Armstrong getting less strong

The US government has joined a lawsuit against Lance Armstrong after talks with his lawyers broke down. The suit argues Armstrong defrauded the American public by insisting he was not using drugs while riding for the publicly funded US Postal Service team. Last month, Armstrong admitted using performance-enhancing drugs during all seven of his Tour de France wins. The suit, filed by fellow drug cheat Floyd Landis, aims to recover sponsorship money from Armstrong. And it's only fair because not only did Lance Armstrong cheat his way to seven Tour de France victories, Lance Armstrong and his cycling team also took more than US$30m from the US Postal Service based on their contractual promise to play fair and abide by the rules - including the rules against doping. The Postal Service has now seen its sponsorship unfairly associated with what has been described as the most sophisticated, professionalised, and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen. This is really unfortunate because it feels like Armstrong had beaten cancer only to become cancer. He had not been playing by the rules during his seven Tour wins and the US government should go ahead with the suit.