French authors Pierre Ballester and David Walsh, co-authors of the controversial book LA Confidentiel, are set to release a follow-up to that book on Thursday, called LA Official: the anatomy of a scandal. In this book, the two renew their accusations that Lance Armstrong used performance enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France seven times.
"Beyond the web of deception that Lance Armstrong spun around his image," reads a statement from the authors, "one has to ask questions about the serious repercussions of this tactic. After the disturbing revelation of a blood-doping network in Spain and the shameful Floyd Landis episode, does elite cycling retain any crumbs of credibility?"
The new book is centred around the battle between Armstrong and the Texas-based insurance company, SCA. Armstrong has repeatedly denied taking any banned substances, and successfully argued this in a 2005 legal dispute SCA, who had promised him $5 million if he won his sixth Tour de France in 2004. The company tried to deny the pay-out on grounds that Armstrong had used performance enhancing drugs to win.
Armstrong responded to the announcement, calling the book a "false string of sensational, untrue and fabricated allegations," and said it "will be no different than the first - a sensationalized attempt to cash in on my name and sully my reputation." Armstrong, who, despite having retired from the sport, continues to find himself defending his reputation, said "I raced clean. I won clean. I am the most tested athlete in the history of sports. I have defended myself and won every court case to prove I was clean. Yet another French book with baseless, sensational and rejected allegations will not overcome the truth."
