyclist, who fell from grace after admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs, was scheduled to go to trial on the matter on May 7.

The suit was initially filed in 2010 by Armstrong’s former U.S. Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis, who according to the AP is eligible to receive as much as 25 percent of the settlement. The government came aboard the lawsuit after Armstrong admitted on television that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.

The government had sought millions of dollars it had spent sponsoring Armstrong’s team. Armstrong, meanwhile, maintained that the Postal Service made much more from the sponsorship than it put into it, and thus he didn’t owe them.

In a statement to the AP, Armstrong said he was glad he “made peace with the Postal Service,” but nonetheless believes “that their lawsuit against me was meritless and unfair.”

“While I believe that their lawsuit against me was meritless and unfair, and while I am spending a lot of money to resolve it, I have since 2013 tried to take full responsibility for my mistakes and inappropriate conduct, and make amends wherever possible,” Armstrong said in his statement. “I rode my heart out for the Postal cycling team and was always especially proud to wear the red, white and blue eagle on my chest when competing in the Tour de France. Those memories are very real and mean a lot to me.”

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