Lance Armstrong settles $3M insurance lawsuit

AUSTIN, Texas – A day before he was scheduled to give sworn testimony about his use of performance-enhancing drugs, Lance Armstrong reached a settlement Wednesday with an insurance company that was seeking $3 million in performance bonuses it paid him from 1999 to 2001.

Nebraska-based Acceptance Insurance sued Armstrong in Texas earlier this year after he admitted he doped during a career in which he won the Tour de France seven times.

Acceptance attorney Mark Kincaid and Armstrong attorney Tim Herman declined to disclose details of the settlement, but both said the case was “resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.”

The settlement means Armstrong will not need to show up for a deposition today in Austin, where he was expected to be asked to detail drug use throughout his career.

Although Armstrong has acknowledged drug use in interviews with Oprah Winfrey and other members of the media, he has yet to provide sworn testimony.

In an interview published by Britain’s Daily Mail earlier this week, Armstrong said former International Cycling Union president Hein Verbruggen helped him cover up doping at the 1999 Tour de France, a charge Verbruggen dismissed as a “ridiculous story.”

Armstrong’s statements have otherwise lacked many details anti-doping authorities want to hear. Armstrong has said he would consider taking part in international efforts to address drug use.

Armstrong has so far refused to provide sworn testimony to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It was USADA’s detailed report in 2012 of drug use by Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service team that led to him being stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999 to 2005.

“This gets him out of doing what he fears the most, which is going under oath,” witness Betsy Andreu, the wife of Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, said. “He has never answered the questions in depth. He’s always skirted.”