Even if it is April 1st.
Armstrong's ex-assistant claims to have seen banned substance: report
Fri Apr 1,12:27 PM ET World Sports - AFP
AUSTIN, United States (AFP) - A former employee of Lance Armstrong is reportedly alleging in court papers that just over a year ago he witnessed a banned substance in the American cyclist's Spanish house.
AFP/BELGA/File Photo
Mike Anderson, a former personal assistant to Armstrong, filed the papers in an Texas district court on Thursday, said the Texan nespaper "Austin American-Statesman."
Anderson is involved in a legal fight with the six-time Tour de France winner. He was fired by Armstrong four months ago after Anderson claims he asked Armstrong for a raise.
Anderson is suing over his firing and alleged promises Armstrong made to him to help establish a bike shop.
Timothy Herman, Armstrong's lawyer, called the allegations false and 'absurd'.
Anderson filed the papers on Thursday to support a countersuit against Armstrong.
Earlier Armstrong had filed the first suit against Anderson alleging that Anderson demanded 500,000 US dollars from him. Anderson claims the cyclist also asked that he sign a confidentiality agreement that would have made him liable for up to one million dollars in damages.
When contacted through email by the Austin paper, Armstrong referred them to his Texas lawyer, Tim Herman.
"It is precisely what they threatened to do, unless we paid them the money," Herman told the American-Statesman. "When they asked for the 500,000 dollars they should have worn a ski mask.
"We told them unequivocally we are not going to pay blackmail or extortion money on something that's not true."
According to Anderson, he was cleaning the bathroom of Armstrong's Girona, Spain apartment about a year ago when he discovered a white box that Anderson claims contained "Androstenin or something very close to this".
Anderson said he then looked it up on the Internet and learned the substance he found was "an androgen and on the banned substance list".
Armstrong has vehemently denied taking illegal substances and has never tested positive during his six-year Tour de France reign. He has been tested at the start of each Tour and was randomly selected in July to undergo an extensive drug test.
