Update: Armstrong's legal team to try again after judge dismisses suit against USADA

Article Courtesy of Statesman.com For full article, click here...

Lance Armstrong's legal team said Monday that it will go to court again this week to try to halt the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's drug conspiracy case against the retired Tour de France champion.

Earlier Monday, federal judge Sam Sparks dismissed Armstrong's temporary restraining order filed in federal court, informing Armstrong's team that it was thrown out because it came in at more than 80 pages.

Tim Herman, Armstrong's Austin-based attorney, said the lawsuit could be filed again as soon as today.

Armstrong has until Saturday to respond to USADA's charges that he led a doping conspiracy from 1998 to 2010, or the agency could strip away his record seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life from competitive sport.

Amstrong's motion on Monday, which broadly accused USADA of conducting an unconstitutional "kangaroo court," was supposed to be his answer.

But it was too much for Sparks, who said it violated federal rules; in a three-page opinion, Sparks instructed Armstrong's attorneys to tell him seven items, including the legal claims, as well as what relief Armstrong is seeking and why he believes he's entitled to such relief.

"This Court is not inclined to indulge Armstrong's desire for publicity, self-aggrandizement, or vilification of Defendants, by sifting through 80 mostly unnecessary pages in search of the few kernels of factual material relevant to his claims," Sparks wrote.

Herman acknowledged the wordiness of the complaint.

"It was too long and it contained unnecessary factual content," Herman said. "When Judge Sparks speaks, I listen."

Armstrong's attorneys plan to boil down what the initial complaint requested - a permanent injunction, legal fees and "further equitable relief" that Armstrong may be entitled. The original motion called USADA's investigation a "kangaroo court" with hand-picked arbitrators and no rules to allow Armstrong's lawyers to cross-examine witnesses.

Earlier Monday, before the motion was dismissed, USADA chief executive Travis Tygart described Armstrong's lawsuit as "without merit."

USADA, stating it had testimony from 10 anonymous cyclists and new, but unrevealed analysis of blood tests from 2009-10, filed formal charges against Armstrong on June 28.

Armstrong's complaint stated that:

USADA lacks jurisdiction to investigate and penalize Armstrong. It said that any investigation must come from the International Cycling Union, based upon language in the annual licenses each rider signs. The UCI's main office is in Switzerland, and the motion says that the cycling union has indicated no plans to pursue a case against Armstrong, who retired from the sport in February 2011.

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