Armstrong: LeMond claim about payoff is 'nonsense'

[July 19, 2010]  AX-3 DOMAINES, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong dismissed as "nonsense" a reported claim by Greg LeMond that the seven-time Tour de France champion tried to pay someone $300,000 to say LeMond used a banned drug.

LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, told the German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung's weekend issue that Armstrong tried to implicate him "by all means" in a scandal involving EPO, a performance enhancer.

LeMond refused to reveal the identity of the person who was allegedly offered money by Armstrong, saying he still works in cycling.

Armstrong dismissed the accusation after Sunday's 14th stage of the Tour.

"That's absolutely nonsense -- $300,000?" Armstrong said, when asked by The Associated Press about the allegations. "Come on. I know (about the report). But he says a lot."

"That's just another thing," he said, alluding to years of antagonism between the two American Tour champions.

According to a report Friday in the Daily News of New York, LeMond has been served with a grand jury subpoena as part of a federal investigation of possible fraud and doping charges against Armstrong and his associates.

The federal investigation was spurred by accusations by Floyd Landis, a former teammate of Armstrong's on the US Postal team, in a series of emails sent to cycling and doping officials this spring.

Landis, who was stripped of his 2006 Tour title for doping, said the use of banned substances was common on the team. Armstrong has denied those allegations and has questioned Landis' credibility.

[Associated Press; By JAMEY KEATEN]

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