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Thursday's EuroFile: Simeoni, Armstrong drop defamation actions

By The Associated Press
Published: Apr. 13, 2006

Lance Armstrong's defamation trial ended Thursday after charges were withdrawn by Italian cyclist Filippo Simeoni.

Armstrong also withdrew his defamation action against Simeoni, the lawyer for the Tour de France great said. Neither Armstrong nor Simeoni was at the court in Latina, near Rome.

"The case is over after both actions have been withdrawn," lawyer Enrico Nan said.

Simeoni brought defamation charges against Armstrong following an April 2003 report in the French newspaper Le Monde. In the article, Armstrong contended that Simeoni had agreed to testify against doctor Michele Ferrari in exchange for a lesser penalty if the Italian rider were accused of doping by the sport's governing body.

Ferrari received a suspended jail sentence for a year in October 2004 for sports fraud and malpractice. Ferrari once advised Armstrong, but the seven-time Tour de France champion cut his ties with him after the doctor was convicted.

Armstrong had already been cleared in another case brought against him by Simeoni. He had accused Armstrong of chasing him down during an early stage breakaway in the 2004 Tour de France and threatening him for testifying about doping in Ferrari's trial.