Lance Armstrong to Pay $10 Million to SCA Promotions over Tour de France Bonuses

A Texas arbitration panel gave a $10 million judgment for SCA Promotions in its suit against disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong for bonuses it paid for his Tour de France championships.

"We are very pleased with this result," SCA president and founder Bob Hamman said in a statement, per Brent Schrotenboer of USA Today. "It is hard to describe how much harm Lance Armstrong's web of lies caused SCA but this is a good first start towards repairing that damage."    

The arbitration panel, which voted 2-1 in SCA's favor, will now turn its ruling over to a judge, who must give a final approval. SCA asked the panel to do so out of fear Armstrong would refuse to pay it the $10 million.

David Zalubowski/Associated Press

This ruling ends a court battle that's been going on for more than a decade. Armstrong first sued SCA in 2004 when the promotions company refused to pay his bonus for winning the Tour de France. The company, which alleged Armstrong was using performance-enhancing drugs, therefore breaching their agreement, later settled and paid Armstrong $7.5 million after he denied drug use.

Amid an investigation from the USADA, Armstrong admitted to taking PEDs during each of his seven Tour de France championships. He was stripped of each of those titles and banned from competitive cycling for life. After Armstrong publicly appeared and copped to doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, SCA filed a lawsuit of its own to reclaim the initial settlement plus attorney fees.

SCA said the $10 million ruling is "the largest award of sanctions assessed against an individual in American judicial history," per Schrotenboer.

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