Lance Armstrong settles $100m US government lawsuit for $5mLance Armstrong has agreed to pay $5m (£3.5m) to the US government to settle a long-running lawsuit that could have cost him $100m (£71m) in damages. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life in 2012 before admitting to using performance-enhancing drugs. Armstrong failed to block the lawsuit last year and a trial was set for 7 May in Washington. He sued Armstrong under the federal False Claims Act, alleging Armstrong and his team defrauded the government by using banned substances while riding under the Postal Service banner. The US Postal Service team ran from 1996 to 2004, with Armstrong winning seven Tour titles between 1999 and 2005.