Posted on 09/24/2004 6:37:49 AM PDT by Cyclone59
Pay Lance!
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
I emailed them and enlightened them that the French hate us and that SCA should consider the source and pay Lance.
Please email SCA Promotions at info@scapromo.com and info@scainsurancespecialists.com
Story cut and pasted as currently on Fox Sports:
DALLAS (AP) - The company that owes Lance Armstrong $5 million for winning a record sixth straight Tour de France is withholding payment of the bonus, citing allegations in a French book that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
JOY OF SIX ...
Photo galleries Final stage
Lance and Sheryl photos
Overall best of the Tour
SCA Promotions Inc. points to doping allegations contained in "L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong," published in June by La Martiniere. Armstrong has denounced the book's claims as "absolutely untrue" and launched defamation lawsuits against the publisher and authors.
Chris Compton, an attorney for SCA, said the company wants to see Armstrong's medical records before releasing the money.
"We've requested (drug) test results to disprove the allegations - clean test results that should be easily attainable," Compton said Thursday. "We're not planning on releasing them to the media or doing anything other than verifying that they exist."
Armstrong's U.S. Postal Cycling Team filed a lawsuit this month in state court in Dallas, claiming the SCA didn't have the right to question Armstrong's Tour victories, which were upheld by cycling authorities.
The team, jointly owned and managed by Tailwind Sports and Capital Sports and Entertainment, hopes to resolve the dispute through arbitration.
Bill Stapleton, founder of Capital Sports and Entertainment and chief executive of Tailwind, did not immediately return telephone messages from The Associated Press on Thursday.
The book, written by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, relies in part on allegations by a former Armstrong assistant, Emma O'Reilly.
In it, she claims Armstrong once asked her to get rid of syringes and give him makeup to conceal needle marks on his right arm. She acknowledged that she didn't know what was in the syringes.
After Armstrong's third Tour victory in 2001, Tailwind paid SCA a $420,000 premium to insure the risk for his bonuses in future years would be met by SCA.
SCA paid Armstrong $1.5 million in 2002 and $3 million in 2003.
Compton said the company has put the $5 million for 2004 into a custodial account with J.P. Morgan.
"Our story is, we've posted $5 million while we perform an investigation that we're compelled to perform," Compton said. "We have an excellent record paying claims."
That's a curious what to phrase it: "Our story?" What do you want to bet that the money hasn't really been escrowed, and that this organization is just looking for a way to welch on the deal?
This is such crap! He's never failed a drug test. Give him his money!
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